Project Diaries

GIS Data Management
06/27/2008 - Carter Hudgins, Manager of Preservation Programs

Throughout the winter months the Drayton Hall Preservation Department has been busy digitizing old archaeological records and integrating related maps into the Drayton Hall GIS system. GIS, short for Geographical Information Systems, is a computer system capable of capturing, managing, analyzing and displaying data with a geographical reference. Simply put, any form of information that has a geographic reference can be placed into GIS. This is particularly valuable within archaeological studies, especially where a significant quantity of information exists from past excavations.

As an example, the south flanker of Drayton Hall was examined in 1981 by National Trust Senior Archaeologist Lynne Lewis. Lynne kept detailed field notes of her work, including measured drawings of the brick foundation. In 2008 this information was scanned by Lynne and then transferred into the GIS system by Drayton Hall Archaeologist Carter Hudgins. Assembling information as such is particularly useful as past and recent excavation data can be reviewed simultaneously. Furthermore, artifact catalogs can be integrated into GIS to assess artifact distribution. As work progresses this will help in identifying activity area