Predictive Modeling of Cultural Resources in the Theban Necropolis

Burns, Gwendolyn ; Fronabarger, A. Kem ; Whitley, Thomas,
"Predictive Modeling of Cultural Resources in the Theban Necropolis, Luxor, Egypt",
in: A. Posluschny/ K. Lambers/I. Herzog (eds.), Layers of Perception. Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Berlin, April 2-6, 2007. Koll. Vor- u. Frühgesch. 10 (Bonn 2008) 307
(Abstract) (PDF, 632 KB)
http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/volltexte/2010/521/

The Egyptian Government created the Egyptian Antiquities Information System (EAIS) and a Comprehensive Development Plan to help protect cultural resources in the Theban Necropolis, Luxor, Egypt. By creating a cognitive predictive model and assessing its utility in locating tombs, researchers could be aided in the understanding of why these locations were preferred by the ancient Egyptians. The cognitive evaluations used include tomb location relative to geology, slope, elevation, fractures, and religious/burial practices. A set of sensitivity surfaces was created using Geographical Information System (GIS) / statistical analysis of measured and derived environmental and cultural attributes. Analysis of fifteen sensitivity surfaces produced two viable models which could be combined with the EAIS database to help show which areas should be avoided or studied further. The most important information generated from this research is the fact that there is a lack of focus in the archaeological world concerning why tomb locations were chosen.