Assessing the level of visibility of cultural objects in past landscapes
Abstract
Visibility is often understood to play a significant role in the placement of cultural objects within past landscapes. In recent years, GIS-based visibility studies have become popular as a method for assessing the role of views to and from sites and features. A significant drawback to these analyses is that they do not take into account how far an object can be clearly seen and recognized. A number of factors influence the visibility of objects, including the limits of human visual acuity, environmental effects such as atmospheric extinction, and the physical properties of object and surroundings. Current approaches that attempt to account for these influences focus on defining visual zones, but are limited because they do not directly address object size. A fuzzy viewshed approach, modified to account for target size, is suggested as a solution for assessing the level of visibility of cultural objects in past landscapes.
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- Authors
- Ogburn, D. E.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ogburn, Dennis E.
- Venue
- Journal of Archaeological Science
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-03
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 405-413
- ISSN
- 0305-4403 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2085221126
- Cited by
- 185
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 5.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Archaeological Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Space and Planetary Science › Archaeological Research and Protection
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Urban Design and Spatial Analysis
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Historical and Architectural Studies
- Keywords
- visibility, cultural artifacts, past landscapes, target size, visual acuity, atmospheric extinction, site location
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