Going Paperless: The Digital Age of Archaeology

Technology has played a large role in shaping how archaeology was conducted, especially towards the end of the 20th century. From telescopic transits to total stations, from map and compass to hand held GPS devices, and from film cameras to digital cameras are just a few example of how technology shaped archaeology. In the last decade or less a rapid change is occurring with technology and equipment becoming cheaper and more suffocated such as smart phones and tablets replacing paper and brick GPS units, video recorders and drones recording surveys and excavations, or a tablet replacing a physical conference paper, are all changing archaeology for better or worse. This symposium will explore the positive and negative, express hesitation and admiration for "going paperless" or moving into the digital age of archaeology.