Ave Maria, FL: A Mixed Methods Material Culture Analysis.

One of many ways people encode cultural values in their landscapes is through the spatial configuration of the material culture. This article focuses on the encoding of cultural meaning and value through spatial analysis of the impress of conservative Catholicism within Ave Maria, FL, using a Geographic Information System (GIS). This is a complement to more traditional material culture analyses, enabling a more nuanced and robust understanding of the cultural meanings and values encoded in landscapes. The study explores how the spatial relationships of collections of objects in a landscape provide vital clues to the cultural identity of the residents. It also identifies some of the advantages to a mixed methods research approach that incorporates GIS-based spatial analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]