Visualizing with GIS at Stanford University Archaeology Collections: Open for Interpretation

Summary

GIS-based data visualization offers a dynamic, compelling tool not only for promoting on-campus collections, but also for studying and managing these resources within frameworks of engagement, openness, and reflexivity. The Stanford University Archaeology Collections (SUAC) cares for over 30,000 archaeological and ethnographic artifacts from campus lands and around the world. These items manifest a range of complex histories and present-day significances. The collections were recently re-installed on campus in an active learning/curation space. To connect collections successfully with stakeholders, SUAC must raise awareness of its existence, accessibility, and scope. SUAC also strives to engage theoretical and ethical positions within broader practices of anthropology and heritage. To these ends, this poster uses GIS data to illustrate the composition, origins, and activities of SUAC’s diverse collection. GIS also permits querying and arranging collection data according to different attributes with the opportunity to focus on singular objects or aggregates, blending qualitative and quantitative content. Thus, this technology responsively illustrates the interconnected and ever-changing nature of SUAC as a living collection, highlighting spatial/cultural components and development through time. This digital humanities project provides a useful product for SUAC outreach efforts and, for curators, managers, and users alike, reveals new insights about the collection itself.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Museum Meet and Greet

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