ArcRange and ArcSeer: Presenting a New Approach to Archaeological Data Management and Representation (original) (raw)
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ArcSeer: a new approach to archaeological representation
This paper considers the role that representational methodologies play in the dialogue between archaeological material data and narrative creation. It does this specifically in relation to the production and consumption of knowledge at the site of Petsofa, a two-period highland site overlooking the Palaikastro bay in East Crete. A new paradigm, known as ArcSeer (www.arcseer.com), is presented as an alternative approach to the traditional methods of recording, reading and representing the archaeological record. ArcSeer's approach exploits exciting advances made within the technological spheres of web application development, distributed database design and 3D visualisation. This paper will argue that the manner in which the Petsofa site data has been represented to date has significantly influenced its reading by its audience. ArcSeer is particularly interested in accommodating the multiple interpretations that fuel and derive from these representations. If we accept the basic premise that representation cannot be considered a neutral act, then a greater reflexive awareness of this fact must be accommodated by the representational devices that the discipline employs. The ArcSeer project is one such experiment along this road of enquiry.
Archaeological Visualization: Towards An Archaeological Information Science (AISc)
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
This paper reviews and evaluates the potential use of modern visualization techniques in archaeology. It suggests the need to apply and develop such techniques as a central part of any modern archaeological investigation. The use of these methods is associated with wider questions about data representations, in particular, their integration with archaeological theory and their role in facilitating analysis and shaping interpretation. Concern for these questions and with the overall potential that information systems provide to capture, represent, analyze, and model archaeological information suggests the need for a new interdisciplinary focus, Archaeological Information Science. For such a focus to prosper, archaeologists need to develop additional skills that go beyond mere technical ones. They need to become more active in the design and creation of future information archaeological systems. To this end, archaeologists are urged to view this task as a way to extend archaeology in new directions and to recognize that the digital representation and treatment of archaeological information can generate new forms of doing archaeology.
Data visualization in archaeology
IBM Systems Journal, 2000
Archaeological field work produces vast amounts of three-dimensionally recorded data which can only be analysed using computers. Developments in data-visualization techniques are continually increasing the volume and complexity of data that can be studied meaningfully. In particular, three systems developed at the IBM United Kingdom Scientific Centre have been applied in a wide variety of archaeological situations: a graphics-database system called the Winchester Graphics System (WGS), IBM's lAX (Image Applications eXecutive) image processing system, and the WINchester SOlid Modelling system called WINSOM. It has been shown that these systems not only permit well•known problems to be answered in new and interesting ways but have freed archaeologists to explore previously un• discovered avenues of research. The techniques developed using these systems also have major implications for education and training.
FABRICATORE G, CANTONE F, F (2008). Pushing the Archaeological Interpretation by analysing workflow protocols: the "Variable Transparency Image Stacker" and DATARCH© Archaeological Data Management System. In: Layers of Perception. Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Berlin, April 26, 2007. Koll. Vor- u. Frühgesch. 10 (Bonn 2008) 8. Oxford:Archaeopress - British Archaeological Reports, ISBN: 978-3-7749-3556-3 . Abstract. The main aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of managing archaeological data in a shared 3D environment. As already published by our research group, study and analysis of workow protocols are the basis for the development of soware able to support and improve archaeological data man -agement, by introducing new methods and tools to analyze archaeological excavations (e.g. the DATARCH “Variable Transparency Image Stacker”). The progress of Web 2.0 and shared technologies makes it possible to go deeper with this research into archaeological workow protocols and data management, exploring 3D distributed environments and the possibility of their application to archaeology in particular. The case studies selected for this research are the recent excavations carried out by Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II in Foce Sele Hera Sanctuary and in the Cuma Forum
Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology, 2019
Digitally-mediated practices of archaeological data require reflexive thinking about where archaeology stands as a discipline in regard to the ‘digital,’ and where we want to go. To move toward this goal, we advocate a historical approach that emphasizes contextual source-side criticism and data intimacy—scrutinizing maps and 3D data as we do artifacts by analyzing position, form, material and context of analog and digital sources. Applying this approach, we reflect on what we have learned from processes of digitally-mediated data. We ask: What can we learn as we convert analog data to digital data? And, how does digital data transformation impact the chain of archaeological practice? Primary, or raw data, are produced using various technologies ranging from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)/Global Positioning System (GPS), LiDAR, digital photography, and ground penetrating radar, to digitization, typically using a flat-bed scanner to transform analog data such as old field notes, photographs, or drawings into digital data. However, archaeologists not only collect primary data, we also make substantial time investments to create derived data such as maps, 3D models, or statistics via post-processing and analysis. While analog data is typically static, digital data is more dynamic, creating fundamental differences in digitally-mediated archaeological practice. To address some issues embedded in this process, we describe the lessons we have learned from translating analog to digital geospatial data—discussing what is lost and what is gained in translation, and then applying what we have learned to provide concrete insights to archaeological practice.
Access to insights: stimulating archaeological visualisation in the 1990s
Advances in computer technology, especially 3D imaging and the rise of so-called virtual environments, are forcing archaeologists to reapplies their perceptions of their data, and are having a particularly dramatic affect on how they visualise their material. They also have radical implications for how archaeology will be conducted, taught and presented in the future.
The 3 Dimensions of Digitalised Archaeology. State-of-the-Art, Data Management and Current Challenges in Archaeological 3D-Documentation, 2024
The diverse contributions in this book show that the main challenges for the field are a lack of standardisation, interoperability and open-source solutions, as well as of long-term archiving solutions. The contributions also show that efforts are being made to sustainably integrate 3D technologies into the field of archaeology. Within the broader context of digital archaeology, it is argued that, in addition to technical issues, attention must be paid to ethical considerations about the nature of technology, cultural heritage and accessibility. Finally, the entanglements of technology with violent contexts must also be critically assessed. Keywords Digital humanities • Digital archaeology • 3D archaeology • Access • Interoperability • Long-term archiving • Ethics in archaeology The aim of this book was to provide insight into current cutting-edge applications of 3D technology in archaeology, as well as to identify the most-pressing challenges
Archaeological Work in Crete - Vol. A, 2020
Photogrammetry and 3D scanning are nowadays becoming common entries in the lexicon of contemporary archaeologists. For what it is worth, a quick search in the database “the Web of Science” shows a consistent and fast-growing reference to the use of such technologies in scientific papers of any field (“photogrammetry” and “laser scanning” had respectively 183 and 1020 entries in 2007 as against 882 and 2187 in 2017). More and more frequent is the use or the presentation of 3D models as a means of achieving a final documentation, in contrast to traditional “2D” pencil/ink drawings. Ease of use of processing software and affordability of required equipment (every day becoming more versatile and portable) are often an important factor in the spreading of these – as of other – new technologies, which therefore tend to be preferred to more time-consuming and resource demanding approaches. This paper aims at providing some food-for-thought on historical and modern aspects of the archaeological discipline with a series of case studies from Cretan cultural heritage, where the “3D approach” can be critically analyzed, compared and contrasted with more traditional means of documentation. The presented cases include Roman cisterns (Eleutherna, Rethymnon), archaeological excavations (Kalo Chorafi at Rethymnon and Magasins Dessenne at Malia), damaged modern heritage (Chandras, Ierapetra), and items of heritage under observation (soap factory in Rethymnon). In these case-studies, photogrammetry or 3D laser scanning replaced, existed alongside or integrated pencil drawings, thereby immediately creating a new set of information in the form of an unedited perspective, potentially assisting forthcoming research and – ideally – prompting new discoveries. Arguments are provided to fuel the current debate synthesized in the (non-rhetorical) question behind this paper: 3D as ultimate documentation or research tool?