This article was published on January 3, 2014

Researcher uses Google Earth and coin data to visualize the political influence of ancient Antioch


Researcher uses Google Earth and coin data to visualize the political influence of ancient Antioch

Using Google Earth, a researcher at the University of Cincinnati has created a 3D, interactive map illustrating the influence of ancient Antioch at the beginning of the Roman invasion.

Kristina Neumann, a doctoral candidate at the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, first developed a database of excavation reports and known hoards for coins that would have been accepted in Antioch. The data was then imported into Google Earth, which gave her the ability to visualize the ancient city’s political borders across different time periods.

From the project, Neumann has discovered that Antioch’s local currency was used further across the globe than was originally thought and more abundant along a specific trade route.

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“I’m trying to help historians think outside the box,” Neumann says. “There’s a huge movement in the digital humanities in general, and this research speaks to that. Using tools such as Google Earth to visualize the ancient world could also have ramifications for how we look at data today.”

University of Cincinnati [Via NDTV]

Image Credit: NASA via Getty Images

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