Interregional Archaeology in the Age of Big Data: Building Online Collaborative Platforms for Virtual Survey in the Andes

Abstract

Archaeologists study many phenomena that scale beyond even our most geographically expansive field methodologies. The promise of collecting archaeologically relevant data beyond the scale of regional surveys is among the most exciting prospects of the “data revolution.” Yet previous efforts have either struggled to generate high-quality data within expansive regions or to use well-edited interregional datasets to address novel research questions. We discuss the development of two collaborative research projects that seek to address these problems—GeoPACHA (Geospatial Platform for Andean Culture, History and Archaeology) and LOGAR (Linked Open Gazetteer of the Andean Region). The former is an online platform facilitating virtual archaeological survey of satellite and historical aerial imagery; the latter collates primary source information on Andean places. We illustrate the potential of both tools through presentation and analysis of a comprehensive basemap of the planned colonial towns built during a mass resettlement program instituted in the viceroyalty of Peru in the 1570s C.E.