Archaeoinformatics

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Computational Archeology is a specialized discipline that complex research problems of archeology by means of modern information technology understand and want to solve. Archaeo- informatics forms the interface between archeology and informatics in the same way as, for example, geoinformatics , bioinformatics , business informatics , media informatics and environmental informatics for their disciplines. As with computer science itself, a distinction can be made between two components:

Theoretical archaeological informatics is basic research. It deals with the structure, representation and analysis of archaeological data , the description and interpretation of patterns and processes as well as the development and testing of mathematical-statistical procedures for the acquisition of knowledge in archeology. This is done on the scale of the individual site ( intrasite analysis ) and the archaeological find landscape or settlement chamber .

The applied or practical archaeo-informatics establishes the real relationship to the found material. It deals with the development of new software and the use of established software in archaeological research and teaching as well as public work, monument preservation and in museums (e.g. databases , geographic information systems (GIS), virtual reality ). The term archaeoinformatics was first used with this meaning in a German-language publication in 2000.

Origin and character

From a technical historical point of view, theoretical archeological informatics is a consequence of the “ quantification ” of archeology, which protagonists like Binford and Clarke called for and developed a “ New Archeology ” or “Processual Archeology” at the end of the 1960s . Other early sponsors include: B. Clive Orton with mathematical modeling and Nick Ryan with computerized databases.

Since the mid-1990s, quantitative methodology has been in Archeology v. a. through the development of geographic information systems (GIS) and their general availability (e.g. the open source GIS GRASS) in a phase of great dynamism that is generating new methods and tools. Since then, one can rightly speak of archaeoinformatics.

However, one should not forget that the use of information technology, for example for the documentation and evaluation of an archaeological excavation , has developed consistently and continuously since the appearance of the first affordable computer systems. As a preliminary result, there is currently a noticeable imbalance between the pace of development in applied archaeo-informatics (e.g. databases , virtual reality , excavation documentation, 3D find documentation including a combination of different measurement techniques, spatial analyzes with GIS) and the safeguarding of its scientific basis through theoretical archaeo-informatics.

The first junior professorship for archaeoinformatics at the Institute for Classical Archeology at the Free University of Berlin was filled with Silvia Polla .

Related or included areas are radiocarbon dating , dendrochronology , geoarchaeology , archeometry , archaeobotany and archeozoology . Statistical methods are often important here.

Training and research

The pioneering role of British archeology in the establishment of quantitative methodology and computer science in archaeological training, field research and monument preservation is reflected in the courses offered by the universities.

Great Britain

The Institute of Archeology at University College London , for example, offers a specialized course in “GIS and Spatial Analysis in Archeology”. A degree in "Archaeological Information Systems" can be taken at the Department of Archeology at York University ; “Landscape Archeology and Geomatics” at the Institute of Archeology and Antiquity at the University of Birmingham has a similar focus . A number of UK institutes have relevant research groups and facilities, such as B. London, Southampton and Birmingham.

Germany

Since the 2005/2006 winter semester, students at the Institute for Prehistory and Protohistory at Kiel University have been able to attend regular courses on the subject of archaeological informatics. In this range of courses, archaeo-informatics has, in addition to the new area of ​​environmental archeology and the professorship for archeozoology and isotopes, a fixed and interlinking position within the "classic" subject areas.

Since the winter semester 2006/07 at the latest, courses with archaeo-informatic content have been offered at the University of Cologne and, with the restructuring of the Bachelor and Master system, elective modules have been set up in both courses. Since April 2016, Prof. Dr. Eleftheria Paliou holds the first professorship (W2) for archaeoinformatics in Germany at the Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne. In April 2018, archaeological informatics was implemented as a major in the master’s degree in archeology.

As part of a teaching cooperation, modules on interdisciplinary applications of spatial measurement and information technology have been offered by the Mainz University of Applied Sciences in the master's degree in Archeology at the University of Mainz since the 2008/2009 winter semester . The range of courses covers a wide range of archaeo-informatics and can be attended by students of both archeology and geo-informatics and surveying.

Since the 2010/11 winter semester, the HTW Berlin has had a master's degree in "Geo- and Field Archeology".

In 2013 and 2014, two working groups were initiated at Heidelberg University as part of the Excellence Initiative, which are based in the Digital Humanities , Archaeoinformatics and Applied Computer Science . International doctoral candidates and students are supervised as part of their research projects. There are also numerous courses and workshops on archaeoinformatics held at the Asia & Europe Cluster of Excellence and the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) . There is also a master's degree in 'Geoarchaeology' with corresponding digital teaching content.

Since the 2015/16 winter semester, there have been regular courses in the field of archaeoinformatics at the University of Bonn .

Meetings

The most important platform for scientific exchange is the CAA (Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archeology) conference of the international association of the same name, which every year endeavors to bring together computer scientists, mathematicians, natural scientists and humanities scholars on the subject of "computer applications". The AG CAA Germany was founded in 1981 and takes part in the annual meetings of the German antiquity associations. Furthermore, every two years at the meetings of the Society for Classification, separate lecture sections are offered. Since 2010, the German-speaking AG CAA has held its own workshop every year in January or February. In Austria, the Vienna City Archeology organized an additional “Archeology and Computer Workshop”. This has been continued in English as the International Conference on Cultural Heritage and New Technologies (CHNT) since 2009 and takes place every year in November.

job

Career opportunities for archaeologists with IT knowledge can be found outside of the universities in the IT departments of museums, archaeological state offices (archaeological monument maintenance ), research institutions and also at excavation companies whose documentation and publication systems have to be looked after during and after the actual excavation. Two British archaeological IT service providers worth mentioning are Archaeological Data Service and Oxford Archeology Digital .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mario Schlapke: The "Computational Archeology" at the Thuringian State Office of Archaeological Heritage . In: Excavations and finds in the Free State of Thuringia . tape 5 , 2000, pp. 1–5 ( thueringen.de [accessed on July 16, 2019]).
  2. ^ Lewis R. Binford: Archeology as Anthropology . In: American Antiquity . tape 28 , no. 2 , October 1962, p. 217-225 , doi : 10.2307 / 278380 .
  3. ^ David L. Clarke: Analytical archeology . Methuen & Co. Ltd., London 1968, doi : 10.1002 / ajpa.1330330123 .
  4. ^ David L. Clarke: Archeology: The Loss of Innocence . In: American Antiquity . tape 47 , no. 185 , March 1973, p. 6-18 , doi : 10.1017 / S0003598X0003461X .
  5. ↑ Jeremy Huggett and Seamus Ross (Eds.): Archaeological Informatics. Beyond Technology (=  Internet Archeology . No. 15 ). 2004 ( intarch.ac.uk [accessed July 16, 2019]).
  6. ↑ Open source geographic information system GRASS GIS. Retrieved July 15, 2019 .
  7. ^ Hubert Mara and Robert Sablatnig: Orientation of Fragments of Rotationally Symmetrical 3D-Shapes for Archaeological Documentation . In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on 3D Data Processing, Visualization, and Transmission (3DPVT) . 2006, doi : 10.1109 / 3DPVT.2006.105 .
  8. ↑ Stephan Karl, Paul Bayer, Hubert Mara and András Márton: Advanced Documentation Methods in Studying Corinthian Black-figure Vase Painting . In: Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Cultural Heritage and New Technologies (CHNT23) . Vienna, Austria 2019, ISBN 978-3-200-06576-5 ( chnt.at [PDF; accessed on January 14, 2020]).
  9. ↑ Advanced documentation methods in studying Corinthian black-figure vase painting on YouTube created with the GigaMesh software framework , cf. doi: 10.11588 / heidok.00025189 .
  10. ^ Courses offered in Classical Archeology (KA) University of Cologne, Archaeological Institute. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 30, 2017 ; accessed on July 16, 2019 .
  11. ^ Archaeoinformatics at the University of Cologne. Retrieved October 10, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Archaeoinformatics as a new field of study. Retrieved July 15, 2019 .
  13. ^ Junior research group Digital Humanities with focus on Archaeological Information Systems and Cultural heritage, Asia and Europe in a Global Context, Heidelberg University. Retrieved July 15, 2019 .
  14. ↑ FCGL - Forensic Computational Geometry Laboratory, IWR, University of Heidelberg. Retrieved July 15, 2019 .
  15. ^ Geoarchaeology at the University of Heidelberg. Retrieved July 15, 2019 .
  16. ↑ International Association “Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archeology” (CAA). Retrieved July 16, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Working group “Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archeology” (CAA-DE) or German-speaking chapter of the international CAA. Retrieved July 16, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Classification Society (GFKL) - Data Science Society
  19. ↑ Contributions to the conference series "International Conference on Cultural Heritage and New Technologies"
  20. ^ Archaeological Data Service. Retrieved July 16, 2019 (UK English).
  21. ^ Oxford Archeology Digital. Retrieved July 16, 2019 (UK English).