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Figure 1: Spatial analyses problems and biases (A/ Groube 1981; Davidson 1978; Haggett 1965, and see Phillips 1987 for Māori settlements. B/ Gaffney 1995; Harris & Lock 1995; Church et al. 2000. C/ Phillips 2000a).

 PROBLEMS
A/ Settlement Analysis 1970 ->missing data especially 'holes' in settlement distributions
uneven recording and accuracy
unknown chronology
untested validity of models and statistical tests

B/ GIS Analysis 1990 ->technological determinism
limitation of data to the spatial
standardisation of sites, emphasis on settlements
ahistorical landscape assumed
environmental and economic concerns pre-eminent
attraction of pictorial result
limited to two dimensional
static data, no allowance for change over time
misleading accuracy of data, possibility of compounding errors

C/ Analysis of Māori Settlementspeople do not live in a bounded space
people do not have exclusive use of all resources around settlements
people do not belong to a single political alliance
people are not sedentary and do not have a permanent base