Introducing a Standardized and Adaptable Method for Rock Art Recording

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The authors advocate for the adoption of a standardized method for rock art recording since it is a reproducible archaeological record. As in any other field, standardization strengthens the reliability of data, facilitates comparative studies and enhances collaboration. The method relies primarily on a multiscale approach to rock art (country, region, site, zone, rock, surface, motif and scene) ensuring the record of its context. An alphanumeric code was set into place for every level by assigning a Unique Identifier to each object. This unique identifier is used to connect spatial, visual and descriptive data. The latter relies on a crafted thesaurus proposing definitions and illustrations of hierarchical terms. This method is the outcome of a five-year research project on Himalayan rock art that was developed according to the current standards in the Digital Humanities and Open Science. It applies FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and relies on open file formats. We believe it proposes an effective and simple enough way to gather a standardized dataset for rock art that could be adopted and adapted in other areas such as the Americas.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53031