Mr. Brian M. Wood Profile

Brian M. Wood

at Harvard Univ

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Proceedings Article | 16 January 2006 Paper

Energetically optimal travel across terrain: visualizations and a new metric of geographic distance with anthropological applications

Brian Wood, Zoë Wood

Proceedings Volume 6060, 60600F (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.644376

KEYWORDS: Visualization, Analytical research, 3D modeling, Raw materials, Visual process modeling, Geographic information systems, Visual analytics, Data modeling, Data centers, Systems modeling

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We present a visualization and computation tool for modeling the caloric cost of pedestrian travel across three dimensional terrains. This tool is being used in ongoing archaeological research that analyzes how costs of locomotion affect the spatial distribution of trails and artifacts across archaeological landscapes. Throughout human history, traveling by foot has been the most common form of transportation, and therefore analyses of pedestrian travel costs are important for understanding prehistoric patterns of resource acquisition, migration, trade, and political interaction. Traditionally, archaeologists have measured geographic proximity based on "as the crow flies" distance. We propose new methods for terrain visualization and analysis based on measuring paths of least caloric expense, calculated using well established metabolic equations. Our approach provides a human centered metric of geographic closeness, and overcomes significant limitations of available Geographic Information System (GIS) software. We demonstrate such path computations and visualizations applied to archaeological research questions. Our system includes tools to visualize: energetic cost surfaces, comparisons of the elevation profiles of shortest paths versus least cost paths, and the display of paths of least caloric effort on Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). These analysis tools can be applied to calculate and visualize 1) likely locations of prehistoric trails and 2) expected ratios of raw material types to be recovered at archaeological sites.

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