New Developments in the Use of Spatial Technology in Archaeology Mark D. McCoy Æ Thegn N. Ladefoged Published online: 27 March 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract Spatial technology is integral to how archaeologists collect, store, analyze, and represent information in digital data sets. Recent advances have improved our ability to look for and identify archaeological remains and have increased the size and complexity of our data sets. In this review we outline trends in visualization, data management, archaeological prospecting, modeling, and spatial analysis, as well as key advances in hardware and software. Due to devel- opments in education, information technology, and landscape archaeology, the implementation of spatial technology has begun to move beyond superficial applications and is no longer limited to environmental deterministic approaches. In the future, spatial technology will increasingly change archaeology in ways that will enable us to become better practitioners, scholars, and stewards. Keywords Geographic information systems Á Laser mapping Á Remote sensing Á Geophysical survey Introduction A common thread that links classic methodological innovations in field archaeol- ogy, such as the pioneering use of aerial photography by Gordon Willey or grid- based excavations by Sir Mortimer Wheeler, is how these methods have enhanced our ability to find and record the locations of archaeological remains at a level of precision necessary to interpret them. Today we use a wide variety of ‘‘spatial M. D. McCoy (&) Department of Anthropology, San Jose State University, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0113, USA e-mail: markdennismccoy@hotmail.com T. N. Ladefoged Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand 123 J Archaeol Res (2009) 17:263–295 DOI 10.1007/s10814-009-9030-1