The study of spatial analysis in archaeology concerns examining the pattern of archaeological artifacts or sites as they appear in relation to one another. Spatial analysis was originally a concept developed by geographers, and then adapted for archaeology in the mid-1970s. Geographic Information Systems have greatly simplified the examination of spatial patterns; but important books written on the subject by Clive Orton and Lewis Binford were completed well before the common use of GIS.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
.Some Classic Studies of Spatial Analysis
Clark JR. 1979. Modelling trade in non-literate archaeological contexts. Journal of Anthropological Research 35(2):170-190.
Cowgill GL, Altschul JH, and Sloan RS. 1984. Spatial analysis of Teotihuacan: a Mesoamerican metropolis In: Hietala HJ, editor. Intrasite Spatial Analysis in Archaeology. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Crumley CL. 1979. Three locational models: An epistemological assessment for anthropology and archaeology. In: Schiffer MB, editor. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory. p 141-173.
Gamble C. 1987. Archaeology, geography, and time. Progress in Human Geography 11(2):227-246.
Orton CR. 1982. Stochastic process and archaeological mechanism in spatialanalysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 9:1-23.
Steponaitis VP. 1978. Location theory and complex chiefdoms: A Mississippian example. In: Smith BD, editor. Mississippian Settlement Patterns. NYC: Academic Press. p 417-453.
Whallon R. 1973. Spatial analysis of palaeolithic occupation areas. In: Renfrew C, editor. The Explanation of Culture Change. London: Duckworth.
