Digital Archaeology In Mongolia: Visualizing the Data

Summary

This study presents results from data visualizations of archaeological sites in northern and western Mongolia. Unlike traditional site documentation techniques applied throughout the discipline, digitalization of data while in the field presents distinct advantages for the study and preservation of both cultural heritage and archaeological data collections. These methods include the production of digital 3D maps, from both aerial and hand-held photogrammetry, data collection with tablets using project specific and updatable forms, near real-time data entry into a secured locally hosted onsite database, and increasing data integrity through pre-printed unique barcodes for each artifact and sample collected. We implemented these techniques for the Northern Mongolia Archaeology Project located in Darkhad Basin, Khuvsgul province, northern Mongolia, and the Tsagaan Asga Project, located in Bayan-Ulgii province, western Mongolia. By creating high-resolution maps in both visible and near-infrared light combined with the spatially aware data collected, the result is a fully digitized site to assist in data organization and analysis so that the focus is less on the data entry and more on the data queries.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22673