Mapping Three-Dimensional Density Patterns for Analyzing Artefact (Re)distribution Trends in Palaeolithic Sites

The artifact density in an archaeological deposit is a direct trace of the concentrating and dispersing effects of various formation processes. 2D density analyses have frequently been processed, especially through the topological properties of the Geographical Information System. Nevertheless, the resulting 2D visualisation by density maps do not consider or analyze the vertical interpolation of the archaeological finds. This is a limit in the case of very thick archaeostratigraphic units, where the 3D visualisation of the density phenomena is a basic element to the knowledge of the real spatial distribution trends of archaeological finds. In this paper, we propose a new method to process 3D density analysis and we present its first application to Isernia La Pineta as a further step towards distinguishing the influence of natural and/or anthropic processes on formation mechanisms of this Lower Palaeolithic site.