Mapping Our Heritage: Towards a Sustainable Future for Digital Spatial Information and Technologies in European Archaeological Heritage Management

Peter Mckeague,Chris Green,Anne Moreau,Loup Bernard,Niels Van Manen,Isto Huvila,Philip Verhagen,Rein Van‘T Veer,Anwen Cooper

doi:10.5334/jcaa.23

Abstract

The enormous increase in digital spatial information has led archaeologists all over Europe to rely ever more on digital data to prepare and carry out archaeological research, both in academic and heritage management contexts. Spatial information is increasingly used to guide heritage management policies, from urban design to rural planning and tourism. Furthermore, spatial information is more and more employed to involve the general public, using digital technologies in museums and other places of archaeological interest, but also to involve amateur archaeologists in data collection programmes using crowdsourcing. With this proliferation of data and data use, issues of sustainability of digital data repositories, accessibility and reliability of data, standardization of data formats and management of property rights are currently widely debated inside and outside archaeology. However, they have not yet led to generally accepted practices of data management across or even within European countries. In this paper, we sketch the state-of-the-art of archaeological spatial data management, identify the major problem areas and reflect on potential improvements. We conclude that technical solutions are available, but will need a long-term transnational strategy in order fulfill the promise of open and sustainable spatial archaeological data for all user groups involved.

Highlights

The escalation of digital spatial information has led archaeologists all over Europe to increasingly rely on digital data to prepare and carry out archaeological research, both in academia and heritage management
This has undoubtedly contributed to the fact that, currently, of all archaeological information, spatial data is probably best represented in digital repositories even if there are many obstacles to managing, preserving and making spatial information accessible
Beyond the fundamental issue of ensuring the long-term preservation of digital data in general, there is a lack of recognition of the value and potential of spatial data held in reports and datasets, notwithstanding the obvious benefit of standardising and sharing spatial data for research and to inform environmental policies and activities that may impact the cultural heritage

Summary

POSITION PAPER

Peter McKeague*, Rein van‘t Veer†, Isto Huvila‡, Anne Moreau§, Philip Verhagen||, Loup Bernard¶, Anwen Cooper**, Chris Green†† and Niels van Manen‡‡. Spatial information is more and more employed to involve the general public, using digital technologies in museums and other places of archaeological interest, and to involve amateur archaeologists in data collection programmes using crowdsourcing. With this proliferation of data and data use, issues of sustainability of digital data repositories, accessibility and reliability of data, standardization of data formats and management of property rights are currently widely debated inside and outside archaeology.

Introduction

Broadly the functions within each state may be defined as

Reliant on an appropriate archive to host the data

Conclusion