Creating, displaying, and querying interactive paleloanthropological maps using GIS: An example from the Uinta Basin, Utah

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) comprise a powerful set of tools designed for the storage, retrieval, mapping, and analysis of geographic data. In GIS, all spatial data are geographically referenced to a map projection in an earth coordinate system. Each of these spatial features is associated with descriptive attributes entered in spreadsheet form that can be layered together for mapping and analysis. Spatial data can usually be "reprojected" from one coordinate system into another, thus allowing data from various sources to be integrated into a common database. In such cases, however, it is important to recognize that boundaries of spatial features should "register" or align properly when reprojected into the new coordinate system.