[HTT14-12] Relationships between the locations of ancient sites and topographic factors in Japan and China to explore interactions between human and nature
キーワード：地理情報システム、デジタル標高モデル、地形学
Locations of ancient sites including historical castles and archaeological monuments reflect activities and thinking of ancient people who built them as well as related environmental factors such as topography, water availability, and proneness to natural hazards. Relationships between the ancient sites and topographic factors are expected to be stronger in the past when human control on nature was limited, and their analysis is useful to understand how ancient people interact with the nature environment. This research utilizes GIS and DEMs to investigate topography as well as surface hydrological conditions. Based on the spatial analysis methods of GIS, the distribution characteristics of ancient sites in Japan and China were investigated, and statistical analysis were conducted to examine relationships between the ancient sites and natural/social environmental conditions. The results were interpreted based on not only geography but also historical and archaeological knowledge. It found that the ancient sites in Japan are mainly located at 0 ~ 250 m in elevation, and they tend to be close to hills and mountains, while in Shanxi, China they are concentrated on flat plain areas with an average elevation of around 400 m. The ancient sites are densely located close to major drainage lines with a range of 0 ~ 2.5 km in Japan as well as in Shanxi, China, suggesting that ancient people considered water availability or a strategic role of rivers before they built the sites, and their dependence on rivers must have been stronger than today under technologically less developed situations.