Archaeological Impact Through GIS Analysis

Excavations of significant archaeological resources are costly and can lead to project delays. Currently, the identification of significant sites comes late in the project process, after route selection. Because archeological resources cannot be positively identified without excavation, they are invisible in the early stages of corridor planning. Recent research has begun to suggest that observable properties of soil type, slope, land cover may be helpful in improving the planner's ability to anticipate high-probability locations for archeological resources, without excavation. This information can then be incorporated into other information used in corridor identification to reduce the risk of encountering signifIcant archeological resources along a chosen route.