What is SPARC?
SPARC is an NSF-funded program at the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) dedicated to promoting geospatial research in archaeology. SPARC offers direct support to archaeological projects through awards in three categories:
In addition, you can learn about the latest technologies and their archaeological applications through residencies at CAST or through our online resources and periodic webinars. You can also connect with potential collaborators or develop projects in partnership with SPARC.
Recent News
Upcoming online SAA Seminar with Fred Limp: Newer Developments in Technologies for the Measurement of Form and Space in Archaeology: Part II: (11/27/18) December 6, 2018 2-3pm EST More than 60 years ago, Gordon Willey famously stated... More Info
NSF support for SPARC renewed!: (09/25/18) Building on five years of continuous investment, the National Science Foundation has renewed funding... More Info
Congrats to the Dionisio Point team on their new publication: (09/25/17) In 2014 SPARC supported Patrick Dolan and Colin Grier in their project, "The economic organization o... More Info
What is Spatial Archaeometry?
Spatial Archaeometry is the application of scientific techniques to measure properties of archaeological materials at all scales, including objects, sites and landscapes, wherein the spatial properties of the measurements are central to their analysis and interpretation.
What we do.
We help you learn about spatial archaeometry, develop your ideas through collaborative project proposal writing, apply your research plans through SPARC research support awards, and collaborate your results and experience with the archaeological community.
Why we do it.
Collaborating on research, sharing equipment and resources, and facilitating knowledge exchanges and best practices will promote the use of remote sensing methods and geospatial in archaeological research and assist researchers in meeting their project's goals.
SPARC Areas of Expertise
Funded Projects » See All Funded Projects
Understanding Rejolladas and Examining their Potential for Predicting Settlement Location at Tahcabo
Professor Patricia McAnany and Maia Dedrick of UNC Chapel Hill and Dr. Adolfo-Iván Batún-Alpuche (AGEY) will be collaborati... More Info
FUNDED: Understanding Rejolladas and Examining their Potential for Predicting Settlement Location at Tahcabo
Professor Patricia McAnany and Maia Dedrick of UNC Chapel Hill and Dr. Adolfo-Iván Batún-Alpuche (AGEY) will be collaborating with SPARC researchers to seeks to identify the size and distribution of rejolladas (limestone solution sinkholes) on commonly held ejido land surrounding the town of Tahcabo, Yucatán, México. Rejolladas are significant landscape features because they generally contain deep soils and are characterized by high humidity, in contrast to their surroundings, characterized by shallow surface soils that mean that in northern Yucatán many culturally important tree crops—such as cacao—can only be grown in rejolladas. Further, this difference in soils means that long occupational sequences and information on changes in land use and crop regimes will likely come from rejolladas rather than shallow surface excavations. In this project the collaborators will use remote sensing data to identify and characterize the rejolladas in the area around Tahcabo and to use the results of the mapping exercise to construct a predictive model of settlement location. Further study will examine the attractiveness of rejolladas, and whether such attractiveness was spatially or temporally contingent. The research will also support archaeobotanical and ethnobotanical research by the co-PIs.
- PI: Patricia McAnany
- Institution: UNC Chapel Hill
- Co-PI: Maia Dedrick
- Instituion: UNC Chapel Hill
- Region: Central America
Etruria Before and After the Roman Conquest. The Landscape of Vulci.
Over a thousand archaeological sites have been identified in the landscape around Vulci, located north of Rome in Italy through... More Info
FUNDED: Etruria Before and After the Roman Conquest. The Landscape of Vulci.
Over a thousand archaeological sites have been identified in the landscape around Vulci, located north of Rome in Italy through a variety of surveys and excavations. Through this SPARC supported project, researchers from SUNY Buffalo and Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei - Rome will be bringing this information, together with environmental and topographic data and aerial imagery, to bear in a new study of the territory, aiming to better understand the military, social, and economic organization of the pre-Roman landscape, and the Etruscan response to Roman invasion— a critical period currently understood mainly from a Roman perspectives— and the Roman changes to the territory after the conquest of Vulci. Integrating and analyzing these complex data, the project will investigate questions of continuity and change, the organization of the local rural economy, the influence of the natural environment, and the value of a landscape approach to the study of the region's social structures.
This research project is conducted with the kind cooperation of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Etruria Meridionale, the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana and the Riserva Naturale Selva del Lamone.
- PI: Orlando Cerasuolo, Erin Warford, Stephen Dyson
- Institution: SUNY Buffalo
- Co-PI: Luca Polcinelli
- Instituion: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei - Rome
- Region: Mediterranean Europe
Important Dates » Applications for Projects 2018-2019
How to Apply
Step 1: Contact SPARC
If you are considering a project proposal to SPARC, and you have not already done so, you are encouraged to contact the SPARC staff via e-mail at sparc@cast.uark.edu staff to set up a (video) conference call or phone call to discuss your project. They will be able to assist you in determining whether or not the Center can be of support or collaborate on your project– and what types of collaboration or support are possible. In addition you should also consider participating in a SPARC webinar, accessing the various resources the Center has on equipment and workflows at The GMV, or check SPARC’s FAQ. You can contact us to set up this preliminary chat before applying.
Step 2: Determine your Application Type
There are a number of different types of awards and collaborations that are possible.
- Fieldwork Awards. In this type of effort SPARC staff and/or equipment is made available to the project to record data in the field. Additional information on this type of application is available HERE. (Application Questions)
- Data & Analytics Awards. In this type of effort SPARC staff and/or facilities and/or software are made available to the project to draw out details and subtleties in the dataset or to integrate them with other data. Additional information on this type of application is available HERE. (Application Questions)
- Publication Awards. Many archives are poorly prepared to receive large, complex digital datasets. SPARC will endeavor to work with project directors and the staff of their archive of choice to find a solution, or will help projects to identify appropriate archives for their data. Additional information on this type of application is available HERE. (Application Questions)
- SPARC Residency. To support the development of geospatial expertise within the archaeological research community, SPARC supports a visiting researcher residency program. Through this program, individual researchers can undertake a period of intensive study or project development at the Center in collaboration with resident staff. Additional information on this type of application is available HERE.
- Collaborative proposals to external agencies. In addition to providing support awards directly to projects, SPARC works collaboratively with projects to develop proposals for joint submission to external funding agencies. Additional information on this type of application is available HERE.
Step 3: Submit your Application
You can start your application process by registering for an account. You must register for an account to gain access to the application forms. You can apply in one or more of the following categories:
- Fieldwork support. Start a Fieldwork Award application.
- Data & Analytics. Start a Data & Analytics Award application.
- Archival preparation and publication. Start a Publication Award application.
- SPARC residency. Start a Residency application.
- Collaborative proposal to external agencies. Contact SPARC to develop a collaborative proposal.
Calendars explaining the timeline for each type of application are available on the pages under the APPLY tab.
Step 4: Application Review
Applications for Fieldwork Awards, Data & Analytics Awards, and Publication Awards are competitively funded based on a review and ranking process by the Center’s Advisory Committee and the Directors of the SPARC Program. Applications for residency and collaborative proposal development are evaluated by the SPARC Directors.
Step 5: Notification
After review applicants will be informed about the status of their application. Projects may be accepted directly, put on a wait list of projects which may be partially supported should the means become available, or declined. Applicants may request feedback on their applications by emailing sparc@cast.uark.edu. Information on notification timelines is available for each type of application, under the APPLY tab.
Recent News
Upcoming online SAA Seminar with Fred Limp: Newer Developments in Technologies for the Measurement of Form and Space in Archaeology: Part II 11/27/18
December 6, 2018 2-3pm EST More than 60 years ago, Gordon Willey famously stated that the objectives of archaeology are “approached by the study and manipulation of three basic factors: form, space and time.” Since then, we have seen the huge impact that improved technologies for the measurement of time have had on the field. We are currently in the midst of a similar revolution in the methods for the measurement of space and form. This lecture updates one first offered by SAA in 2014 and is designed as a state-of-the-art introduction to these developments, specifically for archaeology students. As a two-part series, Part II of this course examines analysis, display, and dissemination of High-Density Survey and Measurement (HDSM) data. Building on Part I, this lecture also provides further considerations and strategies for choosing the “best” approach in using these technologies. *FREE for individual SAA Members. Not available for SAA Nonmembers. Registered Professional Archaeologists will receive 1 Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits for this course. Register HERE
Created by: Carolin Ferwerda
NSF support for SPARC renewed! 09/25/18
Building on five years of continuous investment, the National Science Foundation has renewed funding for the Spatial Archaeometry Research Collaborations program, an initiative through the University of Arkansas, Dartmouth College and the University of Glasgow that acts as a national hub for geospatial research in archaeology. The $188,545 grant supports the SPARC program, which provides research and technical expertise to archaeological research projects working with a variety of technologies, including 3-D survey and modeling, geospatial analysis and visualization, and geophysical and airborne remote-sensing. Building on successful collaborative research projects, in 2017-2018 recipients of SPARC awards, together with their collaborators from the SPARC team, published the results of innovative spatial archaeometric work in Geosciences and the Journal of Field Archaeology. The SPARC team also began an initiative to make completed project’s data accessible via publication on Zenodo, an effort that will continue in the coming year. Looking to future work, SPARC is collaborating with the MicroCT Imaging Consortium for Research and Outreach (MICRO) at the University of Arkansas to support projects undertaking high resolution imaging of objects and samples, growing the program’s capacity to support data and analytics projects. The SPARC program was created by the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies and the Archaeo-Imaging Laboratory with a $250,000 grant from the NSF in 2013. The program offers direct support to archaeological projects through awards in fieldwork, data and analytics, and publication. In addition to collaborating on research projects directly, SPARC helps researchers learn about the latest technologies and their archaeological applications through residencies at the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies or through online resources and periodic webinars. For many decades, space has been viewed as one of the central dimensions of archaeological study, from artifacts to landscapes, and SPARC supports a wide variety of collaborators and projects around the world. Researchers at the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies have collaborated on 29 projects worldwide, including working with Michael Harrower to conduct geophysical survey in Oman, with Steve Wernke and Parker VanValkenburgh to develop the GeoPACHA platform (Geospatial Platform for Andean Colonial History and Archaeology), and Andrea Brock to model the ancient topography of the Roman Forum Boarium . A full list and complete descriptions of recent awards can be found on the SPARC website. Recent publications resulting from SPARC Projects include: Dolan, Patrick, Colin Grier, Christine Markussen, and Katie Simon. "Magnetic Gradient Survey of the Marpole Period Dionisio Point (DgRv-003) Plankhouse Village, Northwest Coast of North America." Journal of Field Archaeology 42, no. 5 (2017): 437-449. Wiig, Frances, Michael Harrower, Alexander Braun, Smiti Nathan, Joseph Lehner, Katie Simon, Jennie Sturm et al. "Mapping a Subsurface Water Channel with X-Band and C-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar at the Iron Age Archaeological Site of ‘Uqdat al-Bakrah (Safah), Oman." Geosciences 8, no. 9 (2018): 334.
Created by: Rachel Opitz
Congrats to the Dionisio Point team on their new publication 09/25/17
In 2014 SPARC supported Patrick Dolan and Colin Grier in their project, "The economic organization of a pre-contact Northwest Coast village". The team and their SPARC collaborators recently published the results of their work in an article, "Magnetic Gradient Survey of the Marpole Period Dionisio Point (DgRv-003) Plankhouse Village, Northwest Coast of North America" in the Journal of Field Archaeology. You can read the article here. Congrats to authors Patrick Dolan, Colin Grier, Christine Markussen & Katie Simon!
Created by: Rachel Opitz
Funded Projects
Understanding Rejolladas and Examining their Potential for Predicting Settlement Location at Tahcabo
- PI: Patricia McAnany
- Institution: UNC Chapel Hill
- Co-PI: Patricia McAnany
- Institution: UNC Chapel Hill
- Project Type: Analytics
- Region: Central America
Professor Patricia McAnany and Maia Dedrick of UNC Chapel Hill and Dr. Adolfo-Iván Batún-Alpuche (AGEY) will be collaborating with SPARC researchers to seeks to identify the size and distribution of rejolladas (limestone solution sinkholes) on commonly held ejido land surrounding the town of Tahcabo, Yucatán, México. Rejolladas are significant landscape features because they generally contain deep soils and are characterized by high humidity, in contrast to their surroundings, characterized by shallow surface soils that mean that in northern Yucatán many culturally important tree crops—such as cacao—can only be grown in rejolladas. Further, this difference in soils means that long occupational sequences and information on changes in land use and crop regimes will likely come from rejolladas rather than shallow surface excavations. In this project the collaborators will use remote sensing data to identify and characterize the rejolladas in the area around Tahcabo and to use the results of the mapping exercise to construct a predictive model of settlement location. Further study will examine the attractiveness of rejolladas, and whether such attractiveness was spatially or temporally contingent. The research will also support archaeobotanical and ethnobotanical research by the co-PIs.
Etruria Before and After the Roman Conquest. The Landscape of Vulci.
- PI: Orlando Cerasuolo, Erin Warford, Stephen Dyson
- Institution: SUNY Buffalo
- Co-PI: Orlando Cerasuolo, Erin Warford, Stephen Dyson
- Institution: SUNY Buffalo
- Project Type: Analytics
- Region: Mediterranean Europe
Over a thousand archaeological sites have been identified in the landscape around Vulci, located north of Rome in Italy through a variety of surveys and excavations. Through this SPARC supported project, researchers from SUNY Buffalo and Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei - Rome will be bringing this information, together with environmental and topographic data and aerial imagery, to bear in a new study of the territory, aiming to better understand the military, social, and economic organization of the pre-Roman landscape, and the Etruscan response to Roman invasion— a critical period currently understood mainly from a Roman perspectives— and the Roman changes to the territory after the conquest of Vulci. Integrating and analyzing these complex data, the project will investigate questions of continuity and change, the organization of the local rural economy, the influence of the natural environment, and the value of a landscape approach to the study of the region's social structures. This research project is conducted with the kind cooperation of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Etruria Meridionale, the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana and the Riserva Naturale Selva del Lamone.
Bosutswe Landscapes Regional Survey: Building a Predictive GIS Model of Archaeological Sites in the African Interior
- PI: Carla Klehm
- Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
- Co-PI: Carla Klehm
- Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
- Project Type: Analytics
- Region: Africa
(Image credit: Mica Jones) The Bosutswe Landscapes Regional Survey (BosLand) began in 2014 to works towards a better understanding of the precolonial cities and kingdoms that arise in the African interior around the 1st millennium AD. This project focuses on building a GIS to integrate extensive, newly acquired, satellite imagery for the study region with data collected from previously collected geophysical and close-range aerial data. The project's GIS will also bring together information on sites with that on local water systems. The project also aims to develop a predictive model for sites in other nearby areas. The PI (Klehm) would like to acknowledge the DigitalGlobe Foundation for their support in the upcoming project through an Imagery Grant. The SPARC Analytics project uses, in part, previously collected survey and excavation data in 2014. To this effect, the PI would also like to acknowledge the support of East Tennessee State University (under a RDC Major Research Grant) and, jointly, the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at University of Arkansas and National Science Foundation (through a SPARC Fieldwork Grant). The geophysical component of this previous field research was led by Dr. Eileen Ernenwein East Tennessee State University, the aerial survey by Katie Simon at University of Arkansas, under the direction of Carla Klehm and with archaeological assistance from the University of Botswana and the National Museum of Botswana. The 2014 data were collected under Republic of Botswana Ministry of Environment, Wildlife, and Tourism Permit EWT8/36/4XXV(62).
Turning the Landscape into a Stela: The Mechanics of Egyptian Royal Rock Inscriptions
- PI: Jennifer Thum
- Institution: Brown University
- Co-PI: Jennifer Thum
- Institution: Brown University
- Project Type: Fieldwork
- Region: Near East and North Africa
Photo Credit: A.D. Riddle Ms. Thum will collaborate with researchers from CAST to create detailed and georeferenced 3D models of Egyptian inscriptions carved into the stone and their immediately surrounding landscapes in a variety of locations in the Middle East and North Africa that fall within the sphere of Egyptian influence. Through this analysis the research team will investigate potential cultural, religious, and military motivations behind the placement of living-rock monuments on particular outcrops and in the wider landscapes around them and to assess whether spatial language within the texts of living-rock monuments might have played a role in articulating their positions in the landscape.This project gratefully acknowledges the support of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), and the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Modeling Long-Term Water Management Strategies on the Irrigated Plain of Miān-āb, in the Khuzistan Province of Iran. Type of Application:
- PI: Mehrnoush Soroush
- Institution: New York University
- Co-PI: Mehrnoush Soroush
- Institution: New York University
- Project Type: Analytics
- Region: Near East
Mehrnoush Soroush's project attempts to understand the longue durée water management strategies on the irrigated landscape of Miān-āb, in the Khuzistan Province of Iran. Using historical aerial photographs and declassified Corona imagery she plans to create a historical DEM and carry out hydrology modeling to study the workings of a complicated irrigation system, which includes canals, dams, weirs, bridges, subterranean channels, and earthen enclosures, that extend over 4000 km2. The project aims to shed light on the dynamics of decision-making and community practices for the management of water resources of Miān-āb from antiquity until the onset of modern agricultural development. New insights into past irrigation and water management derived from this study have the potential to contribute to a more informed and sustainable strategy for the future of the landscape in Miān-āb.
The Gault Site 41BL323
- PI: Dr. Michael Collins
- Institution: University of Texas at Austin
- Co-PI: Dr. Michael Collins
- Institution: University of Texas at Austin
- Project Type: Fieldwork
- Region: North America
The Gault Site (421BL323) is a multi‐component site with virtually every interval in the regional prehistoric record represented. Deposits in different parts of the site result from various mixes of anthropic and geologic processes (fluvial, colluvial, aeolian) as well as pedogenesis. At this site, Dr. Michael Collins and Dr. Bruce Bradley will be collaborating with SPARC researchers to undertake high‐resolution scanning and photogrammetric documentation of an exposed stratigraphy in a 3-m thick section significant for its long archaeological record and particularly for the presence of a substantial pre-Clovis component , situated stratigraphically below Clovis and dated with OSL on aeolian grains from ca. 16,000 to 13,200. As is true of all sites claiming to have evidence for older‐than‐ Clovis occupation, Gault will be subjected to intense scrutiny, and supporting future independent research on the evidence is seen as essential by the co-PIs. Site formational processes are at the heart of the evidence for integrity of the stratigraphic section, with its pre-Clovis component underlying its Clovis component. Therefore the morphology and topography of the excavated area must be recorded carefully, as part of an effort to create the fullest and most detailed possible documentation of the site’s stratigraphy. The results of this project will form the primary framework for integrating all of the broader project’s geologic observations and sampling results as the analysis and reporting of this section proceeds. This research is supported by the National Science Foundation, Abell-Hanger Foundation, ExxonMobil Foundation, Archaeological Institute of America, Summerlee Foundation, and Texas Historical Foundation along with numerous individuals.
Five Lands Geospatial Project
- PI: Dr. Nicholas Carter
- Institution: Harvard University
- Co-PI: Dr. Nicholas Carter
- Institution: Harvard University
- Project Type: Analytics
- Region: Central America
Dr. Carter, together with Ms. Santini and Mr. Davenport, will collaborate with SPARC researchers to study the relationships between terrain, routeways, and evolving settlement patterns in the Five Lands region during the Classic period of Maya culture history. The project will assess the relationships between intervisibility and visual position, travel cost, and regional settlement structure in a rugged yet highly interconnected landscape. Specifically, the locations chosen for the establishment of new capitals will be considered in light of existing settlements and the need for access to and control over travel routes that allow for participation in the trade of prestige goods. The team will acquire relevant topographic and land cover data, integrate information on the locations of known sites and economic connections, and carry out visibility and cost-surface analyses.
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