Fig 1.
The PAGES LandCover6k land use classification system.
Fig 2.
Uninhabited island representing LU1-“no human land use”.
Created with BioRender.com, under a CC BY license, with permission from Biorender, original copyright 2020.
Fig 3.
Mountain ranges with access routes or evidence of exploration but not inhabitation representing LU1-“extensive-minimal”.
Created with BioRender.com, under a CC BY license, with permission from Biorender, original copyright 2020.
Fig 4.
LU1-“agriculture” shown as several LU2 categories: LU2-“herbaceous/ground crops” is shown by agriculture of maize and millets (upper left).
LU2-“swidden/shifting cultivation” is shown by forest clearance and cultivation of small crops in that space (upper right). LU2- “wet cultivation” (lower left) includes LU3 categories: LU3-“rice paddy/taro pond fields” represented by rice paddies, LU3-“raised fields/chinampas” shown by chinampa agriculture and LU3-“wetland cultivation” shown by cereal and pulse cultivation on river floodplains. LU2-“agroforestry/arboriculture” (lower right) includes LU3 categories: LU3-“arboriculture (tree crops)” shown with an apple orchard, LU3-“agroforestry” without soil enrichment shown through a woody perennial management system with undifferentiated soils from unexploited areas, and LU3-”agroforestry with soil enrichment of woody perennial management” with a Amazonian dark earth soil. Created with BioRender.com, under a CC BY license, with permission from Biorender, original copyright 2020.
Fig 5.
LU1-“hunter-gatherer-fisher-forager” visualized as several LU2 categories: LU2-“hunter-gatherer-forager” is represented by wild resources gazelle and wild gathered nuts, fruits, seeds and berries.
LU2-“broad-based and aquatic resources” is shown by a line of caught fish, shells and a collection of gathered nuts. LU2-“low-level food production” is represented by gazelle and wild gathered nuts, fruits, seeds and berries, and a small number of domesticated resources including deer and weedy/semi-domesticated pulses and cereals. LU2-“specialized fish production” is shown through ponded resources in which fish have been collected and placed for future use. Created with BioRender.com, under a CC BY license, with permission from Biorender, original copyright 2020.
Fig 6.
LU1-“pastoralism” shown as several LU2 categories: LU2-“anchored pastoralism” shown as cattle and sheep in proximity to a settlement.
LU2-“ranching” shows cattle enclosed in pasture land away from wild/unmanaged lands. LU2-“mobile–regular” shows sheep and goats being led along a specific path. LU2-“mobile–irregular” shows sheep and goat being moved along in a less regular pattern along a less well trodden path. Created with BioRender.com, under a CC BY license, with permission from Biorender, original copyright 2020.
Fig 7.
LU1-“Urban/Extractive industries” shown as several LU2 categories: LU2-“dispersed urban/peri-urban” shows a spread-out settlement with houses beyond the wall/edge of the settlement, and agriculture space within the settlement limits.
LU2-“dense urban” shows closely packed houses/buildings with little green/agricultural spaces. LU2-“mining/quarrying” is represented by a stone mine. Created with BioRender.com, under a CC BY license, with permission from Biorender, original copyright 2020.
Fig 8.
The effect of grid size on data visibility.
Modern 30 x 30 m landcover data from the GAP/LANDFIRE National Terrestrial Ecosystems data set (courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey - https://doi.org/10.5066/F7ZS2TM0) (A), aggregated via majority rule to 8 x 8 km (B), .5° x .5° (C), and 1° x 1° (D) grids.
Fig 9.
Land Use classification flowchart showing the generalized processes LandCover6k is using to translate regional archaeological data into a spatial format using the classification scheme and the accompanying geospatial database described in the paper.
Fig 10.
Mesopotamia and Arabia land use at 6 kya, an example using the classification scheme, geodatabase, and classification processes outlined in the paper.
Explanations for how the classification has been applied and citations for archaeological data used in this example are discussed throughout the text.