A First Attempt at Describing, Disseminating and Reusing Methodological Knowledge in Archaeology

A First Attempt at Describing, Disseminating and Reusing Methodological Knowledge in Archaeology

Cesar Gonzalez-‐Perez Patricia Mar2n-‐Rodilla Ins6tute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit) Spanish Na6onal Research Council (CSIC)

Research Goal

To systema6cally describe methodological knowledge in archaeology so that it can be easily disseminated and reused in different situa6ons.

Copyright © 2013 Cesar Gonzalez-‐Perez 2

Motivation

Prac%%oners §  Difficult to communicate

ways of doing §  Difficult to deal with

con6ngencies §  Wheel is being reinvented

every 6me §  One size does not fit all §  Poor record of what was

done

Researchers §  No base for the study of

cogni6ve processes in archaeology


Proposed Approach


Metamodel

Repository

a

d

b

c

e g

f

b c e

g h

Methodology

b1

c1 c2

g1

Endeavour

h

c’ New

components

Requirements

Conceptual Framework


ISO/IEC 24744 metamodel

Work Units

Work Products Producers

Stages Processes Tasks

Techniques

Documents Models Things Ideas

Roles Teams Tools

Phases Milestones Itera6ons

Case Study

§  Interven6on on A Romea megalithic mound §  Planning, parallel excava6on plus surveying, lab work, repor6ng, results dissemina6on

§  Descrip6ve approach §  Sources:

§  Interviews with project par6cipants §  Project documenta6on


Case Study


Works on A Romea

Preparation

Fieldwork

Laboratory

External Authoriz

ation

Planning

Research design

ITR01

ITR02

Excavation

Documentation

Management

Infraestructures

Excavation

Documentation

Management

Infraestructures

Data acquisition

Material/Samples treatment

Information processing

Material/Samples analysis

Results dissemination

Infraestructures

Interpretation

Archaeological Interpretation

Enactment overview

Case Study


Prepara3on phase Research Design process

Previous Experience

(Initial)Hypothesis

Status = Solid

External bibliography

R

Construct initial hypothesis

R

EC

Previous Experience

(Initial)Hypothesis

Status = Solid

External bibliography

R

Construct initial hypothesis

R

EC

Project Manager

Case Study


Laboratory phase Data Acquisi3on process

Dataset

Material evidence

Image File

Image Scanning

Tablet Digitization

Harris Matrix

Excavation Forms

Photo

List of material

evidences for geometrical

representation

Archaeo-logical Journal

Archaeo-logicalSketch

Excavation Form

Verify field data Digitize sketch

Carry out geometrical recording

Select entities for geometrical recording

Enter data

Previous Experience

Hypothesis

R

R

R

R

C

Status = Accepted

M

Status = Accepted

M

R

C

R

R

R Geometrical Representa-

tion

CR

C C

Excavation Forms


Excavation Form

Verify field data

Status = Accepted

M

Status = Accepted

M

Case Study



Dataset

Harris Matrix

Excavation Forms

Photo


Excavation Form

Verify field data Enter data

R

R

R

R

C

Status = Accepted

M

Status = Accepted

M

Case Study



Dataset

Harris Matrix

Excavation Forms

Photo


Excavation Form

Verify field data Enter data

R

R

R

R

C

Status = Accepted

M

Status = Accepted

M

Data Operator

Laboratory Team

Data Operator

Case Study

§  Network of en66es stored and described in database

§  Following ISO/IEC 24744 plus extensions §  227 method components, majorly:

§  Processes and tasks § Work products §  Roles §  plus the connec6ons between them


Database

LaboratoryFieldwork

Dataset

TextualData

Harris Matrix

Photo

Enter data Verify field data

Status = Accepted

Journal

MC

Data ValidationData Acquisition

Fieldwork Team

Data Operator

Laboratory Team

Excavation Forms

Excavation Form

Case Study


Tests

Let’s put together a paperless Data Acquisi3on process.

New Modified Unnecessary

BeneCits

§  High-‐quality record of what was done §  Checks on lifecycle of work products §  Facilitates replanning §  Reuse of knowledge in new situa6ons §  Base for research on cogni6ve processes in archaeology


Open Issues

§ Moving from descrip6on to prescrip6on §  High reliance on “previous experience”; lijle coding of knowledge

§  Very hard to reconstruct methodology employed


Conclusions

§  Descrip6on is not easy but can be done §  Dissemina6on and reuse seem possible §  ISO/IEC 24744 extensions necessary and in progress

§  Open issues need to be tackled


César González-‐Pérez cesar.gonzalez-‐[email protected]

Thank You


Data & Analytics

A First Attempt at Describing, Disseminating and Reusing Methodological Knowledge in Archaeology