Plant Remains, Spatial Gains – BYOD Geo-statistical Workshop
Spatial modelling and interpretation of plant-remain distributions
Archaeobotanical samples and their position in space offer a valuable opportunity to examine intra-site patterns and to connect plant remains with past social practices.
With this perspective in mind, the upcoming workshop offers an engaging, hands-on experience to explore spatial thinking together, experiment with archaeobotanical data, and discover how spatial patterns open new windows into past human behaviour. Whether you’re already familiar with geo-statistics or simply excited to learn something new, you’re warmly invited to join us.
Throughout the session, we’ll walk step by step through key geo-statistical workflows such as:
- understanding spatial structure and variability in archaeobotanical data
- building and interpreting experimental variograms
- fitting and validating geo-statistical models
- generating predictive surfaces using kriging
- assessing model uncertainty and residuals
- translating spatial patterns into archaeological interpretation
This workshop is intended for archaeobotanists and researchers working with spatially explicit archaeological datasets.
Bringing your own data is ideal to fully benefit from the Bring-Your-Data format, but it’s not mandatory; a prepared dataset will be available for anyone who prefers to work with an example dataset.
Dataset preparation (data cleaning, formatting, spatial structuring) will not be covered during the workshop itself, as it will be addressed separately in the Data Clinic on October 6th . Participation is optional, but highly recommended, as it’s a great opportunity to receive personalised guidance and arrive at the workshop feeling confident and ready to dive in. All selected participants will be sent a checklist of requirements for the data, one week before the Data Clinic.
Key dates and information
Data clinic: October 6th, time-slots available from 10 am to 5 pm
Bring-Your-Data Workshop: October 9th, 10 am to 5 pm
Registration: from August 26th to September 25th
Requirements: Basic knowledge of GIS & statistics. We will use SAGA GIS for the workshop, participants should download the software in advance. Download is possible at https://sourceforge.net/projects/saga-gis/files/
Registration
To register, click on the link below. Registration will be possible until September 25th. Places are limited to ensure effective hands-on guidance.
Once you submit your registration, we’ll review the information and confirm attendance via e‑mail (on September 26th). Please use the link below to register and share details about your dataset.
Link for registration: https://tinyurl.com/winoda-BYOD-register
Contact and support
For any questions, please contact nuria.morera@dainst.de and/or ginevra.bellini@mfn.berlin .