The Illinois Archaeological Predictive Model (IAPM) is a GIS-based tool developed by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS), part of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The model builds on over a century of archaeological work in Illinois, and considers the known locations of prehistoric Native American sites, landforms that lack archaeological sites, and other environmental and geophysical variables such as elevation, distance to rivers and streams, and native vegetation. Data sampled from these locations are analyzed via GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and fed into a TensorFlow neural network (a machine learning algorithm) to predict the probability of encountering an archaeological site in every two acre square (90 x 90 meter cells) across the state.

ISAS and other interested stakeholders use the IAPM to help protect, preserve, and assess the potential impact to irreplaceable and non-renewable archaeological resources within the context of Illinois’ need to encourage and promote sustainable development. Using the IAPM helps archaeologists prioritize time and resources during surveys, and allows us to make recommendations that prevent or mitigate impacts to the archaeological record. It also has the potential to enable ordinary citizens, managers, developers, and preservationists to become proactive planners when it comes to the archaeological resources of Illinois.

Version 3.5 of the IAPM (2022). For more information, visit https://www.isas.illinois.edu/office_of_the_illinois_state_archaeologist/illinois_archaeological_predictive_model