Abstract
From excavation to publication: the integration of developing digital technologies with a long-running archaeological project: the Silchester Roman Town Insula IX ‘Town Life’ Project.
The archaeology of complex settlements like towns is difficult in all respects: the excavation and its recording; the analysis and interpretation of the stratigraphic sequence; the identification, cataloguing, interpretation and integration of all varieties of finds, which range from the remains of standing buildings, through a multitude of fragmented artefacts and animal bones to the sampling of the chemistry of the soil itself; publication in a variety of media – electronic, printed, academic, popular; and, then, the long-term preservation of the archive – from the artefacts through to the digital data.
Urban archaeology is very labour-intensive, particularly at the initial, field stage of excavation, including the recording of the stratigraphic sequence, the environmental sampling in the field, the finds processing and their basic classification and recording, bagging, boxing, etc, etc. Subsequent analysis and interpretation of the stratigraphic record and of the various categories of associated finds, whether artefactual or biological, calls upon the resources of a wide range of expertise, all of which eventually requires integration and synthesising to produce the ‘final’ account of the excavation in question. Then there is the need to make available all the archival resources of the project to future generations of researchers.
Rapidly developing digital technologies are playing an ever-increasing role in all aspects of archaeological research. In the case of the investigation of complex settlements such as towns, the research cannot feasibly be undertaken without digital resources. The case study to be explored here is that of the Iron Age and Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum at Silchester in the county of Hampshire in southern England (UK) in the context of a project which was commenced 12 years ago in 1997. The area under investigation is large, just over 3000 square metres and the time-depth of the settlement is about 500 years from origin to abandonment.
From the outset the project has used the Integrated Archaeological Database (IADB), developed by Mike Rains of the York Archaeological Trust, to store the stratigraphic record and their associated 2D plans, photographic images, and a variety of records of the associated finds, of which the accessioned or ‘small find’ record is, perhaps, the most important. The keynote will describe how the relationship between the archaeology and the database has evolved over the last 12 years and how, with support from a variety of funding agencies including the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council and the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), the project has developed new approaches to data capture in the field and electronic publication of results through the Silchester website (www.silchester.reading.ac.uk) and peer-reviewed electronic journal publication. With current funding from the JISC (vera.reading.ac.uk) and in an inter and intra-University collaboration with Computer Sciences at Reading (Professor Mark Baker), The School of Library, Archive and Information Sciences at UCL (London) (Drs Claire Warwick & Melissa Terras) and the York Archaeological Trust (Mike Rains), we have been able to develop on all fronts: the development of IADB as a generic tool for archaeologists, data capture in the field, interoperability with other databases (collaboration with Oxford University) and dissemination through the development of 3D functionality.
About the speaker
Professor Michael Fulford was promoted Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading in 1988, following previous appointments as Reader (1985) and Lecturer (1974). He has served as Dean of the former Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences (1994-7) and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning (1998-2004). He chairs the University's Committee for the Museum of English Rural Life, the Committee for Museums, Archives and Collections, and the Forum for Rural Research. His principal research interests are in Roman archaeology, particularly in the fields of urbanism, economy, material culture, technology and trade.
He directs the Silchester Roman town Insula IX 'Town Life' Project, which is in its twelfth year and is currently supported by several funding sources including AHRC and the JISC. The JISC is also currently funding VERA (Virtual Environment for Research in Archaeology) in collaboration with the School of Systems Engineering at Reading, University College, London and York Archaeological Trust. AHRC is also funding a major research project, the Samian pottery industries of Roman Gaul, in collaboration with the University of Leeds and the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz, Germany and a collaborative doctoral award with the British Museum on Romano-British pewter ware.
He was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1994 and is currently a Vice-President and Chair of the Board for Academy-Sponsored Schools and Institutes. He is President of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies and Chair of RAE 2008 Main Panel H (Architecture and the Built Environment, Town & Country Planning, Geography and Environmental Studies, Archaeology).