Joseph Lewis - Doctoral Candidate in Archaeology
Premodern routes; Archaeological mobility; Comparative analysis; Spatial Statistics; Spatial Uncertainty
Email | jl2094@cam.ac.uk
Github | https://github.com/josephlewis
PhD Candidate in Archaeology (2020-2024)
University of Cambridge
MSc Geographical Information Science | Distinction - 78%
University of Leicester
Dissertation - 80% | The Suitability of Using Least Cost Path Analysis in the Prediction of Roman Roads in the Highland and Lowland Zones of Roman Britain
Introduction to GIS - 75%; Programming in R - 87%; Earth Observation and Remote Sensing - 84%; Spatial Information Science - 75%; Geographical Visualisation - 67%; GIS Research Methods in the Field - 73%
BSc (Hons) Applied Geology | Upper Second Class -
University of Plymouth
Interested in Computational Archaeology; Geographic Data Science; Spatial Modelling; Spatial Uncertainty; Bayesian Data Analysis
Proficient in R; Python; QGIS; ArcGIS; SQL
Awards
Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP - Judy and Nigel Weiss Studentships at Robinson College Match-funded Studentship - Selected for full scholarship based upon academic merit alone.
Vice-Chancellor’s & King’s College Scholarship (now Honorary) - Selected for a full scholarship on the recommendation of the University’s selection committee for Cambridge International and King’s College Scholarships. Awarded to 250 highest ranked students, irrespective of nationality.
CASA Prize for best paper on Spatial Analysis - GISRUK 2018 | Paper ; Presentation
2nd Prize GISCRG Dissertation Prize 2017
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Prize 2017 - Best Dissertation 2016
Published and Peer-reviewed Papers
Lewis, J., 2022. 2nd c. CE defenses around small towns in Roman Britain structured by road network connectivity. J. Roman Archaeol. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1047759421000775
Lewis, J., 2021. Probabilistic Modelling for Incorporating Uncertainty in Least Cost Path Results: a Postdictive Roman Road Case Study. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-021-09522-w
Lewis, J., 2020. Probabilistic Modelling using Monte Carlo Simulation for Incorporating Uncertainty in Least Cost Path Results: a Postdictive Roman Road Case Study. SocArXiv, mxas2, ver. 17 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/mxas2
- Recommendation: Otis Crandell (2020) A probabilistic method for Least Cost Path calculation.. Peer Community in Archaeology, 100005. https://doi.org/10.24072/pci.archaeo.100005
Lewis, J., 2020. Visibility of the Gask Ridge road from simulated Watchtowers: A Monte Carlo testing approach. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 33, 102482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102482
Software
Author and Creator of the R package leastcostpath | 
Easy calculation of Least Cost Paths and Least Cost Path networks using multiple cost functions. Allows for the incorporation of barriers that inhibit movement, as well as the propagation of uncertainty through the use of probabilistic LCPs
Pre-prints
Lewis, J., 2021. Second Century Defences Around Small Towns in Roman Britain Structured by Road Network Connectivity. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/gdm5z
Lewis, J., 2020. Probabilistic Modelling using Monte Carlo Simulation for Incorporating Uncertainty in Least Cost Path Results: a Roman Road Case Study. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/mxas2
Lewis, J., 2020. Visibility of the Gask Ridge Road from Simulated Watchtowers: a Monte Carlo Testing Approach. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/ebt9n
Presentations
Invited Speaker to Computational and Digital Archaeology Laboratory Series (CDAL), University of Cambridge - 06/06/2022
Modelling Known Land Routes: A Philosophical and Methodological Rethinking
Invited Speaker to Roman Roads Research Association - 25/11/2021, Online |
Modelling Public Roman Roads in Roman Britain
Invited Speaker to Roman Archaeology Research Seminar Series, University of Newcastle - 26/10/2021, Online |
Second Century Defences around Small Towns in Roman Britain Structured by Road Network Connectivity
ArcheoFOSS 2020 - 15-17/10/2020, Online (originally Viterbo, Italy) |
Leastcostpath: Modelling Pathways and Movement Potential Within a Landscape ; Presentation
Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) 2020 - 14-17/04/2020, Oxford (UK) |
Cancelled due to Covid-19 (https://caa-international.org/2020/06/11/caa-2020-cancelled/)
The Archaeologies of Roads - 07-08/11/2019, Florence (Italy) |
Seeing While Moving: Direction-Dependent Visibility of Bronze Age Monuments Along a Prehistoric Ridgeway in Cumbria, England
Geographical Information Science Research Group - 2018, Leicester (United Kingdom) |
The Suitability of Using Least Cost Path Analysis in the Prediction of Roman Roads in the Highland and Lowland Zones of Roman Britain
Discussions
Reflections on Modelling Movement Potential using Least Cost Paths |
A reflection on the concepts of mobility and movement when applying Least Cost Path analysis to archaeological problems.