[Qgis-user] QGIS and historical battle

Fri Feb 3 09:06:17 PST 2023

Hi Ciprian.

There are many examples of such historical/archaeological research. I would suggest that you get a decent DEM (and generate slope and aspect) and vector hydrology, as Bernd suggested, but I think the most important will be to find a series of historical maps of the area. Scan these, or get them in digital format already if you can, and then georeference the maps to the modern landscape using either current imagery or you can use Openstreetmap or the most detailed current governmental data. You don’t say where you are… Once you have the maps georeferenced, vector digitize the old roadways, bridges, and other relevant features, so you are working back in time. Start with the most recent maps and work backwards, and go back as far as you can to the time of the battle. Then you can start looking at the intervisibility, time and movement along the roads, and see what locations might best fit your historical documentary data for what happened. Then you can look on Google Earth and other imagery (quickmapservices plugin) for vestiges on the landscape.

You don’t say what your position is, if you are a professional archaeologist or simply interested in the history, but do be aware that it is generally illegal to conduct excavations or ground surveys without proper archaeological permits and without the permission of the land owner. Cultural resources laws vary, but it is best to consult the local museum or archaeologists before any digging.

Feel free to contact me,

Scott

Scott Madry, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor of Archaeology
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tel         1-919-448-4493
Email:    madrys at email.unc.edu<mailto:madrys at email.unc.edu>
https://scottmadry.web.unc.edu
Skype:   scott madry

On Feb 3, 2023, at 9:32 AM, Bernd Vogelgesang via QGIS-User <qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org>> wrote:

Hi,
I'm no archaeologist, but I know that there are quite some of them
around on this list.

First short answer: yes, of course!

First counter-question: What kind of geodata is already available to you?

Actually, I think you just need 3 data-sets:
a digital terrain model to find observation spots and valleys
a vector of rivers to find the confluences
a point vector of (historic) towns

Unfortunately you did not mention how big the possible region for this
battle is, so it is hard to guess if it makes sense to create a real
simulation model, or if places can be identified in a semi-manual way.

I think it would be useful to keep the discussion on the list, so others
can learn from the example as well.
Though this is not my business, I am always interested in such kind of
"riddles".

For a starter: There is the great Visibility Analysis Plugin of Zoran
Čučković, where you can create a Visibility Index on a terrain data-set
which I think is exactly meant to identify outlook spots in the
landscape for a given radius.

Cheers,
Bernd

Am 03.02.23 um 09:20 schrieb Lazanu Ciprian-Cătălin via QGIS-User:
Hello,
I want to start a project with a great challenge:

 * first an introduction - a battle between two armies in the medieval
   period. we have a few pieces of information regarding this battle:
   the number of soldiers from both armies (army A with ~ 25.000/30.000
   soldiers and army B between 50.000 and 100.000 - medieval chronicles
   have different numbers) and incomplete information regarding the
   exact place of the battle. all we know is that it was on a river
   valley and the main battle was regarding controlling a bridge at the
   confluence of 2 rivers. another clue is that the battle was at a
   short distance from an important city (name Town) which is located
   in that river valley. Army B was marching on the river valley to
   take the city Town and met army A at a short distance from the city.
   The battle was around a bridge on the river. That is all we know.
   (Army A won that battle).
 * what I want ... I want to see if I could locate that battle (so l
   could make some archaeological investigation after that) using some
   simulators ... for example: to see how long the marching formation
   of army B (50.000 to 80.000/90.000 soldiers) was to see the
   distribution on the field/road to city Town.
 * another clue ... we know that the commander of army A (the defender)
   had a small base fortification from where he could see and command
   the army and make orders. such a place is visible now on a hill from
   where you could see at 15 - 20 km down the river valley. (I know
   that l could use visibility analysis). On the ground, the surface is
   no visible traces of that battle.

This battle is an important historical moment in the history of my
country and has an important local value.
So, is there anything in QGIS or other GIS software something to work so
l can make a simulation or something like that regarding this kind of
activity?
Thank you in advance ... and any suggestions could be sent via email in
private too.
Ciprian

_______________________________________________
QGIS-User mailing list
QGIS-User at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:QGIS-User at lists.osgeo.org>
List info: https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user
Unsubscribe: https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user
_______________________________________________
QGIS-User mailing list
QGIS-User at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:QGIS-User at lists.osgeo.org>
List info: https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user
Unsubscribe: https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/qgis-user/attachments/20230203/9b59376f/attachment-0001.htm>