ABSTRACT
Archaeologists have extensive spatial data handling requirements. Archaeological phenomena are underpinned by their unique position in space and time, and by the latent relationships existing between them. It is no surprise that archaeologists have paid close regard to, and often emulated, developments in spatial analysis within geography (Hodder 1977; Bintliff 1986; Grant 1986). Traditionally, geographical information has from necessity been displayed, or visualized, in the form of maps. Archaeologists have made full use of both maps and plans to visualize spatial data at different scales from regional to intrasite. Maps provide an extremely efficient storage medium for spatial data condensing tens of thousands of coordinates and associated attribute data into a single sheet of information. Maps also allow a variety of referencing frameworks including specific location identifiers such as cartesian co-ordinate systems-grid references or site grids-or a variety of other locational or ‘nominal’ location identifiers such as postcodes, place names or arbitrary identification numbers to be used (Tomlinson 1987; Rhind & Mounsey 1989). Vast quantities of locational and thematic information can be stored on a single map and yet, because the eye is a very effective image processor, visual analysis and information retrieval can be rapid. It is not surprising, therefore, that maps have formed the basis for visualizing spatial data from early historic times.
