Viewing places: GIS applications for examining the perception of space in the mountains of Sicily
Abstract
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly used to appreciate how past people experienced their world. Two key approaches, visibility and cost surface studies, have been the dominant form of analysis to help archaeologists to reconstruct and visualize space, in other words to help archaeologists understand what it was like to be 'there' in the past. This paper seeks to question the use of these analyses in Mediterranean landscape archaeology with a discussion of the results from a series of interviews with the inhabitants of Troina, a town in the Nebrodi Mountains of Sicily. Focusing on the visualization of the results from a photo elicitation study, I aim to show how people construct images of the space in which they dwell. The results suggest that we need to review the assumptions that we make about landscape perception in archaeological research and the (GIS) methods we use to study them.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
5. The Practice of Everyday Life
Liu, X. (2000) · University of California Press eBooks · doi:10.1525/9780520923478-008 · Cited by 10,752 · see citing works
The Perception of the Environment
Ingold, T. (2002) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203466025 · Cited by 4,924 · see citing works
Talking about pictures: A case for photo elicitation
Harper, D. (2002) · Visual Studies · doi:10.1080/14725860220137345 · Cited by 3,955 · see citing works
Langer, B., & de Certeau, M. (1988) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2069486 · Cited by 3,680 · see citing works
The Perception of the Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill
Ingold, T. (2021) · Cited by 3,248 · see citing works
An archaeology of natural places
(2000) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.38-2221 · Cited by 641 · see citing works
Beyond the map : archaeology and spatial technologies
Lock, G., & Technologies, S. (2000) · Cited by 255 · see citing works
Milgram, S., & Jodelet, D. (2014) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315816852-9 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
PICTURE OR PLACE? A MULTIPLE SORTING STUDY OF LANDSCAPE
Scott, M., & Canter, D. V. (1997) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1006/jevp.1997.0068 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Beilin, R. (2005) · Visual Studies · doi:10.1080/14725860500064904 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Themes in Landscape Assessment Theory
Zube, E. H. (1984) · Landscape Journal · doi:10.3368/lj.3.2.104 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Reconstructing Past Population Trends in Mediterranean Europe (3000 BC - AD 1800)
Sbonias, K., & Bintliff, J. L. (2016) · Oxbow Books · doi:10.2307/j.ctvh1dqhd · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Visibility Studies in Archaeology: A Review and Case Study
Lake, M. W., & Woodman, P. E. (2003) · Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design · doi:10.1068/b29122 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Geoarchaeology in Action: Studies in Soil Micromorphology and Landscape Evolution
French, C. A. I. (2002) · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Sicily before history: an archaeological survey from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age
(1999) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.37-2237 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Brown, T. C., & Daniel, T. C. (1987) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0272-4944(87)80032-4 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Proshansky, H. M., & Friedman, Y. (1975) · Leonardo · doi:10.2307/1573228 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Holloway, R. R. (2000) · American Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.2307/507488 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Implied human influence reduces landscape beauty
Hodgson, R. W., & Thayer, R. L. (1980) · Landscape and Planning · doi:10.1016/0304-3924(80)90014-3 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Geographical Information Systems and Landscape Archaeology
Attema, P. A. J. (2000) · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Subjective Responses To Architectural Displays
Danford, S., & Willems, E. P. (1975) · Environment and Behavior · doi:10.1177/001391657500700405 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Geographical Information Systems and Landscape Archaeology
Lazzari, M. (2016) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315427737-70 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
GIS and landscapes of perception.
Witcher, R. (1999) · Durham Research Online (Durham University) · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Attema, P. A. J., Burgers, G.-J., Van Joolen, E., Van Leusen, M., & Mater, B. (2002) · BAR Publishing eBooks · doi:10.30861/9781841714691 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Barker, G. (1995) · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Setting up a ‘human calibrated’ anisotropic cost surface for archaeological landscape investigation
Silva, M. D., & Pizziolo, G. (2001) · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Seeing is believing: questions of archaeological visibility in the Mediterranean
Ayala, G., & Fitzjohn, M. (2002) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00090402 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationPeople, nature and landscape: a research review
Swanwick, C. (1989) · Landscape Research · doi:10.1080/01426398908706292 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Malone, C. (2001) · Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Malone, C., & Stoddart, S. (2000) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00059706 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
A contribution to the understanding of Serraferlicchio
Malone, C. (2000) · Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) · doi:10.1400/262543 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Understanding digital archaeological landscapes
van Leusen, M. (2002) · University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Ayala G., 2003, The Alluvial Archaeology of North West Europe and the Mediterranean, 229
- Harris T., 2000, Beyond the Map: Archaeology and Spatial Technologies, 116
- Malone C., 2000, Sicilia Archeologica, 33, 97
- Tschan A. P., 2000, Beyond the Map: Archaeology and Spatial Technologies, 28
- Wheatley D, 2000, Beyond the Map: Archaeology and Spatial Technologies, 1
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mapping the Political Landscape: Toward a GIS Analysis of Environmental and Social Difference
Kosiba, S., & Bauer, A. M. (2013) · Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · doi:10.1007/s10816-011-9126-z · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Counter-Mapping Maroon Cartographies: GIS and Anticolonial Modeling in St. Croix
Dunnavant, J. P., Wernke, S. A., & Kohut, L. E. (2023) · ACME · doi:10.7202/1107310ar · Cited by 12 · see citing works
- Authors
- Fitzjohn, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Fitzjohn, Matthew
- Venue
- World Archaeology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2007-03
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 36-50
- ISSN
- 0043-8243 (ISSN-L)
- 1470-1375
- OpenAlex
- W2037349615
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 2.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- World Archaeology (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Cambridge
- University of Liverpool
- 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 › Cultural Studies › Urbanism, Landscape, and Tourism Studies
- Keywords
- landscape perception, visibility analysis, photo-elicitation, Nebrodi Mountains, Sicily, archaeological GIS
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
