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ences seasonal variation characterized by the West within the GIS. A reconnaissance survey was carried
African monsoon Climate, marked by distinct sea- out using a recording sheet for the documentation of
sonal shift in the wind pattern. The seasons are rainy the variables present in each square cell.
and dry seasons. The former is experienced between
March and October, while the latter comes between
November and February. The mean annual tempera- Data Analysis
ture at Ijaiye-Orile (Ibadan) for the period of 1953 to The data obtained was regressed against the
1988 was 26.6C. However, seasonal variations occur dependent variable, the number of metallurgical ele-
in consonance with the seasonal variation in radi- ments. Using a stepwise regression model, only three
ans, sunshine and cloud cover. variables, the presence of pit/hollows, presence of
anthills and metallurgical elements, were correlated.
The observed correlation coefficient was 0.958, which
Applications of the GIS in Archaeology
is significant at 95% confidence level. In order to
and Tourism identify the most suitable area for archaeological ex-
Archaeology is the scientific search and study cavations, ArcView was used because of its ability to
of evidence of past activities of human populations handle vector based analysis and complex spatial
that have long disappeared. It is aimed at understand- analysis required for the study. Using the interpola-
ing the cultural behaviour of populations within their tion menu within the ArcView environment gener-
environment (Folorunso 2001). Archaeological sites ated the spatial spread of pits/hollows, anthills and
form a major subdivision of tourist attraction centers metallurgical elements within the study area (Figures
in Nigeria. GIS therefore, would help among other 1-3). Using the Geoprocessing wizard, an overlay tech-
areas of application to (1) Develop maps for present nique of the ArcView GIS, a point of intersection of
and future development and planning alternatives; all the three variables was established. The point of
(2) Predict and discover more archaeological sites intersection represents the most suitable archaeo-
with the minutest speculation using remote sensor logical site in Ijaiye-Orile using the overlaying method
or radar geographical prospecting methods; (3) Model of the GIS which simply places a map for each
archaeological materials for presentation and recon- variable one on the other to find a common area to
struction of the same without any further damage to them all (Figure 4).
fragile artifacts like pottery that may get broken by
several handling and transportation; (4) Develop a
Results and Discussion
database for easy access and proper (systematic)
documentation, and (5) Project and process more in- This study established a point of intersection
formation about an archaeological site without the of anthills, pits/hollows and metallurgical elements
loss of the existing ones (Olonade 2005). found at Ijaiye-Oril, and predicted the suitable ar-
chaeological site for the study area. The predicted
site is centralized around the Old Egba Camp site,
Methodology South of Ijaiye-Orile (Fig. 4). The three variables used
In order to develop a model for predicting the in predicting this site being highly significant at 95%
location of archaeological site of Ijaiye-Orile, all confidence level means that they were most impor-
known variables that can affect the location of an tant variables that contributed meaningfully to the
archaeological site in an area were used in a stepwise explanations of the number of metallurgical elements
regression model. The variables used were the pres- found in Ijaiye-Orile. Previous work on the predicted
ence of anthills, presence of pits/hollows, presence area showed that it was the original site of Ijaiye-
of trees, potsherds, presence of rivers and presence Oriles iron working site (Olonade 1998). This was in
of metallurgical elements that are all either relics of accordance with the findings of Inawole (1999). Oral
human activities or factors that sustain human habi- tradition on the predicted site indicated that it is an
tation and life. This was done in order to obtain data abandoned settlement, hence the presence of anthills,
of the study area. A topographical map of the study pit/hollows and metallurgical elements which are
area was gridded into 500 m2 cells. The centre of each indicative of an archaeological site (Ogundele 2000,
of the squares was then treated as point elements personal communication). This agrees with the
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Figure 1: Map of Ijaiye-Orile showing the interpolated value for pit / hollows.
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Figure 4: Map of Ijaiye-Orile showing the most suitable location for archaeological excavation.
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findings of Samuel (1921) that the early settlers of Oriles archaeological site would first be a national
Ijaiye-Orile, now the Ijaiye Egbas of Abeokuta mi- platform for marketing the sites resource and sec-
grated to the southern part of Ijaiye-Orile. Available ondly expose the investment potentials of opportuni-
oral tradition on Ijaiye-Orile confirmed that the pre- ties of Ijaiye-Orile internationally. The information of
dicted site was once the habitation of the Egbas the archaeological site made available by this work
whose major occupations were farming, metallurgy will no doubt help the development of tourism in the
and pottery (Majiyagbe 2000, personal communica- area. Hence all the feasibility studies including ac-
tion; Ayodele 2000, personal communication). The cessibility, projected revenues and overall viability
prediction of the Old Egba Camp site agrees with the could be assessed from the desktop before implemen-
findings of Ijor (1998) that iron slag was concen- tation. The integration of GIS allows quick, conven-
trated in heaps about 50 m away from the Ijaiye-Orile ient and easy updates. With GIS, the archaeological
iron-working site. materials of the study area can be updated once the
The finds at Ijaiye-Orile revealed the potential system had been set up without necessarily dispos-
of cultural tourism. Observations revealed the past ing the original database established, thus making
land use of the area and agree with the presented considerable savings in terms of time, manpower and
history of the development of the area. For tourism money.
to thrive in any nation, an understanding must be
gained of those objects and places that make for Conclusion
tourism attraction (Olonade 2005). The location, con-
servation and preservation of cultural and natural The use of GIS to predict archaeological site of
resources of archaeological sites are paramount to Ijaiye-Orile, Southwestern Nigeria, brings to limelight
the level of tourist attraction to the area. Hence, there the exact location of the natural resources that could
is the need for more laboratory work on the finds be harnessed in the development of the tourism
obtained from fieldwork. GIS should be integrated in potentials of the area. The findings of this work have
archaeological survey in the promotion of tourism. shown that presenting tourism information in GIS in a
multimedia environment would offer an unparalleled
For effective management of tourism resources platform for the management and promotion of the
(tourist attractions such as resort, mountain, river, tourism industry in Nigeria.
valley, etc), in the process of planning, execution
and evaluation, the right information reflecting char- There is the urgent necessity to critically look
acteristics and status about tourism resources is very into the performance potential of the GIS in the tour-
important for policy makers, local administrators, spe- ism industry of Nigeria thereby making it internation-
cialists and the interested parties (Kim et al., 2005). ally marketable. The three tiers of government in Ni-
Government at all levels would find GIS very resource- geria would do well in integrating the GIS into the
ful in planning especially in organizing the vast cul- nations tourism thereby increasing the socio-eco-
tural resources of Nigeria. With the integration of nomic importance of the industry. Institutions of
GIS into tourism, searching, editing and analysis of higher learning are to take the lead in the integration
data would become very efficient. The GISs topol- of GIS into archaeological and tourism studies with
ogy in spatial features that allow for feature overlay the aim of making tourism in Nigeria meet up with
as used in the study makes it a tool of decision sup- international standards.
port such as location analysis, land use plan and
tourism development.
References Cited
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