OSA ArcView Shapefile Tutorial

OSA SHAPES

KEY

What Shape Should Represent A Site?

Key for choosing a representative shape for an archaeological site in the Iowa Site File GIS.
Answering each question beginning with Step 1 will direct you to the next Step Number to go to or skip to.

Step Number

Question

Answer

What To Do Next

Is the actual location of the site known?

No.	Draw as a triangle.
Yes.	Go to Step 2.

Are the boundaries of the site known?

No.	Go to Step 4.
Yes.	Go to Step 3.

Is the site greater than 20 meters across in any horizontal dimension?

No.	Draw as a dot.
Yes.	Draw as a polygon.

Is the area of the site known?

No.	Draw as an inverted triangle.
Yes.	Go to Step 5.

Is the site greater than 20 meters across in any horizontal dimension?

No.	Draw as a dot.
Yes.	Draw as a circle.

This key was adapted from a flowchart by Joe Artz.

Once you know what shape to draw, see Shape Definition below for further guidelines.

DEFINITIONS

OSA Site Shape Details
Below are the definitions of shapes used to represent archaeological sites as they enter the OSA Iowa Site File GIS.
These shape types refer to the type of shape chosen (above) for representing a site visually in the archaeological shapefile and also to the value entered into the DTYPE field of the shapefile.
dot	A circle made with an ArcView tool and which has a radius of 10 meters.
circle	A circle made with an ArcView tool and which has a radius of greater than 10 meters.
triangle	An equilateral triangle made with an ArcView tool, having 30-meter sides, and which points to the top of the screen.
inverted triangle	An equilateral triangle made with an ArcView tool, having 30-meter sides, and which points to the bottom of the screen.
polygon	Any shape with 3 or more vertices which is not classed as one of the above shape types.

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By Heidi M. Lack, August, 2000.