Digitizing Archaeological Research: Embracing the Virtual Accessibility of Knowledge Amid a Global Pandemic

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Where Accessibility and Inclusion Meet: Archaeology in the Age of Covid and Beyond" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Discussions concerning accessibility to publications and data have encouraged many within the archaeological community to consider the potential that digital technologies have in supporting a more inclusive field. The current global pandemic has only accentuated the relevance--or rather, the necessity--of an archaeology that utilizes digital tools. As public researchers, we and our discipline would stand to benefit from the integration of open source software and open access to raw data, as it would offer flexible solutions to otherwise demanding constraints--funding, travel, and physical labor--within archaeological research. Not only would the widespread embrace of a digital archaeology among practitioners promote the democratization of archaeological interpretations, the virtual production and dissemination of knowledge underscores the goals of public archaeology: outreach, equity, transparency, collaboration, and multivocality. This paper seeks to expand on these discussions concerning the digitization of archaeology from the perspective of a graduate student researcher during COVID-19.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021   •
• Where Accessibility and Inclusion Meet: Archaeology in the Age of Covid and Beyond

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology