[Qgis-user] QGIS and historical battle

Fri Feb 3 16:00:57 PST 2023

Hi Ciprian, 

Another archaeologist here. 

I encourage you to test both paths. (1) Maps from modern to ancient to understand the history of the landscape and the position of the battlefield in that context or (2) Geomorphology from DTM, Hydrology, and additional historical information. 

We had positive results with LiDAR data in densely forested, mountainous areas that had experienced many changes -- paddy rice fields, buildings, paths -- over the centuries before being abandoned after World War II. With Lidar data, we could create a DTM that revealed small hollows from tunnel kilns that crashed about 1200 years ago. You cannot spot them during field walks, but with the DTM at hand, no problem. A battlefield with digs and earthen barriers should also present some patterns in the DTM that might help you find real places. 

Of course, this only applies to certain types of battle (though one day with digs may be enough) and whether you have a decent DTM. We used a 20cm grid, but 1m might have been sufficient. The official DTMs from the Japanese government are useless in such research, but I do not know whether you have access to good-quality data in your country.

To encourage you!

Maria

> Am 2023-02-04 um 02:06 schrieb Madry, Scott via QGIS-User <qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org>:
> 
> 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
> 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> 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
>>> 
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