Abstract
This paper investigates the use of geographical information systems (GIS) in numismatics. Up to now, geographical information systems have rarely been used in numismatics, although neighboring disciplines such as archaeology have applied this technology successfully with many advantages. Some of the methods used by archaeologists can be applied to numismatics as well. The basis for every GIS application is geo-referenced data. This paper focuses on numismatic data and its applicability for use in a GIS. Data from the Austrian coin database dFMRÖ serves as an example. The limitations of this dataset concerning accuracy and precision,which are not up to the standards desired for usage within a GIS, will be highlighted.Subsequently the effects of data quality on the resulting models will be estimated.Predictive site modeling and least-cost paths serve as examples.
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Acknowledgements
This research is undertaken within an interdisciplinary project called ‘The Cultural History of the Western Himalaya from the 8 th Century’ that started in 2007 in Vienna. This National Research Network (NRN), funded by the Austrian Science Fund, includes cartographers, art historians, numismatists, philosophers, and philologists. The main objectives of the NRN are to intensify research on the cultural history of the Western Himalayas as well as to develop a map-based Cultural History Information System (CHIS) for sharing the outcomes with other experts and an interested public.
I would like to thank Dr. Klaus Vondrovec from the Coin Cabinet of the Vienna Museum for Cultural History for his help with numismatic issues and Martin Fera from the Department for Prehistory and Early History at the University of Vienna for providing data on the Roman road network.
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Breier, M. (2011). GIS for Numismatics – Methods of Analyses in the Interpretation of Coin Finds. In: Kriz, K., Cartwright, W., Hurni, L. (eds) Mapping Different Geographies. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15537-6_11
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