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The Basics of Least Cost Analysis for Archaeological Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2017

Devin Alan White
Devin Alan White*
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, PO Box 2008, MS-6017, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6017 (whiteda1@ornl.gov)
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Abstract

Least Cost Analysis (LCA) is a geospatially focused quantitative approach that can help archaeologists better understand how people may have moved across a landscape. At its core is the assumption that humans make decisions about movement as fully rational actors with complete knowledge of the landscape, attempting to minimize the cost of that movement as they travel from one location to another. LCA is most often used to construct a small number of hypothetical routes between locations of interest and, when used effectively, can even lead to the creation of entire transportation networks. Desktop GIS software packages, both commercial and open source, make running LCA relatively straightforward, but that does not necessarily mean that the output is informative or accurate. The following tutorial is designed to expose the reader to the foundational steps required to complete an LCA workflow, along with the scientific rationale behind each step and how to avoid potential pitfalls that one might run into along the way. Relevant literature is cited throughout the tutorial in order to provide context for the technical methods that underpin available tools, to suggest various ways that LCA can be used to solve archaeological problems, and to show the art of the possible.

El análisis del menor costo (Least Cost Analysis-LCA) es una herramienta cuantitativa geoespacial, que puede ayudar a los arqueólogos a entender mucho mejor como las personas pudieron haberse trasladado por un territorio. Su fundamento está basado en el supuesto de que, los seres humanos, como actores, toman decisiones plenamente racionales en torno a su traslado, con conocimiento pleno del terreno, tratando de minimizar el costo del traslado cuando viajan de un lugar a otro. A menudo, el análisis del menor costo se utiliza para generar un número reducido de rutas hipotéticas entre dos puntos de interés y que, de aprovechar su capacidad eficazmente, pueden inclusive derivar en un definición completa de redes de transportación. La paquetería de escritorio para programas de Sistema de Información Geográfica (SIG), tanto comerciales como de código abierto, permiten correr el análisis del menor costo de manera relativamente sencilla, mas esto no significa que el resultado sea significativo o correcto. La siguiente guía se ha diseñado para presentarle al lector los pasos fundamentales para llevar acabo el flujo de trabajo que requiere el análisis del menor costo, el razonamiento científico que sustenta a cada uno de ellos, incluyendo el como evitar desafíos que pudieran surgir sobre la marcha. A lo largo de la guía, se cita la literatura pertinente con el propósito de contextualizar cada unidad técnica que respalda las herramientas disponibles, para ejemplificar distintas formas en las que el análisis de menor costo puede utilizarse para resolver problemas arqueológicos y con ello mostrar el arte de lo posible.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , November 2015 , pp. 407 - 414
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2015

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