Modern Technology, Past Culture: Emerging Effects of Information Technologies on Archaeological Practice

DOCUMENT Citation Only John Chenoweth. Alan Farahani.

This project evaluates three of the most well-known ceramic types in historical archaeology: the non-vitreous, white-bodied earthenwares usually distinguished primarily by color and commonly known as creamware, pearlware, and whiteware. Almost ubiquitous on sites connected to worldwide trade routes from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries, these three wares are some of the most useful, most discussed, and possibly some of the most controversial in archaeological analysis.  Using a...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Patrice L Jeppson. Kamelia Aryafar. Ali Shokoufandeh.

Computer vision technologies will someday reconstruct our ceramics for us. This paper considers the implications of one new development toward that end – a computer-employed 'appearance analysis' that automates the classification of ceramic fragments. This technology, which forms a first step in virtual ceramic reconstructions, parallels the typological ordering archaeologists traditionally employ when mending vessels and pursuing cultural understandings. On a prosaic level, the automated...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Christine Broughton Anderson.

Information technologies such as remote sensing and geographic information systems have and are changing the way we view archaeological sites.  Historical archaeologists and more specifically those who work in remote, rural, and/or areas of continued agricultural production are finding some of these technologies invaluable.  However, I still believe that a good old walking survey armed with a paper map and compass (and GPS and digital camera) is, for me, the best way to get a handle on what or...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Ronan O'Donnell.

Manuscript plans contain a variety of data concerning the landscape changes associated with enclosure.  These can be revealed by map regression; a technique which has been used in many previous studies but usually without the aid of GIS.  This paper will outline a simple method for the comparison of plans using GIS, in which maps which are directly comparable are created, eliminating the problems of the different scales and conventions used in manuscript plans.  This has revealed, among other...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Martin C Newman.

English Heritage’s National Record of the Historic Environment (NHRE) has gone through many changes since its inception by the former Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME). It incorporated the National Archaeological Record (NAR), the National Buildings Record (NBR) and maritime sites. During this time it has also moved from paper-based records through various database,GISand web developments. This paper considers how much this is just change in technology? To what...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Dustin W Conklin.

Archaeologists typically focus on the mechanics of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS also possesses the capability to incorporate spatial data at a scale previously unfathomable by archaeologists and to aid in interpretations of social processes in the past. In order to evaluate the ways that GIS can be used as an interpretive tool I will critically examine the Federal Government’s purchase of over one hundred farms in the 1930s located along the Hector Backbone in Schuyler County New...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Quentin Lewis.

In this paper, I utilize GIS and other programs to explore the complexities of interior space in an early 19th century rural household. The E.H. and Anna Williams House in Deerfield, Massachusetts was lived in by the same family for much of the first half of the 19th century. The Williamses were wealthy, and filled their house with goods from around the world, in addition to the material necessities of running a working farm. Their house still stands today, as a museum, but what I will show is...