The state of digital archaeological archiving policies and practice in Europe: A data-based analysis and what to take out of it

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985912%3A_____%2F23%3A00575618" target="_blank" >RIV/67985912:_____/23:00575618 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7930991" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7930991</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The state of digital archaeological archiving policies and practice in Europe: A data-based analysis and what to take out of it

Original language description

Many people take the digital transition for granted and consider the process more or less complete. However, if the product of archaeological fieldwork is mainly archaeological data in addition to material finds, is this really true? This topic of digital archiving has long been addressed by both the EAC Working Group for Archaeological Archives and the SEADDA project. These two entities joined forces to produce a special issue of Internet Archaeology journal, bringing together papers on digital archiving practices in more than two dozen countries (Richards et al. 2021). These papers were later analysed both by EAC and SEADDA to compare the international situation in the field. As the results show, there are both shared difficulties associated with the issue of documentary archives worldwide and examples of good practices that help to overcome the shared problems. The papers mainly highlighted that: - the problems in archiving are primarily organisational (technical level is secondary), - part of the solution should be to cope with the digital transition, but it is not the only task - the issue is going deeper, - if digital archaeological archiving is not a matter of legal obligation, it is not working up to the common expectations or best practices, - the problem lies in the improper handling of archaeology fieldwork data in general, - there are both shared difficulties and examples of good practice worldwide. In order to complement the findings resulting from the interpretation of the published articles with supporting data covering the whole European area in a balanced way, a questionnaire survey was also carried out, which allowed compiling an overview of the situation in 27 countries (30 regions) of Europe. All respondents were experts involved in digital archiving and/or heritage data management in individual countries. Based on the collected information, the disproportion in value of archaeological data and their position within heritage management practice is already proving to be a major shortcoming. There are imbalances in the level of attention – and the resulting level of protection – given to archives of (digital) archaeological documentation. If we want to find a way to improve the situation, it is necessary to initiate systemic changes, which should manifest themselves on a number of levels. However, these changes are conditional on a political decision that will give the whole process legitimacy, the necessary resources, a clear framework, but also the necessary tools. It is needed to formulate general principles and co-create an environment, including a legislative one, in which archaeological archiving can be carried out in a sustainable and meaningful way in order to bring the highest possible social benefit. Compared to other initiatives, we consider it essential to primarily follow the systemic changes (top-down approach) rather than strive for change in the individual practice of researchers. It is the only way to achieve the real persistence of irreplaceable archaeological data. The presentation will summarise the results achieved and present proposed approaches to improve the situation in digital archaeological archiving.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60102 - Archaeology

Project

<a href="/en/project/LM2023031" target="_blank" >LM2023031: Archaeological Information System of the Czech Republic</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů