A Proposal for an Interactive Focal-point Exhibit for the Museo de Guayabo,

Based on a Geographic Information System

This proposal is for the creation of a Geographic Information System (GIS) designed to
collect, organize, and present geographically -referenced data relevant to understanding
the development of the culture of the people and site now preserved at Guayabo National
Monument near Turrialba, Costa Rica. The resulting presentation in the Museo de
Guayabo will describe how the culture was shaped by the environmental influences and
how the culture shaped and used the surrounding environment of its surroundings. This
presentation would be through use of an interactive computer system through which the
museum visitor to the Museo de Guayabo could compare environmental and cultural
influences, view representative surviving artifacts from the culture, and discover their
inter-relationships and effects.

Spatial and attribute data input for the Guayabo Museum GIS, presented in the form of
thematic maps of the different characteristics and influences, will include, but not be
limited to,: terrain and geology, biosphere and forest cover, estimated pre-Columbian soil
quality and agricultural suitability, present and estimated pre-Columbian population
densities and distribution at different periods of occupation, evidence for linguistic and
genetic characteristics, location of archaeological areas and artifact types and distribution,
burial structures and locations at different periods of occupation, present and estimated
pre-Columbian climate and precipitation patterns, estimated pre-Columbian volcanic
activity of at Turrialba and Irazu Volancoes, and known pre-Columbian transportation
routes.

The presentation would be especially focused especially on the stone tools and decorative
arts, ceramics, food growing and preparation, housing and population, and cultural shifts,
as they relate to climate influences. The system would be linked electronically to an
exhibit of three-dimensional artifacts and exhibit elements representative of the different
cultural periods and achievements, which would be each highlighted individually as the
its part of the story to which they relate is being told.

The GIS database would be developed at five geographic scale levels: the Guayabo site,
Turrialba canton, Cartago pProvince, Costa Rica, and the Americas. The topography,
surface water (streams and lakes), roads, ground cover, prehistoric, early historic, and
modern settlements, other archaeological sites, etc., would be mapped as separate layers
for each of the levels. One layer of the provincial and country maps should be similar
sites in corresponding periods.

The public interface for the Guayabo GIS will be a series of interactive computer
stations, at which viewers can choose among the various characteristics and variables and
display them as overlays on a selected base map at a chosen scale. By Ccombining the
different data and attributes as overlays, it will be make it possible to see their
interactions and mutual effects, as well as to see the relationships among the different
cultures and their artifacts as revealed in the archaeological record. The computer display
of maps and overlays will, at appropriate points in the program, be linked digitally and
electronically to displays of prehistoric artifacts and other three-dimensional objects so
asin order to relate link them to the influences under which they were created.

Required thematic data of the different characteristics and influences:

Terrain (using both shaded relief or topographic map data and aerial photography),
Geology
Natural and human-made watercourses
Biosphere
Estimated climate and weather changes
Natural resource availability
Estimated population at different periods of occupation
Evidence for linguistic and genetic characteristics
Housing, ceremonial, and burial structures and their locations at different periods of
occupation
Artifact locations, etc., of at the site and in the surrounding area at different periods of
occupation

Resources needed for Guayabo GIS

ArcGIS Desktop software and extensions
Digital gGeologic map of area* (CATIE?)
Digital lLarge- scale topographic map of area, derived from NASA Lidar data*
(CATIE?)
High-resolution aerial photo of site* (CATIE?)
Historical and modern aAnimal sSpecies list
Historical and modern pPlant species list
Georeferencing data for site

*A possible source for this material is CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education
Center), whose international headquarters is in Turrialba, Costa Rica.