Julian D. Richards

Archaeology and Geographical Information Systems: A European Perspective

A view from across the water: the North American experience in archaeological GIS GIS and archeological resource management - a European agenda To be or not to be: will an object-space-time GIS/AIS become a reality or end up an archaeological entity? Beyond GIS Perceiving time and space in an isostatically rising region Cumulative Viewshed Analysis: a GIS-based method for investigating intervisibility, and its archaeological application The impact of GIS in archaeology: a personal perspective Another way to deal with maps in archaeological GIS.

The Archaeotools project: faceted classification and natural language processing in an archaeological context

This paper describes ‘Archaeotools’, a major e-Science project in archaeology. The aim of the project is to use faceted classification and natural language processing to create an advanced infrastructure for archaeological research. The project aims to integrate over 1×106 structured database records referring to archaeological sites and monuments in the UK, with information extracted from semi-structured grey literature reports, and unstructured antiquarian journal accounts, in a single faceted browser interface. The project has illuminated the variable level of vocabulary control and standardization that currently exists within national and local monument inventories. Nonetheless, it has demonstrated that the relatively well-defined ontologies and thesauri that exist in archaeology mean that a high level of success can be achieved using information extraction techniques. This has great potential for unlocking and making accessible the information held in grey literature and antiquarian accounts, and has lessons for allied disciplines.

Recent Trends in Computer Applications in Archaeology

Publications of computer applications in archaeology are reviewed for the period between 1990 and 1996 inclusive. The influence of technological developments on research effort is noted, and particular areas of growth are described. One of the major trends during the review period has been the increase in use of geographical information systems (GIS), but these have still to fulfill their potential. The increased uses of computers for education, communication, and electronic publication are also regarded as important growth areas.

Cottam: An Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds

SUMMARYThe presence of Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian settlements at Cottam, East Yorkshire, was first indicated in 1987 by numerous finds of copper alloy coins, dress pins and strap ends by metal detector users. This report presents the results of fieldwork carried out on behalf of the Department of Archaeology, University of York, between 1993–95, including fieldwalking, geophysical survey, and excavation. This revealed an enclosure of the eighth to ninth centuries, containing traces of a small number of post-built halls. In the late ninth century this settlement was abandoned. A new enclosed settlement was laid out nearby, which was occupied briefly in the early tenth century. It is argued that the Anglian settlement may have been part of a royal multiple estate but that, as a result of estate reorganization after the Scandinavian setdement, it developed into an independent manor. Cottam is the first so-called ‘productive’ site in the environs of York to be the subject of archaeological investigations....

Excavations at the viking barrow cemetery at heath wood, Ingleby, Derbyshire

The cemetery at Heath Wood, Ingleby, Derbyshire, is the only known Scandinavian cremation cemetery in the British Isles. It comprises fifty-nine barrows, of which about one-third have been excavated on previous occasions, although earlier excavators concluded that some were empty cenotaph mounds. From 1998 to 2000 three barrows were examined. Our investigations have suggested that each of the barrows contained a burial, although not all contain evidence of a pyre. A full report of the 1998–2000 excavations is provided, alongside a summary of the earlier finds. The relationship of Heath Wood to the neighbouring site at Repton is examined, in order to understand its significance for the Scandinavian settlement of the Danelaw. It is concluded that Heath Wood may have been a war cemetery of the Viking Great Army of AD 873–8.

The dead of Stonehenge

Abstract The assemblage of Neolithic cremated human remains from Stonehenge is the largest in Britain, and demonstrates that the monument was closely associated with the dead. New radiocarbon dates and Bayesian analysis indicate that cremated remains were deposited over a period of around five centuries from c. 3000–2500 BC. Earlier cremations were placed within or beside the Aubrey Holes that had held small bluestone standing stones during the first phase of the monument; later cremations were placed in the peripheral ditch, perhaps signifying the transition from a link between specific dead individuals and particular stones, to a more diffuse collectivity of increasingly long-dead ancestors.

Twenty Years Preserving Data: A View from the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT In 2016 the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) was 20 years old. Since its birth the ADS has had to respond to rapid changes in technology, as well as major cultural and organizational changes in the external operating environment, from which a sustainable business model for digital preservation has emerged. This article will take a retrospective look at challenges that have been faced and will review current and future priorities for those seeking to establish digital repositories. Digital preservation and open access to research data are now much higher up the agenda of funding bodies, but there is still lack of agreement on what constitutes a core digital archive from a fieldwork project. The paper will review what the significant properties of an archaeological archive are, and how reuse can be supported, linking data and publications. It will consider the challenge of dealing with the gray literature and of avoiding creating further data silos, featuring new initiatives to provide interoperability between digital repositories. It will review the role of data and metadata standards, and consider how the profession needs to address its responsibilities over the next 20 years. En 2016 se cumplieron los primeros veinte años del Servicio de Datos Arqueológicos (ADS por sus siglas en inglés). Desde su inicio, el ADS ha debido responder a rápidos cambios tecnológicos, así como a grandes cambios culturales y de organización en su entorno operativo externo, y de esto ha surgido un modelo de negocio sostenible para la preservación digital. Este artículo presenta una mirada retrospectiva a los retos que se enfrentaron y examina las prioridades presentes y futuras para aquellos que persiguen establecer repositorios digitales. Hoy en día la preservación digital y el libre acceso a los datos de investigación son factores más importantes para los entes financiadores, pero todavía falta acuerdo sobre lo que constituye un archivo digital básico de datos procedentes de un proyecto de campo. Este artículo presenta las características significativas de un archivo arqueológico básico y aborda las maneras de apoyar su reúso, vinculando datos y publicaciones. Se consideran los retos de cómo tratar con la literatura gris y cómo evitar la creación de más silos de datos; asimismo, se presentan nuevas iniciativas para ofrecer interoperabilidad entre repositorios digitales. Se revisa el papel de las normas de datos y metadatos y se considera de qué manera los arqueólogos profesionales deberíamos atenernos a nuestras responsabilidades en los próximos veinte años.

Preserving Our Digital Heritage: Information Systems for Data Management and Preservation

It is essential that we develop effective systems for the management and preservation of digital heritage data. This chapter outlines the key issues surrounding access, sharing and curation, and describes current efforts to establish research infrastructures in a number of countries. It aims to provide a detailed overview of the issues involved in the creation, ingest, preservation and dissemination of 3D datasets in particular. The chapter incorporates specific examples from past and present Archaeology Data Service (ADS) projects and highlights the recent work undertaken by the ADS and partners to specify standards and workflows in order to aid the preservation and reuse of 3D datasets.

Charting the effects of plough damage using metal-detected assemblages

Many thousands of metal objects are retrieved from arable fields every year, by casual discovery or by treasure-seekers with metal-detectors. What is the status of this material? Here a senior archaeologist and a metal-detectorist get together to demonstrate scientifically the hostile context of the ploughsoil and the accelerating damage it is inflicting on the ancient material it contains. Their work raises some important questions about the ‘archive under the plough’: is it safer to leave the objects there, or to take advantage of a widespread hobby to locate and retrieve them?

A curious clinker

Abstract This paper investigates a substance found in some Anglo-Saxon cremation urns which has previously been described as “hair slag”. The results of a series of visual and physical examinations are described. These show that it is highly siliceous and, therefore, unlikely to be derived from human hair. A number of alternative sources are considered and the mechanisms operating within the pyre are discussed. The most abundant source of silica in the pyre environment is the sandy substrate which may have been combined with material from the pyre during combustion.