Conducting Archaeogaming & Protecting Digital Heritage: Does the Future for Archaeology Lie in The Immaterial? (original) (raw)

Designing the Past (Together) On the Gaming Industry's Contribution to Archaeology and what We Can Contribute to the Gaming Industry

CHNT 24, 2019

Archaeology’s association with media and video games has never been satisfying for most archaeologists. This may go back to the fact that figures like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft had developed “the idea that archaeologists slash through jungles and prowl through caves searching for golden idols, precious work of ancient art, and magical charms.” (Orser, 2015, p. 133). The obscured expectations on the work of an archaeologist that are presented to the public may be one issue. Another aspect that has been always discussed by archaeologists and historians as well is the accuracy of the content that is presented in digital games; to which extent can the past be generalised, what are the repercussions or does it even matter? (Chapman, 2016. Reinhard, 2018). The visualisation of past realities in which nowadays people can immerse in became “increasingly significant in tourism, entertainment and education” (Holtorf, 2017 p. 3). Hence video games like the Civilization series or the Assassin’s Creed series have been trying to offer past experiences to a growing community of players. These games do not just let players immerse into historical events but they also visualise a material past based on archaeological evidence. The representations and reconstructions of material heritage have huge implications for our society and its collective memory as most children grow up playing video games already in an early age. The direction in which the archaeological framework develops has been always influenced by socio-cultural realities (Trigger, 2006) and therefore it has been only natural that many scholars like Angus A. Mol and Andrew Reinhard had been discovering the conjunctions between archaeological science and video games since recent years. While Reinhard tried to explore how to apply archaeological methodology on digital games (Reinhard, 2018), Mol has investigated on how video games could be used for didactic purposes in the context of heritage and archaeology (Mol et al., 2017). However, an aspect that has been not much studied was the role of video games as part of public archaeology and how archaeologists can actively participate in the visualisation of past realities for the public. A cooperation between archaeologists and the gaming industry could have immense benefits for both sides.

The Interactive Past: Archaeology, Heritage & Video Games

Video games, even though they are one of the present's quintessential media and cultural forms, also have a surprising and many-sided relation with the past. From seminal series like Sid Meier's Civilization or Assassin's Creed to innovative indies like Never Alone and Herald, games have integrated heritages and histories as key components of their design, narrative, and play. This has allowed hundreds of millions of people to experience humanity's diverse heritage through the thrill of interactive and playful discovery, exploration, and (recreation n. Just as video games have embraced the past, games themselves are also emerging as an exciting new field of inquiry in disciplines that study the past. Games and other interactive media are not only becoming more and more important as tools for knowledge dissemination and heritage communication, but they also provide a creative space for theoretical and methodological innovations. The Interactive Past brings together a diverse group of thinkers — including archaeologists, heritage scholars, game creators, conservators and more — who explore the interface of video games and the past in a series of unique and engaging writings. They address such topics as how thinking about and creating games can inform on archaeological method and theory, how to leverage games for the communication of powerful and positive narratives, how games can be studied archaeologically and the challenges they present in terms of conservation, and why the deaths of virtual Romans and the treatment of video game chickens matters. The book also includes a crowd-sourced chapter in the form of a question-chain-game, written by the Kickstarter backers whose donations made this book possible. Together, these exciting and enlightening examples provide a convincing case for how interactive play can power the experience of the past and vice versa.

Afterword - The Interactive Past: Archaeology, Heritage & Video Games

West of House You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here. >open mailbox Opening the small mailbox reveals an invitation. >read invitation "WELCOME TO ARCHAEOGAMING! ARCHAEOGAMING is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it you will explore some of the most amazing territory ever seen by mortals. No computer should be without one!"

An Unexpected Archaeology: An Interventionist Strategy for Video Games and Archaeology

Jagged hulks of wrecked cars, discarded soda cans, and gaudy signs advertising a virtual casino littered the digital landscape of Çatalhöyük in Second Life. After a long sum- mer digging at the actual Çatalhöyük, we returned to the virtual version created by the Open Knowledge in the Public Interest group at the University of California under the guidance of Ruth Tringham in 2007....

2013, Building Blocks of the Lost Past: Game Engines and Inaccessible Archaeological Sites

2014

This paper explores an idea for creating an informal and easily approachable media platform to promote archaeological sites that are inaccessible and lesser known to the public in the form of an educational game. This game will create an illusion of a real archaeological site visit, allowing players direct contact with its environment and surroundings as well as interaction with its ancient and contemporary inhabitants. In an era of international connectivity, globalization, and social networking, it seems appropriate to choose the online computer and mobile gaming industries as media for spreading the interest in heritage and archaeology. Kotarba-Morley AM, J Sarsfield, J Hastings, J Bradshaw and PN Fiske (2013). Building Blocks of the Lost Past: Game Engines and Inaccessible Archaeological Sites. In: Earl G, T Sly, A Chrysanthi, P Murrieta-Flores, C Papadopoulos, I Romanowska and D Wheatley (Eds.), Archaeology in the Digital Era, Vol. 2, Amsterdam University Press, 949-960.

Videogames as what kind of artefact? Establishing effective methodologies for a solid practice of archeaogaming

CAA/Digital Crossroads Book of Abstracts, 2021

Once the case is presented, I will conclude and suggest essential steps towards a progressive archaeogaming practice that should entail the collaboration between archaeologists and game studies researchers in creating a joint syllabus, class or seminar for students. The archaeological viewpoint offers valuable theoretical toolkits for the assessment of virtual worlds. Yet, a better convergence with other fields such game studies or digital humanities is required to foster the competencies of the archaeologist of tomorrow.

The Past as a Digital Playground Archaeology, Virtual Reality and Video Games

The Past as a Digital Playground Archaeology, Virtual Reality and Video Games, 2022

The Past as Digital Playground: Archaeology, Virtual Reality, and Video Games collects the contributions to a two-day conference which illustrate a digital project developed at the Archaeological and Technological Park of Poggibonsi (Siena, Tuscany), where Virtual Reality and an educational video game are being used to enhance the archaeological content deriving from the excavation of the medieval site. In recent decades, digital technologies have pervaded every aspect of the production of archaeological knowledge, from data collection to analysis and interpretation, to interaction with the public. The increasing convenience of 3D and interactive technologies has led to a proliferation of digital tools (VR, AR, mobile applications) used to communicate the past in a more engaging way, offering the public an experience that takes place largely outside of the traditional channels. Alongside the experience at Poggibonsi, the book also gathers important contributions originating from other Italian and international case studies in the fields of digital technologies applied to archaeological heritage.

Archaeology A Virtual Adventure

Beyond the Artifact : digital interpretation of the past : proceedings of CAA 2004, Prato 13-17 April 2004, 2010

Computers and gaming stations and with them videogames of all kinds (in this article the term videogames refers to games made for computers and gaming stations) have become an integral part of our every day life. Accordingly the significance of this medium in respect to social and cultural processes has gradually become more widely recognized (DiGA 2004). In my opinion it could also be very profitable for archaeologists to take a closer look at form and content of videogames. Therefore this article deals with the utilisation of archaeology, the archaeologist and archaeological themes. This subject is relevant not only because it helps archaeologists to understand how the broader public perceives their profession, but also because it has a close connection to the creation of 3D reconstructions and virtual walkabouts.