Urkesh

Evaluation

Comparative analysis of archaeological websites

Appendix

Caitlin Chaves Yates – December 2011

Introduction:

This appendix gives descriptions and links to a variety of archaeological websites. They are roughly broken down by the categories discussed in the Digital Report. Occasionally notes are provided by the author of this report. All sections in italics are directly from websites. All links were active as of January 2013, except where noted.

Databases:

OCHRE

http://ochre.lib.uchicago.edu/index.htm

Database designed to incorporate different excavations. The idea is to create a place/platform for multiple projects and types of data. This project developed the ArchaeoML language.

OCHRE theoretical approach: Sub-page of OCHRE project explaining their theory of data integration. I highlighted some portions that I think are important.
"A major purpose of OCHRE is to facilitate data integration, both within a single project and among different projects. Integration within a project is accomplished by linking different kinds of data; for example, by interconnecting the many hundreds or thousands of plans, photographs, and artifact descriptions produced by an archaeological project so that a researcher can easily move among related pieces of information; or by cross-referencing texts, dictionary entries, and grammatical descriptions in a philological project. The OCHRE software is designed to make this easy to do. Once they have been linked, related items can be easily retrieved and displayed together, facilitating further research."
"OCHRE does not impose a standardized terminology. Instead, it provides a core ontology within which each project's terminology can be expressed."

Open Context: Data Publication for Cultural Heritage and Field Research
http://opencontext.org

About Open Context: Uses and Applications: http://opencontext.org/about/uses
Open Context is primarily aimed at the dissemination of primary field data and documentation. While the system in itself is not a long-term archive for such data, Open Context does help prepare datasets for greater longevity.
About Open Context: Key Concepts: http://opencontext.org/about/concepts
Uses the AchaeoML as language,"AchaeoML uses an item-based information model, where individual atomic units of observation are related to each other and their descriptive attributes. Each item does not belong to a predetermined class (pottery, bone, deposit, grave good, etc.), but is, instead, an abstract entity that can have multiple descriptive properties and different forms of linking relations with other items."

tDAR
www.tdar.org

Repository for different kinds of archaeological data.

DAACS :: Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery

http://www.daacs.org

Çatal Höyük Research Project: On-line Database Facility: Home
http://www.catalhoyuk.com/database/Çatal

Database portion of Çatal website.
Çatal Höyük Research Project: On-line Database Facility : Help: Glossary: http://www.catalhoyuk.com/database/Çatal/help_glossary1.asp – Includes a description of the different categories and definitions they allow in their database.

Below are a list of features and their components regularly encountered at Çatal Höyük. We are trying to standardise feature typologies which will ease database queries and you should therefore try to stick to those listed below. There is however, no hard and fast rule and other types of features may be encountered. If a feature you are excavating does not fall into one of the categories below, discuss with your area supervisor, and/or the computer officer, in order for a new category to be entered on to the database. This then for example, enables all platforms to be queried on the database and none missed because they have been categorised as a bed, a couch or foundation etc. There will be occasions when a further level of interpretation is needed for some features, but this should be described in the discussion section of the feature sheet. Examples of feature types and sub feature types (the further level of interpretation) are listed below:"

Çatal Höyük Research Project

http://www.catalhoyuk.com

General website with access to the database (see above)
Excellent example of how a website can be constructed. Includes multiple points of entry for different audiences. Has links to published articles but also includes the full database of materials. Includes daily observations of workers.

Digmaster Figurine Database
http://www.cobb.msstate.edu/dig/lahav
Database of Tell Halif Persian Figurines. Very specific, but illustrates the online free-use database model.

Cobb Institute Research Activities

http://www.cobb.msstate.edu/Research.html
update to Halif database

ArtServe at the Australian National University:
http://rubens.anu.edu.au

This website, based out of the Australian National University, is a tag-based database of photographs of art and architecture from around the world. Once on the page you can use your browser's search function to locate what you need. With a better search function and general interface it could be very useful. The total website appears to include thousands of photographs.

Index to Long-Mounds (Earthen Long-Barrows), Tumuli, & Megalithic Tombs Data Bases (The Comparative Archaeology WEB)
http://www.comp-archaeology.org/MEGTindex.htm

This website is no longer functional as of January 2012
This website reflects an attempt at creating a database of long-mounds in Europe. It is very difficult to understand, primarily because it uses codes with no explanations. The website appears to not have been updated since 2003. The website was created from the research for a 1995 PhD dissertation at Southern Methodist University in Texas. It is part of larger website called "The Comparative Archaeology WEB", which has the stated goal to "further quick publication of archaeological information across continents. Its ultimate aim is to promote detailed comparisons between large cultural regions. Its purpose is to ascertain the causes for similarities and differences in human development in different parts of the world. Publications include news bulletins, announcements, professional quality abstracts, reports, research papers, dissertations, and databases (including chronologies)" (citation: http://www.comp-archaeology.org/).

Digital Pompeii Database
http://pompeii.uark.edu/DigitalPompeii_Content/Database.html

Digital Pompeii Home
http://pompeii.uark.edu/index.html

Digital presentation of Pompeii excavations including a database. Database is based on photographs of rooms and other discrete features such as doorways or walls, which are then described based on several categories.

Insula Of The Menander at Pompeii VOL. III: The Finds in Context: An On-line Companion
http://www.le.ac.uk/ar/menander/index.html

Designed as an "on-line" companion to a published volume. It includes photographs and drawings in a database

Insula Of The Menander at Pompeii VOL. II: The Finds in Context: An On-line Companion
http://www.le.ac.uk/archaeology/menander/index.html

Designed as an "on-line companion" to a published book it includes the drawings and photographs to accompany the book.

Digital Gordion
http://sites.museum.upenn.edu/gordion/archaeology/digitalgordion

Based out of Penn Museum it is a digital database of the Gordion excavations. Seems like it will be worthwhile but appears that the database isn't live yet. There is no way yet to search the database itself, it appears it will be released eventually.
Includes many similar features to our website (bibliography, history of excavations, etc.) although not as extensive.

The Gordion Archive at Penn
http://sites.museum.upenn.edu/gordion/about/archive

"The material includes over 80,000 photographic images (black-and white negatives and prints; color slides), hundreds of drawings (large-scale maps and plans; artifacts), hundreds of written reports (excavation notebooks, end-of-season evaluations etc), thousands of Çatalog cards and book-lists (containing tens of thousands of entries detailing the attributes of artifacts, photographs, drawings and documents); and miscellaneous other items."

Archaeology UK - the home of ARCHI
http://www.digital-documents.co.uk

Database of archaeological sites in the UK, including maps and GPS coordinates.

PRAP Pottery Database
http://docs.classics.uc.edu/fmi/xsl/prap/sfinds_list.xsl?-findall

Pylos Regional Archaeological Project
http://classics.uc.edu/PRAP

Mentions the importance and commitment to making data available. Includes links to 4 separate databases including a site database (because it is a survey), pottery database, small finds and image database. Also includes maps and a 3D tour
Members of PRAP are committed to making the results of the project quickly available to the general public and scholars through the Internet.

West Semitic Research Project
http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp

Database of images of ancient texts relating to the Near East. Has "educational" aspect as well as "scholarly" portion. Involves research from different universities and different techniques. Not strictly archaeological

Archaeological Projects | ETANA
http://www.etana.org/projects

The ETANA website includes links to databases such as ABZU and eTACT for texts. They sought to do something similar for archaeological projects but it is still a work in progress.
"From the initial planning for the ETANA site in 2000, discussions about what a subject portal should include cited a need to provide access to, preserve and archive archaeological data from excavations. While individual archaeologists and dig sites were posting data on the web, there was, and still is not, an agreed upon archival storage mechanism or site."

Sasanian Seals Collection and Sasanian Empire Project
http://www.ecai.org/sasanianweb

Collection of information regarding Sasanian Seals. Includes maps and photographs
Illustrates the intentionally narrow focus of some databases

Digital Archive Network for Anthropology and World Heritage
http://dana-wh.net/home

Similar to Open Context idea but has not been updated recently (since 2004). Broad scope includes archaeology, physical anthropology and world heritage. It was an attempt to bring together data housed at different institutions into one digital space.

Brochure

Ephesus Foundation
http://www.ephesus-foundation.org/homepage.aspx

Website of foundation supporting excavations at Ephesus, Turkey. Small portion with overview of excavations.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
http://asi.nic.in/index.asp

Overarching website of the Archaeological survey of India, which had links to numerous excavations conducted in India. All have only a cursory introduction but it is an impressive amount of information collected into one website.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project - Archaeological Investigations of Blackbeard’s Flagship
http://www.qaronline.org/

Teotihuacan
http://archaeology.la.asu.edu/teo/

Qatna
http://www.qatna.org/en-index.html

The Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project
http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~maeira/project.html

Arslantepe
http://w3.uniroma1.it/arslantepe/

Abila Archaeological Project
http://www.abila.org/index.html

Byzantine Period Church excavations. Occupied from Chalcolithic onward.

Wadi Ziqlab Project
http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~banning/Ziqlab

Archaeological Research in Jordan. Excavations and surveys by the University of Toronto

Ka’Kabish Archaeological Research Project
http://www.kakabish.org/index.html

Chacmool Archaeology Association
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~chacmool

Brochure style. Publications must be ordered, no free links.

Caracol
http://www.caracol.org/index.php

Archaeology at Poplar Forest
http://www.poplarforest.org/archaeology

Presidio Web
http://www.stanford.edu/group/presidio/index.html

Reed Farmstead Archaeological Site
http://www.reedfarmstead.com/default.htm

This website is interesting because it is the public presentation of what appears to be a CRM project. Includes many photographs of objects and finds.

The Zeitah Excavations
http://www.zeitah.net

Zincirli Expedition of the University of Chicago
http://ochre.lib.uchicago.edu/zincirli

Grabung Tell Chuera

http://www.orientarch.uni-halle.de/digs/chuera/chuinfo.htm

Basically just a synopsis, in the "brochure" style, explaining the background and important finds.

Excavations at Tell Chuera

http://www.orientarch.uni-halle.de/digs/chuera/chu96_e.htm

Tell Brak Project Homepage
http://www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk/projects/brak/homepage.htm

Short synopsis of excavations. Not recently updated. No high-level information.

Pompeii Forum Project
http://pompeii.virginia.edu

This website is older, first constructed in 1997 and illustrates how websites can become frozen. It does not seem to have a link to any databases but does have some archival photographs.

Achemenet
http://www.achemenet.com/

General site, mostly in French

Presentaci� | SGR Seminari d’Arqueologia Prehist�rica del Pr�xim Orient
http://grupsderecerca.uab.cat/sappo

Syro-Japanese Archaeological Investigation
http://www.sakura.cc.tsukuba.ac.jp/~elrouj/rouj/index.html

Rock Carvings in Pakistan
http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~u71/kara/intro.html

Harappa Tour
http://www.harappa.com/walk/index.html

Virtual tour around Harappa. Similar to our "footnotes" at Mozan they are a short tour. Includes audio. Not really aimed at scholars.

Mohenjo Daro
http://www.harappa.com/walk/index.html

Excavation Report: Architectural Remains at Abusir-south
http://www.waseda.jp/prj-egypt/sites/Abusir-E.html

Learning Sites–The Virtual World of Nemrud Dagi, Turkey
http://www.learningsites.com/NemrudDagi/nemdagi-2.html

The Ancient Indus Valley and the British Raj in India and Pakistan
http://www.harappa.com/index.html

General site, not specific to any excavation focused on the Indus valley. Includes some 3D models and general introductory material.

Finnish Jabal Haroun Project
http://www.fjhp.info/mainpage.htm

Excavations at Petra. Includes links to videos of 3D models, has a preliminary intro to excavations etc.

The Cide Archaeological Project (CAP)
http://archaeology.leiden.edu/organisation/board-organisation/annual/excavations/cide-archaeological-project-during.html

Virtual Karak Resources Project
http://www.vkrp.org

Hippos
http://hippos.haifa.ac.il

General intro to excavations. No scholarly info. Links to excavation reports.

Tiberias Excavations
http://archaeology.huji.ac.il/Tiberias/Default.aspx

Friends of the Hunley
http://www.hunley.org/index.asp

Excavation and preservation of first combat submarine in the US. Focused on proper underwater excavation and preservation. Research appears to be privately funded and the website caters to that audience. No real excavation reports or academic level material.

Tell ‘Acharneh
http://www.acharneh.hst.ulaval.ca/english/frameInter.asp

Fortin and Cooper present a short summary of the work at Tell Achareh. Good bibliography but no links and not much analysis.

Unbenanntes Dokument
http://www.hattuscha.de/English/english1.htm

Excavations at Hattusha, English version of a German site. Has interesting "tour" aspect on website.

Holmul, Peten, Guatemala
http://www.bu.edu/holmul

Brochure and PDF:

Tell Sabi Abyad
http://www.sabi-abyad.nl

The Beth-Shean Valley Archaeological Project Israel
http://www.rehov.org/index.html

Cerro Jazmin Archaeological Project
http://www4.nau.edu/cerrojazmin/index.html

General overview with links to published reports.

Jerablus Tahtani Project, Syria
http://www.arcl.ed.ac.uk/arch/jerablus/jerahome.html

Includes links to pdf reports as well as having a cursory introduction

Tayinat Archaeological Project
http://www.utoronto.ca/tap

MONARCH - Monastic Archaeology
http://www.wesleyan.edu/monarch/EnglishSite/introduction-TheSite.htm

Medieval site of a monastery. Includes archaeological reports as well as animated plans etc. Has links to published reports. Includes enough scholarly information but not a full report of the site.

Ziyaret Tepe
http://www3.uakron.edu/ziyaret/index.html

Slightly interactive with mouse-over maps of the excavations. Includes links to excavation reports.

Tel Dor
http://dor.huji.ac.il/index.html

A little bit of everything. Links to reports (prelim and final).

UTARP: Home
http://arcserver.usc.edu/index.html

Includes links to pdfs of articles and reports. Some maps. Not comprehensive.

Central Lydia Archaeological Survey
http://www.bu.edu/clas

Interactive Dig: Black Sea Shipwreck Research Project
http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/blacksea

PDF

Williams College Excavations at Psalmodi, France
http://www.psalmodi.org

Not updated since 2008

Yale University Tell Leilan Project
http://leilan.yale.edu

General introduction, includes links to published articles (PDFs). Includes some excel charts with no explanations. Fuller presentation of the more recent "City Gate Project" that reads like a general excavation report. Short documentary video about the excavations and staff. Good number of photographs from several areas of excavations.

The Hamoukar Expedition
http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/ham

Short introduction. Includes links to all the excavation reports (in html).

The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/about_cais.htm

Compilation of numerous articles, images, seminars and news about Pre-Islamic Iran

The Nippur Expedition
http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/nip

Example of hosting at a University with only a cursory introduction to the material. Not aimed at scholars. Has links to PDFs of reports

Harappa
http://a.harappa.com

Website focused on an open forum for people (i.e. the general public) to ask questions of the experts. The experts include the leading scholars in the field. There are also links to numerous articles about the Indus valley and by the experts. Not many images.

Çatal Höyük Archive Reports
http://www.catalhoyuk.com/archive_reports

Section of the greater Çatal Höyük website that presents the previously published materials. The website explains "The reports presented here were originally written for a paper publication, no attempt has been made to edit them beyond conversion to html, as they remain the original author's work. "

TMAP
http://www.utoronto.ca/tmap/index.html

Tell Madaba excavations. Includes preliminary reports in html, but read in a linear fashion like pdf formats.

Hazor reports
http://unixware.mscc.huji.ac.il/~hatsor/reports.htm

Dig Ashkelon
http://digashkelon.com

Visual or Interactive

MayaArch3D
http://mayaarch3d.unm.edu/

Database based on visual data.
Integrates GIS, 3D modeling and archaeology

Patrimonium-mundi.org
http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/middle-east/syria/map.html

panoramas of Syria's world heritage sites.
Virtual tour of Palmyre with 360 degree panoramas: http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/middle-east/syria/palmyre/map.html

VROMA
http://www.vroma.org

Interactive tour of Rome, designed for students of the classics to visit and tour Rome as well as to practice Latin.

CyArk
http://archive.cyark.org/

"creating a digital archive of world's heritage sites for preservation and education"

Tambo Colorado
http://archive.cyark.org/tambo-colorado-intro

Run by a project called CyArk, they produce 3D mapping of archaeological sites, GIS and a rundown of the excavations. Lots of high quality photographs and panoramic photographs. This is the link to one site, Tambo Colorado in Peru. Maurizio Forte was part of the 3D reconstructions

Lascaux
http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/00.xml

Take a virtual tour of Lascaux cave. Can click on paintings to look at them closer. Runs fast and seamlessly.

Metis: Çatalog
http://www.stoa.org/metis/

Çatalog of virtual reality tours of classical sites. No information on what is being viewed.

TroiaVR
http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/troia/vr/index_en.html

Shows reconstructions at Troy using virtual reality and drawings.

Metis: Troy
http://www.stoa.org/metis/cgi-bin/qtvr

Virtual tour of Troy with map and walk-through (click and it move you through the landscape using pictures).

digNubia: Exploring the Science of Archaeology
http://www.dignubia.org

Designed to accompany a museum tour this website is geared at a younger audience with an introduction to archaeology and ancient Egypt.

Remixing Çatal Höyük
http://okapi.dreamhosters.com/remixing/mainpage.html

Website out of Berkeley that has information on small portion of the Çatal Höyük excavations. Designed to be explored and "remixed" it allows someone to navigate and reinterpret in their own way.

The Archaeology Channel
http://www.archaeologychannel.org

Videos from archaeological sites around the world. Has a map where you can click on dots to access videos from specific sites.

Archaeology Exhibit Tour
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcexh/musprv/prvidx.htm

A electronic tour of the Boston Big Dig materials as they were presented in a museum

The tomb of Senneferi at Luxor in Egypt
http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/tt99

Educational site designed to explore both the tomb of Senneferi as well as explain the basics of archaeology.

Theban Mapping Project
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com

Website focused on mapping the Valley of the Kings and area around Thebes. It presents many visuals, and requires the user to interact with the maps in order to retrieve information.

Interactive Dig Sagalassos - City in the Clouds
http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/sagalassos

Part of the Archaeology Magazine, this section features the dig at Sagalassos. It includes a 3D plug-in with google earth and links to articles and reports from the field. there are additional features aimed at different audiences.

USC Digital Library - Israeli Palestinian Archaeology Working Group
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/wbarc

Link Aggregation Sites:

H-Soz-u-Kult / Websites
<a href=”http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/websites http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/websites

Website section of the website. They appear to collect links and reviews to recent publications on the web.

"committed to the principles of open-accessand community network"
"H-Soz-u-Kult's editors vouch for the selection of the news, guarantee the compliance with quality standards, and process and archive the published articles on the web. The predominantly voluntary editorial team publishes more than 1,000 reviews of relevant publications annually."

UNE - Current Archaeology in Turkey
http://www.une.edu.au/cat

Interesting site the collates information about ongoing excavations in Turkey. It hosts short descriptions of hundreds of sites.

The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project Databases
http://tayproject.eies.itu.edu.tr/veritabeng.html

Not associated with any excavation, this website is dedicated to collecting information on the publication of any archaeological project in Turkey.

Archaeology Websites
http://ejw.i8.com/archweb.htm

A good number of the links are dead, shows the importance of online curation.

Archaeology Websites
http://www.saa.org/ForthePublic/Resources/ArchaeologyWebsites/tabid/87/Default.aspx

ArchNet: Table of Contents for WWW Virtual Library for Archaeology
http://archnet.asu.edu/toc/toc.php

Links to different archaeological sites

Archaeological Research Resources
http://www.har-indy.com/Links.html#Dir

Links to historical archaeological sites and databases.

TASK: The History, Archaeology, Art and Cultural Heritage Foundation
http://tayproject.eies.itu.edu.tr/tageng.html

Collection of works relating to Turkish archaeology. English and Turkish.
"The mission of 'The History, Archaeology, Art and Cultural Heritage Foundation' (TASK) is to document, prepare databases of, rescue, preserve, restore, and to increase public awareness of the historical, archaeological, ethnographical, ecological, architectural, artistic and cultural heritage of Turkey; to encourage and promote scientific activities, to organise educational programs and activities for the preservation of heritage for future generations; to inform the national and international public in this regard, to increase public awareness about these issues, and to serve public interest in cooperation with national and international organisations active in those aforementioned fields."

World Archaeology: Syria
http://www.world-archaeology.com/category/world/asia/syria

Mesopotamia Archaeology
http://www.cyberpursuits.com/archeo/mesopotamia.asp

General site with numerous links

Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean Links
http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/history/bronze_age/links.html

Topic-based Sites:

The Complete Petra
http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/petra/index.html

Basically a round-up of all sites about Petra. Not scholarly or comprehensive but links to many scholarly projects and excavations at Petra.

Minoan civilization – Minoan Crete
http://www.uk.digiserve.com/mentor/minoan/index.htm

Compilation of pictures and information about the Minoans for a primarily non-scholarly audience

Theory on Digital Publication/Open Access

DHQ: Digital Humanities Quarterly: Tenure, Promotion and Digital Publication
http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/001/1/000006/000006.html

Alexandria Archive Institute
alexandriaarchive.org/blog/

Open Knowledge and the Public Interest
http://okapi.wordpress.com

Digital Archives from Excavation and Fieldwork: Guide to Good Practice: 2nd Edition
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/goodguides/excavation

Parks and Living Museums:

Living Landscape Project Events
http://www.cllp.uct.ac.za/index.htm

Useful for comparisons with the eco-archaeological park. Has a component for job creation, crafts and education in the local area coordinating with archaeology in the Cape Town area.

GCV&M: 19th Century Village
http://www.gcv.org

Link to Mumford museum site. Has recreation of village life in early America. I imagine there are many more around the country (like Williamsburg).

Guédelon, a fortress castle in Puisaye
http://www.guedelon.fr/index.php?lg=en

The Jerusalem Archaeological Park
http://www.archpark.org.il/index.asp

Link to the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, including area around Temple mount.

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