TETRARCHs is fundamentally concerned with the widespread lack of reuse of archaeological data. One hypothesis we have is that these data are not yet rich and evocative enough to stimulate meaningful reuse.
We’ve done tests with hundreds of people across multiple countries which demonstrate that reuse is dependent on archaeological data reflecting humanity, atmosphere, mood, feeling, emotion, senses, lived experiences (in the present as much as in the past). Data (and their associated metadata) that do not represent these qualities are highly unlikely to be reused.
Access to this more sensory and evocative data is crucial to reuse by archaeologists themselves, and also by those outside of archaeology – i.e., wider public audiences. Importantly, these data are regularly generated by wider audiences who live or work on or near archaeological sites or visit such sites. They may circulate stories, memories, reminiscences, documentary footage, artistic productions, etc., that reflect their relationships to the place and its past. However their data is often not fully and meaningfully integrated into archaeological interpretation–indeed it is often not taken seriously, leading to disenfranchisement and resentment. On top of this, archaeological interpretation usually does not prioritise the consistent creation or inclusion of any such emotive data by archaeological specialists.
We have recently published about the challenges of changing our systems to address all of these problems and gaps (read journal article here or simple summary here). This year at Tharros, in partnership with Tharros Archaeological Research Project and the Fondazione Mont’e Prama, we are attempting to apply our lessons learned to creating more reusable data in the field, the lab and the community. We are equally concerned with interweaving these data so that richer narratives can be generated which are representative of all those who have a stake in the archaeology.
We are currently leading three streams of work:
Data collection and storytelling (with the collected data) by mixed groups of community members from around Tharros and specialists from the site. Some of the emergent data is visible here.
Data collection by visitors to Tharros, using an Omeka-S-based web app identical to that used by community members.
Experimental data collection by Tharros archaeological field and lab specialists, using a modified web app focused on context-level data.
We have been blown away by the positive reception we’ve received from everyone. The eagerness, generosity and openness to possibilities is inspiring and energising–and we cannot wait to report on results as soon as we can. In the meantime, follow along with the emerging dataset in English or Italian.
Some of the TETRARCHs team on a tour of the astounding palace in Vilnius. Photo by Dr Povilas Blaževičius.
At the end of March 2024, Transforming Data Reuse in Archaeology turned 1.5 years old. Last month some of our project team assembled for a mid-term meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, hosted by our incredible colleagues at Vilnius University. Here we reviewed our activities to date, discussed our research results, experimented with storytelling, and began to plan for our summer fieldwork (in Slovenia, Sweden, Italy and Greece) and for the final year-and-a-half of our research programme.
Some of the TETRARCHs team replicates a storytelling experiment using photos from different archaeological sites. Photo by Sara.
I believe we’ve achieved a lot, and I feel particularly proud that, between October 2022 and March 2024, we:
Launched an esteemed monthly online seminar series – What can data do for us? – that has hosted 13 speakers (indeed more since March!), with more than 1150 registrants from 45 countries.
Established new collaborations with institutions (Kingston School of Art – UK) and projects (Tharros Archaeological Research Project – Sardinia and the Toumba Serron Research Project – Greece), and students and visiting scholars (including Chiara Giovannetti – Italy; Kevin Garstki – USA, Helen Wickstead – UK; Despoina Sampatakou – UK) who are helping test TETRARCHs’ tools and methods, elaborate our research approach, and connect us with more communities and sites.
Conducted fieldwork and data collection in London (UK), Västra Vång (Sweden), and Toumba Serron (Greece), and with institutions and people across Belgium, Lithuania and Slovenia.
Leveraged over €14-million in new funding for related research!!
We’ve worked across many communities, including via:
Interviews with business owners and industry in Lithuania and surrounding areas (e.g., journalists, tour guides, tourism managers, jewellers, architects, filmmakers) to understand how they use and search for archaeological data.
Experiments with archaeological specialists, creative students / practitioners based in a variety of contexts, and school children to understand how new forms of storytelling with archaeological photos may be pursued by each group.
An international workshop with Omeka Susers to understand the suitability of the platform for sharing and storytelling with archaeological data.
An international workshop with representatives of European memory institutions to understand how they have previously constructed stories from archaeological data, and their overarching ‘workflows’ for storytelling.
Workshops and fieldwork with specialists in LiDAR and 3D data, and volunteers at local museums and sites to understand reuse needs and requirements.
An international workshop with data managers and data mappers associated with CoreTrustSeal accredited digital repositories holding archaeological data in Europe to understand their preliminary responses to TETRARCHs’ data model and overall research proposition.
Fieldwork with creative residents, including in UAE, to support TETRARCHs in redesigning approaches to data collection and retention, and with reuse of data.
An international survey of specialists about how they search for archaeological data in order to reuse it.
TETRARCHs is premised on the fact that archaeological data are not widely accessible for meaningful reuse, and European society at large is losing out as a result. At the most basic level, we seek to change the ways data are recorded, stored and retrieved to amplify societal impacts. This includes,
Expanding interest in and use of archaeological data outside of archaeology, into creative and communications industries, urban development, tourism, and beyond. The number of archaeological stories available to inspire people and places is infinite, yet the public is exposed to a tiny fraction – most of which do not represent the breadth of the human experience.
Making archaeological data accessible for small businesses and creative practitioners for development of new products and expertise, contributing to cultural and economic development. These data can be used to inform everything from landscape architecture to interior design to cooking, theatre or sport – leading to novel contributions to business and industry. Right now, unless one has privileged access to the datasets, little of this potential for commercial innovation is realisable.
Increased inclusion of communities in decision making around how archaeology is done and how it could be done differently in the future. The workflows for archaeology in Europe generally exclude the people most affected – i.e., those that live or work on or around the sites. Such exclusion relates in part to how the science of archaeology is conducted – and TETRARCHs’ storytelling-based method seeks to use commonly known and understood storytelling techniques to create new, more accessible and inclusive workflows.
Building the emotions, sensations, atmospheres and affect that sit at the core of all information into archaeological information infrastructures. Archaeological data tends to be stripped of all affect to conform to existing standards, leaving the data devoid of meaning and rife for manipulation into stories that bear no relationship to their context. More conscious and conscientious engagement with emotion can significantly influence how archaeological information is presented and interpreted in various fields, from education to media, enhancing empathetic communication and engagement.
Creating more opportunity for archaeological data to meaningfully inform local, regional, national and international policy related to local planning, historic environment management, and cultural development. More access to more affectively-engaged and community-centred archaeological data allows for more opportunity to translate archaeological research directly into policy relevant to people and place.
For me (Sara), TETRARCHs is a very special project, bringing together specialists across the entire archaeological spectrum – field, post excavation, lab, archives, communications, engagement, management, academic, practice-based, etc. – in a warm and welcoming space. It is the first time I’ve been able to work with so many different experts and feel safe to experiment productively with concepts like storytelling which might otherwise be perceived as threatening or unstable. It’s very liberating not to feel anxious or ostracised in trying to do archaeology differently, and I’m grateful to my colleagues and collaborators for making this possible.
Touring VALDOVŲ RŪMŲ MUZIEJUS with some of the TETRARCHs team. Selfie by Sara.
The project is also special because of how it has been funded – by the CHANSE initiative – in a way that has minimised administrative work, maximised opportunities to meet other projects granted through the same scheme, and foregrounded knowledge exchange and impact on society. I feel fortunate to be able to experience leadership in this context, which is substantially different to other grants I’ve held.
Finally, in reflecting on this blog post with my co-lead Holly Wright, it feels important to conclude by noting how critical our early career researchers have been to the success of TETRARCHs to date. Paola, Aida and Lise, who are variously in postdoctoral and PhD posts on the project, have profoundly shaped our research design, our emerging publications and other outputs, our networks and partnerships, and the culture of our project overall. It’s been inspiring for Holly and myself, and we hope that it testifies to the space the team has created for collaborators to express themselves on their own terms. We’re also over the moon about the work emerging from the efforts of our creative residents and hope to say more in future posts.
Please stay tuned for our activities over the coming months, e-mail us to join our mailing list, and join us on Zoom for our seminar series which will resume in September 2024. Thank you so much for following along!
TETRARCHs partner Holly Wright (University of York) will be presenting:
Reimagining Archaeological Data Management Workflows through the Lens of Reuse (14:20-14:40 on 9 April)
Abstract
The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) is a CoreTrustSeal accredited archive for digital archaeological data, and a world leader in the development of best practice and standards development in this domain, but the advent of the FAIR Principles and their application by the ADS has led to changes in the way we think about how we manage our own data workflows. In particular, the idea that all four principles require equal engagement. While the ADS has worked hard to ensure the data we hold is Findable, Accessible and Interoperable, FAIR has shown us we need to better understand both how our data is Reused, and how to better engage with broader user communities to ensure we can respond to their needs. The ADS is working to meet this challenge in a range of ways, but particularly through participation as partners in Transforming Data Reuse in Archaeology (TETRARCHs). This three year project, funded under the CHANSE ERANET Co-fund programme (which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement no 101004509), is experimenting with new approaches to collecting archaeological data and using that data for storytelling in ways that are meaningful for diverse audiences. This experimentation is also looking at new approaches to how to better communicate the value of cultural heritage to people who may not see its value, and better support data creators in communicating the value of their work more directly, as a counterbalance to the ways this information is often misused both socially and politically. To do so, TETRARCHs is creating new workflows for collecting and managing archaeology and heritage data. This includes examining how archaeological processes in the field, the lab and the archive can be changed to support storytelling with the data, and these workflows are being developed in partnership with an interdisciplinary team of archaeological specialists, data scientists and museum practitioners, alongside three key audiences: domain experts, creative practitioners, and memory institutions. TETRARCHs is experimenting with archaeological data collection at three different scales as well: landscapes, single sites, and individual objects, using four increasingly common technologies for data capture: airborne LiDAR, 3D scanning, digital field drawing and photography. Once the workflows are complete, TETRARCHs will test them by supporting people who work in creative fields to develop new stories and other imaginative works using archaeological data. These new workflows have implications for how this data is managed by archives such as ADS. What changes would be necessary for our workflows to accommodate a much broader understanding of reuse, as defined and developed by the TETRARCHs Project? Do these workflows conflict with the way we must work in order to preserve our accreditation? What aspects could be easily incorporated into our workflows, and what aspects would require longer-term changes to our way of working? How do we balance the time and effort necessary to make these changes with the demands of a busy archive? How does engaging with a project like TETRARCHs help the ADS meet its mission? How replicable and useful are these changes across the archaeological data management domain? This paper will explore these questions and present the results of the ADS partnership in TETRARCHs thus far. It also represents an opportunity for CAA members to give feedback on the progress and direction of this work, as TETRARCHs moves towards its final year.
TEtrARCHs partners in front of the King’s Manor, home of the Department of Archaeology at the project kick-off meeting in November, 2022.
The Archaeology Data Service and the Department of Archaeology welcomed the TEtrARCHs Partners to York on 3-4 November, 2022. Some partners had worked together in previous projects, while others were meeting each other for the first time.
The meeting began with the usual welcome and introductions, but with the additional question: What is one thing we should know about you that will help you to thrive in the project?
The Partners then participated in the activity Going beyond the state of the art: scholarly inspirations, creative vision, pushing on the boundaries of current research & practice. Everyone prepared three slides and gave a short presentation on the current research scholarship, creative practice or other inspirations that have influenced where they would like to go / how they would like to reshape the research and professional landscape through the TEtrARCHs project. Please drop your slides here in advance of your presentation.
As the Department of Archaeology has a strong Digital Archaeology research focus, the Partners then headed to the weekly Digital Lunch held within the Department Presentation of TEtrARCHs to participate in the Digital Lunch Seminar Series organised by The Digital Archaeology & Heritage Lab (DAH LAB). Holly Wright presented the project in the hybrid seminar, with all partners participating and interacting with in-person and online attendees. The presentation is available here.
After lunch, workpackage leaders highlighted aspects of their workpackages, including where they will need to work, and with whom they will need to collaborate and realise their tasks and deliverables.
The major activities for the second day included a values setting for the Project. The Partners considered what values they would like to see underlie TEtrARCHs, and their work together in break-out groups and all together, to agree on a handful that could guide the work on the Project.
The meeting closed with a planning discussion for the activities and potential case studies for the first year of the project, a review of action points from the meeting, and final wrap-up and meeting evaluation.
