| 1. |
- Batist, Zachary, et al.
(författare)
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Figurations of Digital Practice, Craft, and Agency in Two Mediterranean Fieldwork Projects
- 2021
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter. - 2300-6560. ; 7:1, s. 1731-1755
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Archaeological practice is increasingly enacted within pervasive and invisible digital infrastructures, tools, and services that affect how participants engage in learning and fieldwork, and how evidence, knowledge, and expertise are produced. This article discusses the collective imaginings regarding the present and future of digital archaeological practice held by researchers working in two archaeological projects in the Eastern Mediterranean, who have normalized the use of digital tools and the adoption of digital processes in their studies. It is a part of E-CURATORS, a research project investigating how archaeologists in multiple contexts and settings incorporate pervasive digital technologies in their studies. Based on an analysis of qualitative interviews, we interpret the arguments advanced by study participants on aspects of digital work, learning, and expertise. We find that, in their sayings, participants not only characterize digital tools and workflows as having positive instrumental value, but also recognize that they may severely constrain the autonomy and agency of researchers as knowledge workers through the hyper-granularization of data, the erosion of expertise, and the mechanization of work. Participants advance a notion of digital archaeology based on do-it-yourself (DIY) practice and craft to reclaim agency from the algorithmic power of digital technology and to establish fluid, positional distribution of roles and agency, and mutual validation of expertise. Operating within discourses of labour vs efficiency, and technocracy vs agency, sayings, elicited within the archaeological situated practice in the wild, become doings, echoing archaeology's anxiety in the face of pervasive digital technology.
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| 2. |
- Blank, Malou, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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New Perspectives on the Late Neolithic of South-Western Sweden. An Interdisciplinary Investigation of the Gallery Grave Falköping Stad 5
- 2018
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 2300-6560. ; 4:1, s. 1-35
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article presents the results of an interdisciplinary study combining archaeology, osteology, and stable isotope analyses. The geological conditions and richness of megalithic graves in Falbygden is suitable for studies of Neolithic human remains. Nevertheless, the Late Neolithic period (2350-1700 BC) is poorly investigated. This paper explores new knowledge of the Late Neolithic megalithic population in Falbygden. In-depth osteological and archaeological studies focusing on a single gallery grave (Falkoping stad 5) were conducted. Radiocarbon dating and carbon, nitrogen, and strontium isotope analyses of teeth from twenty-one individuals revealed the time of the grave's use, as well as the subsistence and mobility practices of the buried individuals. The grave was already in use during the first part of the Late Neolithic and used into the second part of the period by individuals of different origin. Furthermore, the results indicated changing population dynamics in the Late Neolithic Falbygden, with increased human mobility, variability in subsistence strategies, and growing population density.
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| 3. |
- Börjesson, Lisa, 1985-
(författare)
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Legacy in the Making : A Knowledge Infrastructural Perspective on Systems for Archeological Information Sharing
- 2021
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter. - 2300-6560. ; 7:1, s. 1636-1647
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Archeological research depends on a complex infrastructure of information systems and services built on different funding models. The information systems enable innovative approaches and progress in information making, but each system also organizes information by means of the system design, the structures, and relations established and the terminologies promoted. This article adopts a knowledge infrastructural perspective on systems used for information sharing in archeology. The purpose is first to expand the perspective on the systems for research information sharing in archeology and second to discuss the potential impact of the knowledge infrastructure on disciplinary knowledge-making, the shaping of archeological information, and legacy data. Based on an analysis of qualitative interviews (N = 31) with archeologists from Europe and the United States, the results show that the interviewees use sharing solutions developed within the archeology discipline as well as general information sharing systems. One important task for further research is to better understand how archeologists choose information sharing systems and how their choices impact what information they share. Also, information sharing for specific topics or with specific coverage appears to be developed with project funding outside of the more established sharing institutions. A key question for the infrastructural sustainability is how to support the inclusion of innovative sharing solutions in institutionalized sharing environments. The results emphasize the need for further studies of how information systems shape archeological legacy in the making, which in turn will support data literacy awareness and training.
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| 4. |
- Derudas, Paola, et al.
(författare)
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Expanding Field-Archaeology Education : The Integration of 3D Technology into Archaeological Training
- 2021
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 2300-6560. ; 7:1, s. 556-573
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This contribution analyses and discusses the use of 3D technology in education and learning. Basing the discussion on a case study performed during two seasons of a field school for 1st-year archaeology students, we explore how to expand traditional didactic programs by developing and testing a web-based system for educational purposes. We examine how these technologies can be used as educational means and supporting tools during an excavation; how universities can incorporate these technologies into pedagogy. We investigate whether the combination of these technologies with a successful pedagogical theory could promote students’ comprehension of the reflexive approach and engagement with the interpretative process.We introduced the students to a complete excavation methodology, including excavation, documentation, data management, and interpretation. Alongside the traditional documentation, a digital approach was added, with 3D technologies and an Interactive Visualisation System that allows fully three-dimensional reasoning from the beginning and throughout the whole archaeological process. Preliminary results show that students easily incorporate 3D documentation into their toolbox for analysing and visualising the material and understand both the possibilities and limitations of the system. However, we identified some limitations in the students’ use of the system. Together with the students’ feedback, we will use them to develop it further and discuss its use in education.
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| 5. |
- Di Maida, Gianpiero, et al.
(författare)
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Digital Methods and Typology: New Horizons
- 2022
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 2300-6560. ; 8:1, s. 1170-1172
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Typological analysis of archaeological artefacts has constituted the backbone of the discipline since its inception as a science in the modern sense (Adams & Adams, 1991). This enterprise though, which has engaged several generations of archaeologists from all branches and areas of expertise, did not come devoid of issues: especially its use as a tool to establish chronological sequences and to identify cultural entities and their characteristic material complexes, before (but also after) the advent of absolute methods of dating, has had the primary effect to contribute to the creation of categories (e.g., ethnical and/or cultural groups) that are still in use in the everyday practice of archaeological work and on whose dangers the research has warned from quite some time now (e.g., Jones, 1997). Despite this, due to a mix of hard-to-change habits, intrinsic difficulties connected to undertake large-scale projects and an undeniable concrete residual usefulness, these categories and classes have kept their place in the everyday practices of the discipline and have shown to be more resistant to substitution or abandonment than previously thought.
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| 6. |
- Ekengren, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Dynamic Collections : A 3D Web Infrastructure for Artifact Engagement
- 2021
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 2300-6560. ; 7:1, s. 337-352
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Archaeological collections are crucial in heritage studies and are used every day for training archaeologists and cultural heritage specialists. The recent developments in 3D acquisition and visualization technology has contributed to the rapid emergence of a large number of 3D collections, whose production is often justified as the democratization of data and knowledge production. Despite the fact that several 3D datasets are now available online, it is not always clear how the data - once stored - may be engaged by archaeology students, and the possible challenges the students may face in the learning process. The goal of the Dynamic Collections project at Lund University is to develop a novel 3D web infrastructure designed to support higher education and research in archaeology. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, all teaching at Lund University moved online, reinforcing the urgency for such an infrastructure. By letting a group of students test an early version of the system as part of their online teaching, we were able to study how they used and interacted with an archaeological collection in 3D and explore the intersection of digital methods and pedagogy in archaeology. This article presents the preliminary results from this experiment.
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| 7. |
- Fahlander, Fredrik
(författare)
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The Relational Life of Trees. Ontological Aspects of Tree-Ness in the Early Bronze Age of Northern Europe
- 2018
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 2300-6560. ; 4:1, s. 373-385
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the Early Bronze Age in northern Europe, tree-like features appear in henges, burials, and rock art in ways that differ from earlier periods. Rather than investigating this phenomenon in symbolic or metaphorical terms, a concept of tree-nes s is explored that focuses on the real constitution of trees and what trees actually do. It is suggested that the accentuation of tree-ness in Early Bronze Age ritual contexts can be related to an ontological shift in conjunction with emerging bronze technology in which different entities can merge or take advantage of each other's generative properties.
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| 8. |
- Goldhahn, Joakim, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Editorial
- 2020
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter. - 2300-6560. ; 6:1, s. 1-1
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 9. |
- Horn, Christian, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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A Boat Is a Boat Is a Boat…Unless It Is a Horse–Rethinking the Role of Typology
- 2022
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 2300-6560. ; 8:1, s. 1218-1230
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Today, it is widely accepted that typology is a biased and inconsistent attempt to classify archaeological material based on the similarity of a predefined set of features. In this respect, machine learning (ML) works similar to typology. ML approaches are often deployed because it is thought that they reduce biases. However, biases are introduced into the process at many points, e.g., feature selection. In a project applying ML to Scandinavian rock art data, it was noticed that the algorithm struggles with classifying certain motifs correctly. This contribution discusses the consistency in applying biases by ML in contrast to the inconsistency of human classification. It is argued that it is necessary to bring machines and humans into a meaningful dialogue attempting to understand why apparent “misclassifications” happen. This is important to inform us about the classification output, our biases, and the rock art data, which are in themself inconsistent, ambiguous, and biased because they are the outcomes of human creativity. The human inconsistency is a necessary component because in rock art not everything that looks similar has a similar meaning.
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| 10. |
- Horn, Christian, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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By All Means Necessary – 2.5D and 3D Recording of Surfaces in the Study of Southern Scandinavian Rock Art
- 2018
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Ingår i: Open Archaeology. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 2300-6560. ; 4:1, s. 81-96
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Southern Scandinavia is Europe’s richest region in terms of figurative rock art. It is imperative to document this cultural heritage for future generations. To achieve this, researchers need to use the most objective recording methods available in order to eliminate human error and bias in the documentation. The ability to collect more data is better, not only for documentation, but also for research purposes. Recent years have seen the wider introduction of image based 2.5D and 3D modelling of rock art surfaces. These methods are Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), Structure from Motion (SfM), and Optical Laser Scanning (OLS). Importantly, these approaches record depth difference and the structure of engraved lines. Therefore, they have clear advantages over older methods such as frottage (rubbings) and tracing. Based on a number of short case studies, this paper argues that 2.5D and 3D methods should be used as a standard documentation techniques, but not in an exclusionary manner. The best documentation, enabling preservation and high-quality research, should employ all methods. Approaching rock art with all the research tools available we can re-appraise older documentation as well as investigate individual action and the transformation of rock art.
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