SPATIAL-ANALYSIS OF VISIBLE AREAS FROM THE BRONZE-AGE CAIRNS-OF-MULL

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are becoming widespread in arch aeological investigations ranging from inventory to management and inc luding some spatial analysis. Common among the analytical tools is the determination of visible area, an attribute widely suggested as impor tant in archaeological contexts although not well investigated in the pre-GIS era. However, the existing analyses generally lack rigorous st atistical analysis. This is partly due to the lack of spatio-statistic al tools within GIS, and a lack of generally accepted methods among ge ographers and spatial scientists. This payer demonstrates how clear an d testable hypotheses can be developed within a GIS context, addressin g questions of the archaeological significance of the visible area. Th e hypotheses are tested using random site generation in a Monte Carlo framework. The areas Visible from the Bronze Age cairns of North Mull are the primary subject of analysis. It is assumed that the sites are broadly contemporary and that there may be some similar causal influen ce of the visible area in their location. They are compared with areas visible from random, stratified random and proximal sites within the general landscape. The research demonstrates that the areas visible fr om the Bronze Age cairns are distinctive among the population of the p ossible sites in the area, being both larger and having a greater area of the sea visible. When the distribution of the cairns close to the short is accommodated within the analysis by stratified sampling the s ites are still distinctive. Furthermore, the sites seem to share a vie w of the sea to the north of the Island. Some practical or symbolic im portance of sea in the lives of the Bronze Age inhabitants is clearly indicated. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.