- Urkesh website
- Mozan Sitewide
- current area home
- current unit home
- preface
- contents
- acknowledgments
- index
- copyright
- INTRASITE FRAME
- the tell
- topography
- zones
- areas
- units
- expedition house
- REGIONAL FRAME
- region & macroregion
- domain
- environment
- territory
- DIGITAL DIMENSION
- record & browser
- page layout
- digital narrative
- digital reading
- automation
- linear & polyhedral
- PERIODIZATION
- METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
|
- Any given excavation unit must be seen within a wider frame of reference. The highest node is the Urkesh website, which is also the portal to the Urkesh Global Record.
- The next highest node is the Mozan Sitewide: the link takes you directly to the pertinent digital book.
- What follows is the area to which a given unit belongs, such as, for instance, area AA.
- The last link in this set is to the home of the current unit, such as, for instance, A16.
- The Preface gives a general orientation about the specific unit and about the scope of the digital book that corresponds to this unit.
- The Table of contents (this page) shows how the digital book is articulated.
- The acknowledgments refer to the institutions that have made work at this particular unit possible, and mentions the key staff members and colleagues who have contributed to the realization of the digital book (more details about the staff is given in Part Two).
- The index gives a listing of the main topics treated, especially in Mozan Sitewide. Links are given for each topic to the pertinent page within the Urkesh Global Record.
- The copyright page gives detailed information about the publication rights that we reserve and the conditions of use, applicable to the entire website.
- INTRASITE FRAME explains the mechanisms through which the site is encased in a conceptual construct, as follows:
- the tell is a brief overview of the site conceived as an organic physical entity, and resulting from specific formation processes;
- topography
- zones are topographically meaningful wholes, defined by traits such as contours and identifiable surface features; a list of the major units on the High Mound is also provided; a list of the major units on the High Mound is also provided;
- areas are typologically meaningful wholes, defined by aspects of the ancient built environment; a list of all zone on the High Mound and the Outer City is also provided;
- units describes the maximal area of excavation, i.e., the largest operation within which data are ordered and indexed; a list of the major units on the High Mound is also provided;
- Finally, I give as an appendix a brief overview of the expedition house, which is built on the tell, and about which a separate digital book will eventually appear.
- REGIONAL FRAME
- region and macroregion opens a window onto the territory of ancient Urkesh, detailing how we understand it through surveys, excavations at neighboring sites, historical documents
- domain deals with the regional spread of common traits in material culture
- environment deals with the landscape from the point of view of perceptual geography
- territory deals with the administrative and political subdivisions and boundaries
- "DIGITAL DIMENSION" highlights the main points that characterize a properly digital presentation of the data. They are articulated as follows:
- record and browser describes the basic distinction between the corpus of data as an intellectual construct (the Global Record) and the data prepared for display (the Browser Edition);
- page layout explains the articulation of the various portions of the page as given in the Browser Edition;
- digital narrative addresses the issue of the form taken by a type of thought that relies fully on a proper digital analysis of the data, while
- digital reading addresses the issue of the "user," encouraging a confrontation with the digital narrative that takes full advantage of its merits, as a special new type of study;
- automation explains how this technical dimension, i.e., the automatic construction of the digital narrative, has significant conceptual implications, while
- linear and polyhedral clarifies a concept which is ubiquitous today, but not sufficiently understood in its proper meaning.
- A treatment of the major chronological PERIODIZATION is to be found not in the Urkesh Global Record, but rather in the section on Interpretation of the Urkesh website. It provides an overall view of the main periods in the history of Urkesh.
- Similarly, a treatment of METHODS AND TECHNIQUES (e.g., photography, surveying, computing) will be found in the section on Methodology of the Urkesh website.
|
