Uncovering a Globalized Past with the Connections Project: Highlighting challenges associated with exploring long-distance interaction between the Southwest US and Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Journeying to the South, from Mimbres (New Mexico) to Malpaso (Zacatecas) and Beyond: Papers in Honor of Ben A. Nelson" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Connections Project is a long-term research venture focused on documenting material indicators of interregional interactions amongst people that inhabited an area ranging from the US Southwest and Mexican Northwest (SW/NW) to Central America from 800-1540 CE . Data relating to distantly traded goods and materials indicative of relations across space were collected and collated from archaeological reports, publications, and cultural resource management records. The long-term goal of this project is to create an open access research and reference database for storing evidence of material and iconographical interactions amongst peoples who inhabited the SW/NW and Mesoamerica. However, there remain a substantial number of obstacles to data curation and analysis. In this Knowledge Development Framework (KDF) paper, we address three things. First, we delve into what the Connections Project is and what data we use. Second, we highlight an example of an obstacle to data analysis that was overcome through collaboration. Third, we discuss an issue that we are actively working to overcome—namely the challenges associated with digitally curating archaeological data. By discussing these obstacles, we hope to create a dialogue regarding the challenges of collecting, curating, and using archival data for large scale analysis.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Journeying to the South, from Mimbres (New Mexico) to Malpaso (Zacatecas) and Beyond: Papers in Honor of Ben A. Nelson   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25803