Databases and Mapping

Databases are indispensable when managing the large quantities of incoming data from an excavation. The more comprehensive an excavation database is, the more possibilities are created for the economical generation of excavation reports and for subsequent scientific evaluation.

There are currently a few complex, specialist database applications for archaeology either under construction or already in use. There are probably also countless "home-grown" databases in use, created for individual excavation projects. ArcTron Ltd. has been developing the archaeological excavation manager ArchaeoDATA since 1998. A specialist database programmer and several archaeologists are employed in the ongoing improvement of the system. It is our aim to create the most comprehensive technological management system possible for excavation data. The database package works in conjunction with our programs ArchaeoCAD and ArchaeoMAP. Together they form an information system for archaeology which is similar to a geographic information system (GIS) and is available in various combinations and stages of development. If we were to discuss all the many developments in database technology that have been made in the last few years this would be a very long chapter indeed. For reasons of brevity, this is only a summary of some of the data that is required for basic excavation management. Selected screenshots are also provided to illustrate some of the various management levels in ArchaeoDATA. Various data from excavation projects can be managed directly in our database program. For example:

Project Management / Excavation Location

A record of site locations, fields, areas, counties, countries, dates and durations of excavations, excavated areas, personnel employed, commissioning bodies, types of features, datings, cost of the excavations etc.
An excavation diary can be added if required.

Finds Book / Finds Label Database (Fig. 15)

Fig. 15 Screenshot from ArchaeoDATA. Central finds label manager containing diverse modules.

A record of finds label numbers, inventory numbers, feature numbers, planum, sector, spit, layer, find circumstances, finds descriptions, dating, coordinates etc.
Also an appended classification database for scientific finds analysis.

Descriptions for Features, Areas and Sections (Fig. 16)

Fig. 16 Screenshot of ArchaeoDATA. Feature description manager. Input dialog for section descriptions.

Feature descriptions, feature dimensions, pedological descriptions of fills, organic finds, mineral finds, archaeological finds etc.

Photo / Slide Manager (Fig. 17)

Fig. 17 Screenshot of ArchaeoDATA. Central photo manager for features.

Photo number, magazine number, CD-ROM number, photogrammetry, photo type, photo format etc.

In ArchaeoDATA, the various central program modules are linked to one another and allow the user to construct a multitude of composite queries and reports. The central management entity is the project management module, which in turn manages the central feature and finds managers. The finds manager is also linked to secondary management modules including finds classification and classification categories, dating, photo management of all photographic and graphic information from an excavation and descriptions of features, areas and sections based on pedological criteria. Using these input dialogs (here only represented by a small selection) the technicians and scientists can record all fundamental information concerning finds and feature complexes on an excavation. Excavation data which is conventionally recorded using standard finds labels and description forms is suitable for later entry into the database.

A further data block is provided for finds analysis and dating. This section can be used to enter archaeological dating information and the distinguishing characteristics of finds. The classification database sort the entries by various criteria, i.e. under the heading "Altheimer culture", only those vessels etc. which have been previously classified as belonging to the Altheimer culture will appear in the selection lists. The integrated photo manager for features and finds was designed to manage all kinds of graphics, slides and photos from excavations and is, therefore, very flexible. It includes a saving routine which allows digital graphics to be managed under a specific file name and burned onto CD along with the database. Images saved in this way can be accessed and re-imported at any time.

The three incorporated search engines enable the user to query and sort all database input and to print either detailed sections or the entire database in specially organised and pre-formatted printouts.

CAD data and management data can be very effectively linked when all excavation data is correctly and comprehensively processed in the database. The evaluation of large area excavation complexes can only be achieved with the assistance of such databases. Scientists involved in excavation analysis are also provided with many options for combining their own scientific databases with the existing excavation database and plan data. ArchaeoMAP is a supplementary program for ArchaeoCAD and allows database queries to be realised in graphic form. For example, database queries can be automatically converted into finds distribution mapping. Mapping can be generated for dealing with almost any scientific investigation. This is achieved via connections to databases which were constructed during an excavation or to newly created scientific evaluation databases.

Fig. 18 Screenshot from ArchaeoMAP. Pocking-Hartkirchen, near Passau, Lower Bavaria. Late Celtic "Viereckschanz" (square enclosure). Automatic mapping of the finds distribution by sector.

A prototype of our mapping module was programmed during a project carried out in collaboration with the Bavarian heritage authorities, Landshut branch. This project was supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation, project "Geiselhoering-Sued") and was carried out in 1996/97. The ArchaeoMAP module has been continually improved and optimised since that time. The basic concept behind this mapping module for AutoCAD/ArchaeoCAD was to construct an archaeological geometry database that could manage all graphic information from a feature or feature sector etc. The combination of this graphic data and data from scientific and excavation databases enables features, sectors or finds groups etc. to be automatically mapped. Their archaeological significance can then be verified by examining their distribution in the main CAD plan. The plans can be modified using appropriate database queries so that, for example, only certain features and finds are mapped. This could be objects dating from a certain period, scherds of a specified type, ditches of a certain shape or postholes of a specified depth. To illustrate this facility we have shown the result of the mapping of the late Celtic "Viereckschanze" (square enclosure) in Pocking-Hartkirchen with finds distribution mapped by sector (Fig. 18). The advantages of using this system to map excavations of any size are perfectly obvious when compared to manual mapping.

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