Participatory Mapping and Participatory GIS for Historical and Archaeological Landscape Studies: a Critical Review

ALVAREZ LARRAIN, ALINA; MICHAEL MCCALL

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory

Springer

Lugar: New York; Año: 2019 p. 643 - 678

1072-5369

This article presents participatory mapping (PM) and Participatory Geographical Information Systems (PGIS) approaches as an appropriate and still developingkind of community-based spatial study in archaeology. Researchers and practitioners who advocate reflexive mapping practices in the field recognize that mapping isnot an objective practice and that maps are necessarily the product of those who create them. We consider that a PM/PGIS approach can contribute to this reflexive practice through the incorporation of local spatial knowledge (LSK) which is always placebased and reflects a long and close physical interaction with the landscape. For local communities, this approach helps them to be incorporated as active subjects in the registration and interpretation of their cultural heritage, as well as in the defense and management of it. At the same time, archaeological studies are enriched by incorporating contemporary perspectives and local people?s knowledge into interpretations of past landscapes.