ArchaMap: A Solution for Merging and Finding Archaeological Data

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Many of archaeology’s biggest questions require the aggregation of numerous datasets. Often the main stumbling block is the time-consuming matching of different categories and domain-specific ontologies between datasets. Even when this complex challenge is completed, there is rarely a record of how the datasets were merged (i.e., translated). Push for open access has increased the availability of online datasets such that it is a growing challenging to find where the data is stored. In North America, data could be located on tDAR, Open Context, Zenodo, Github, Open Science Framework, or custom solutions like CyberSW or the Chaco Research Archive. ArchaMap is a database and application that assists users in merging complex datasets. When datasets are merged, the translation of categories is stored for reuse based on open science principles. ArchaMap does not store any archaeological data other than category names and contextual information. Using ArchaMap’s explore function, users can locate desired categories (e.g., for sites, pottery and projectile point types) and identify datasets that contain these categories. The merge function allows users to identify previously translated datasets and obtain the necessary information to easily locate and combine these datasets for reuse.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36645.0