Evolving the Archaeological Mapping of Afghanistan

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http://silk-road.com/newsletter/vol2num2/Evolving.htmlEvolving the Archaeological

Mapping of Afghanistan

Mariner Padwa

Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

T he application of GIS to the

archaeological mapping of

Afghanistan offers an excellent

means of evolving a new platform

for synthesizing and interpreting

data, for assessing and

monitoring the preservation of

sites, and for the eventual

collection of new data. In

conjunction with other Central

Asian GIS projects, it can also

form a tool with which to study

historical human geography

within and across the region, and

themes such as the evolution of

settlement patterns and cultural

interactions across the Iranian

plateau and Central Asia. The

GIS described in this section is a

first step in this direction,

containing over 2000 sites and

associated data sets, derived

from the Archaeological Gazetteer

of Afghanistan [ball 1982], the

French surveys in eastern Bactria

[Gardin 1998; Lyonnet 1997;

Gentelle 1989] and other

sources.From maps and catalogs to GISThe two main sources of

archaeological data digitized

were the Gazetteer and data from

the plains east of the Kunduz

river, which were the object of an

extensive regional survey by a

French team in the 1970s.

Geographic and cartographic

"base map" data sources include

publicly available vector data such

as National Imagery and Mapping

Agency (NIMA) Vmap1 and

current data from Afghanistan

Information Management System

(AIMS), as well as raster data

such as 3-arcsecond Digital

Elevation Models (DEMs). Of

great potential are georeferenced

1:100,000 and 1:50,000 Soviet

military topographic

map sets, which not

only allow for precise

localization of known

sites, but the addition

of hundreds of undocumented

sites, which are marked

as mounds on these maps (Fig.

1).

The Gazetteer data were digitized by scanning the site catalog, performing text recognition, and creating a single database record for the text of each catalog entry, including its detailed description, periodization, bibliographic references, etc. The coordinates given for each site were extracted automatically into separate database fields and converted into decimal degree format. Because seconds are not provided in these coordinates, the resulting calculated decimal degree coordinates significantly exaggerate their geographical precision (since the geographical range of sites within one minute could amount to a difference on the ground of over a kilometer). Entries in the Gazetteer spanning more than one geographical minute were averaged into one decimal degree coor dinate . Averaged coordinates are mainly the groups of sites subsumed by Gardin into one catalog entry in the Gazetteer, but most of these were individually localized much more precisely in the digitization of more data from the original survey maps of the Gardin team. Such precise localizations are necessary in areas crowded with sites, which sometimes even bear the same names.

The separate publications of

the latter data formed the second

main source for the GIS. In three

seasons (1974-5-6) of survey in

the Dasht-i-Qala plain, approximately

200 square kilometers

Fig. 1. Sites mapped in the GIS.were surveyed, recording 349

sites, while one season (1977-8) of extensive survey across

some 1,500 km. recorded 474

sites. The GIS in its present form

contains localizations only of the

sites of the extensive survey

(mapped in Fig. 2); however the

digitized site database includes

records for the remaining 226

sites in the Dasht-i-Qala plain.Data have so far been

entered in the database for

these fields: number (sometimes

with sub-number identifying

letter); Ball number and subnumber

identifying letter (A, B, C,

etc.); a 'D number' for sites in the

Dasht-i-Qala plain (to distinguish

these sites, which are numbered

in a different sequence); name

when given; the designated

geographic area, sectors,

subsectors, and sub-subsectors,

and finally the presence-absence

fields for the different ceramic

groups at each site. The complex

set of fields used for coding the

ceramic finds at each site is a

function of the notation of

periodization used by Gardin

[1998], which generally refers to

degrees of certainty of attribution

(and which is not always the

same as the identifications in

Lyonnet 1997).1 Exclusive of a

subset of sites in the Dasht-i-

Qala plain, the present form of

this subset of the digitized site

database thus contains 695

complete records.Not yet included in the

database is the full narrative

description for these sites, which

generally contains a measurement

and descriptive localization

(itinerary). No coordinate locations

are given in this site catalog,

but in the localization in the GIS

through the use of the original

maps used on survey, coordinates

were identified within a

estimated precision of hundreds

of meters for most sites (and the

descriptive data could be used

for even greater accuracy in

localizing sites with larger scale

maps). These original survey

maps were a set of 1:100,000

scale Soviet topographic maps

and corresponding photocopies

marked with the field data from

the survey.2 Some of the maps

were themselves large-format

black and white photocopies or

color reproductions of varying

quality. The photocopies of

sections of these maps

corresponding to sectors or

portions of sectors described in

the survey synthesis were

marked with all the sites

recorded on the survey, labeled

with the survey number. In the

case of larger sites a sketch of

the extent and shape of sites was

where one 'x' or a small circle

identifies a series of sites, a point

was entered at the center of the

shape (Fig. 3).Even in rare cases where

exact locations of individual sites

were not indicated, the error can

be estimated to be under a

kilometer, and in most cases the

accuracy of the coordinates

Fig. 2. Sites of eastern Bactria (excl. Dasht-i-

Qala plain).digitized in this fashion are

probably better or even similar to

the total error range of a

standard (non-survey) GPS

receiver. The maps published in

the survey synthesis were

consulted during the digitization

process, but because of their

schematic nature, the sources

described above were given

preference in making all geographic

determinations.Desiderata for database

developmentData from sources not entirely

included in the Gazetteer, such the

Soviet-Afghan mission [cf. map in

Sarianidi 1976], as well as

unpublished ones, also need to

be incorporated. The development

of the database also

requires reorganization of the

material which has already been

digitized. Database entries from

the Gazetteer contain entire texts

of catalog entries in one field,

with the exception of coordinates.

While this text field can be

queried (e.g. for the string

"Bronze Age" or "Kushan"),

including spatial queries, the

ability to carry out more complex

queries on the Gazetteer data is

limited, and each of these entires

should be converted into

database fields, for which they

are essentially already structured.Separate database fields are

important for bringing the data

on a uniform level with other site

databases, as well as for

analysis. This is particularly

relevant for periodization and

site size, but other fields contain

data of significance for

interpretation — for example the

fieldwork type (excavation,

survey) could be compared with

new data on intensity of survey

(scale of intensity, quantified in

terms of time, surface area

collection size, etc.). The

incorporation of a structured,

site-by-site bibliographic database

is likewise an important

aim. Finally, the inclusion of the

site plans, and the creation of a

photographic database, are

goals for developing the

database as a tool to track the

state of preservation of sites and collections. A unified database

form should ideally encompass a

spectrum of formats from fields

which contain discrete quantifiable

data which needs to be

formalized for analytical purposes

(spatial queries, etc.), to more

descriptive fields which can

contain miscellaneous descriptive

information, notes etc.Finally, without groundtruthing,

inaccurate or imprecise

localizations can only be

somewhat ameliorated by

consulting original archaeological

publications and comparing

cartographic sources. The

correction of geographic localizations

can also sometimes be

achieved using higher quality

cartographic sources, and the

Soviet topographic sets also

record many mounds which have

not been examined or identified,

but which are in many cases

archaeological sites. An important

task would be creating a

point feature set from all mounds

marked on these maps, identifying

those which are

documented in the literature, and

taking the remaining mounds as

a basis for future documentation

(point sets can simply be

downloaded into a GPS and then

navigated to as waypoints).Potential applicationsOver twenty years ago, after

collecting and reviewing most of

the existing archaeological data

from Afghanistan, Ball offered an

assessment of the work to be

done in the Introduction to the

Gazetteer [1982, p. 20]: "Generally

.... the need for survey –

and survey of a systematic and

organized sort – appears to be

paramount. In many ways,

surveys can answer more

questions than excavation."

While a GIS database including

unpublished material and

material published since the

Gazetteer offers new possibilities

for the interpretation of existing

archaeological data, and for

remedying some of the many

imbalances in our knowledge of

Afghanistan's past, the need for

survey can only have grown

during the tragic events since the

time of Ball's judgment.Many factors may of course

limit the logistical feasibility of

carrying out any kind of fieldwork

in Afghanistan for years to come.

Nevertheless, the return of

stability in certain regions of the

country has made it possible for

archaeologists to renew fieldwork

and even undertake some

limited excavations [Tarzi 2004;

Franke-Vogt n.d.], and several

important discoveries have

already been made [Lee and

Sims-Williams 2003; Grenet, Lee,

and Ory, n.d.]. This work,

undertaken by scientists

hazarding the dangers of travel

in the countryside of Afghanistan,

follows a series of spectacular

discoveries over the past decade

which were sadly made in

undocumented and illicit

circumstances, such as a group

of Bactrian socio-economic

documents, which have unveiled

what was essentially an

unknown language [sims-

Williams 2001]; new inscriptions,

which have settled questions of

chronology that kept generations

of scholars busy with speculation

[Falk 2001]; large numbers of

Kharoshthi birch-bark scrolls,

which proved to be the earliest

Buddhist manuscripts known

[salomon 1999]; the Mir Zakah

hoard, "one of the largest coin

deposits attested in the history

of mankind" consisting of "three

to four tons of gold, silver and

bronze coins" [bopearachchi

1999, p. 109], as well as a host

of other material which hasFig. 3. Sites in the area of Imam Sahib, near the Amu-darya.

surfaced on the antiquities

market, such as Bronze age

funerary material from Bactria.The appearance of such a

wealth of material in a such a

chaotic fashion only underscores

the need to design a GIS

database to accomodate new

data, and when and where

possible, from new surveys,

which offer perhaps the best

possibility for effectively

documenting a large amount of

data before it is lost. Some

possibilities in this direction

include designing the database

to accommodate data from

different survey techniques;

adapting a ceramic database

template for surface collection;

establishing a baseline for

evaluating (or indeed, if possible,

quantifying) the current preservation

of sites, against which

historical and future assessments

can be measured;

establishing a protocol for

collecting photographic documentation

(for example, following

relatively simple methods which

will make it possible for the

images to be post-processed for

photogrammetry); creating a

general database template

which can be distributed to

archaeologists and others

working in the field, and so on.

Obviously, a GIS of Afghan

archaeology should be designed

with such potential applications

in mind, and should be open to

international collaboration of the

broadest scope.ReferencesBall 1982

Warwick Ball. Archaeological

Gazetteer of Afghanistan /

Catalogue des sites archéologiques

d'Afghanistan. Paris, 1982.Borearachchi 1999

Osmund Bopearachchi. "Recent

Coin Hoard Evidence on Pre-

Kushana Chronology." In: Coins,

Art, and Chronology: Essays on the

Pre-Islamic History of the Indo-

Iranian Borderlands. M. Alram and

D.E. Klimburg-Salter, eds.Vienna,

1999.Falk 2001

Harry Falk. "The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja

and the Era of the

Kushanas." Silk Road Art and

Archaeology (Kamakura), 7

(2001).Franke-Vogt n.d.

U. Franke-Vogt. "Grabungs- und

Trainingsprogramm Bagh-e

Babur, Kabul." (Brief project

description on the website of the

Deutsches Archäologisches

Institut, http://www.dainst.org/index_2888_de.html). n.d.Gardin 1998

Jean-Claude Gardin. Prospections

archéologique en Bactriane

orientale (1974-1978) vol. 3:

Description des sites et notes de

synthèses (Mémoirs de la

mission archéologiques française

en Afghanistan, vol. VII). Paris:

Editions Recherche sur les

Civilisations, 1998.Gentelle 1989

Pierre Gentelle. Prospections

archéologiques en Bactriane

orientale (1974-1978) vol. 1 :

Données paléogéographiques et

fondements de l'irrigation

(Mémoirs de la mission

archéologiques française en

Afghanistan, vol. VII). Paris:

Editions Recherche sur les

Civilisations, 1989.Lee and Sims-Williams 2003

Jonathan Lee and Nicholas Sims-

Williams. "The antiquities and

inscription of Tang-i-Safedak." Silk

Road Art and Archaeology

(Kamakura), 9 (2003).Grenet et al., n.d.

Frantz Grenet, Jonathan Lee and

François Ory. (Paper on the newly

discovered rock relief at Pul-i-

Khumri, presented at the British

Academy symposium After

Alexander: Central Asia before

Islam, June 2004.)Lyonnet 1997

Bertille Lyonnet. Prospections

archéologique en Bactriane

orientale (1974-1978) vol. 2:

Céramique et peuplement du

chalcolithique à la conquête arabe

(Mémoirs de la mission

archéologiques française en

Afghanistan, vol. VII). Paris:

Editions Recherche sur les

Civilisations, 1997.Salomon 1999

Richard Salomon. Ancient

Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhara:

The British Library Kharosthi

Fragments. London and Seattle:

The British Library and The

University of Washington Press,

1999.Sarianidi 1976

Viktor I. Sarianidi. "Issledovanie

pamiatnikov dashlinskogo

oazisa." In: Drevniaia Baktriia, 1.

G.I. Kruglikova, ed. Moskva,

1976: 21-86.Sims-Williams 2001

Nicholas Sims-Williams. Bactrian

Documents from Northern

46

Afghanistan: Legal and Economic

Documents (Studies in the Khalili

Collection of Islamic Art). Oxford

University Press, 2001.Tarzi 2003

Zemaryalai Tarzi. "Bamiyan:

Professor Tarzi's Survey and

Excavation Archaeological

Mission, 2003." The Silk Road

(Newsletter of the Silkroad

Foundation), 1/2 (2003): 37-39.

(http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/december/bamiyan.htm).Notes

In collaboration with several

scholars, a database derived from

Lyonnet 1997 is in the process of

digitization, which is an especially

important component, because it

provides a detailed ceramic typology

with comparisons across the

region.The original maps and photocopies

were generously provided

by Jean-Claude Gardin to the author

and Sebastian Stride, who

has collaborated on many aspects

of this project.