ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIVE MODELING OF ANCIENT GREEK TEMPLES THROUGHOUT THE MEDITERRANEAN
By Sean Patrick Yusko
Overview Classical Archaeology emphasis on
individual site studies New interest in sacred space GIS analysis encompassing all temples Spatial relationships & patterns Predictive modeling
Introduction Temples carried cultural significance 236 temples from roughly 800 BC – 150
AD
Introduction cont.
Statement of Problem A gap exists in on-going research
concerning sacred space Little geographic data pertaining to
temples No assessment of spatial patterns
Purpose Identify spatial relationships of temples
with their surroundings and with each other
Investigate those relationships
Potential PatternsDEITY COUNT MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION MIN MAX
Apollo 35 166.82899 230.10899 2 1127
Unknown 34 152 280.93201 2 1522
Athena 29 139.517 180.41299 3 674
Zeus 18 258.77802 297.85699 8 995
Hera 17 40.647099 77.103401 -1 331
Artemis 17 225.52901 395.383 4 1482
Poseidon 7 29.7143 19.0467 5 54
Herakles 4 117.25 50.765999 65 197
Dionysos 4 33.75 38.284302 9 100
Demeter 4 140 154.47501 13 399
Aphrodite 4 418 259.479 60 766
Review of Literature Classical Archaeology Sacred space Temple surveys Greek city planning Roles of regional sanctuaries Rise of the polis Ancient tourism (Pausanias)
Methodology Research Data collection, creation (digitizing) Zonal statistics, autocorrelation Investigate relationships of temples with
elevation, ecological data, water source Hill shade, temple orientation Investigate patterns with deities,
architectural styles
Methodology cont. Are there meaningful geographic
patterns with respect to physical features?
Analysis and interpretation Data limitations Predictive modeling
Significance Aim to establish certain spatial
correlations Investigate deity worship patterns Provide new data for exploration Use variables to predict temple locations
Plan of Work 4 weeks research, investigation, reading 2 weeks GIS operations 2 weeks analysis 2 weeks document and predictive
modeling 2 weeks write final report
Questions?