Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T09:27:14.817Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Archaeological Analysis in the Information Age: Guidelines for Maximizing the Reach, Comprehensiveness, and Longevity of Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2019

Sarah W. Kansa Open the ORCID record for Sarah W. Kansa [Opens in a new window] ,
Levent Atici ,
Eric C. Kansa  and
Richard H. Meadow
Sarah W. Kansa*
Affiliation:
Open Context, 125 El Verano Way, San Francisco, CA94127, USA
Levent Atici
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV89154, USA
Eric C. Kansa
Affiliation:
Open Context, 125 El Verano Way, San Francisco, CA94127, USA
Richard H. Meadow
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA02138, USA
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

With the advent of the Web, increased emphasis on “research data management,” and innovations in reproducible research practices, scholars have more incentives and opportunities to document and disseminate their primary data. This article seeks to guide archaeologists in data sharing by highlighting recurring challenges in reusing archived data gleaned from observations on workflows and reanalysis efforts involving datasets published over the past 15 years by Open Context. Based on our findings, we propose specific guidelines to improve data management, documentation, and publishing practices so that primary data can be more efficiently discovered, understood, aggregated, and synthesized by wider research communities.

Con el advenimiento de la Web, el mayor énfasis en el “manejo de datos de investigación” y las innovaciones en las prácticas de investigación reproducibles, los investigadores tienen más incentivos y oportunidades para documentar y divulgar sus datos primarios. Este trabajo busca ofrecer a los arqueólogos una guía sobre cómo compartir información, señalando los desafíos más recurrentes en la reutilización de datos archivados que recopilamos a partir de observaciones sobre flujos de trabajo y del reanálisis de bases de datos publicadas a lo largo de los últimos 15 años en Open Context. Sobre la base de nuestros resultados, proponemos algunos lineamientos específicos para mejorar el manejo de datos, la documentación y las prácticas de publicación, de modo que los datos primarios puedan ser descubiertos, comprendidos, agrupados y sintetizados de manera más eficiente y por comunidades de investigadores más amplias.

Keywords

zooarchaeologydata managementreproducible researchdata documentationguidelinesdata reusearqueozoologíainvestigación reproduciblesmanejo de datosdocumentación de datoslineamientosreutilización de datos
Type
Articles
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , February 2020 , pp. 40 - 52
Copyright
Copyright 2019 © Society for American Archaeology

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES CITED

Altschul, Jeffrey H., Kintigh, Keith W., Klein, Terry W., Doelle, William H., Hays-Gilpin, Kelley A., Herr, Sarah A., Kohler, Timothy A., Mills, Barbara J., Montgomery, Lindsay M., Nelson, Margaret C., Ortman, Scott G., Parker, John N., Peeples, Matthew A., and Sabloff, Jeremy A. 2018 Fostering Collaborative Synthetic Research in Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Practice 6:19–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, David G., Bissett, Thaddeus G., Yerka, Stephen J., Wells, Joshua J., Kansa, Eric C., Kansa, Sarah W., Noack Myers, Kelsey, DeMuth, R. Carl, and White, Devin A. 2017 Sea-Level Rise and Archaeological Site Destruction: An Example from the Southeastern United States Using DINAA (Digital Index of North American Archaeology). PLoS ONE 12(11):e0188142. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0188142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arbuckle, Benjamin S., Kansa, Sarah Whitcher, Kansa, Eric C., Orton, David, Çakırlar, Canan, Gourichon, Lionel, Atici, Levent, Galik, Alfred, Marciniak, Arkadiusz, Mulville, Jacqui, Buitenhuis, Hijlke, Carruthers, Denise, Cupere, Bea De, Demirergi, Arzu, Frame, Sheelagh, Helmer, Daniel, Martin, Louise, Peters, Joris, Pöllath, Nadja, Pawłowska, Kamilla, Russell, Nerissa, Twiss, Katheryn, and Würtenberger, Doris 2014 Data Sharing Reveals Complexity in the Westward Spread of Domestic Animals across Neolithic Turkey. PLoS ONE 9(6):e99845. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0099845.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) 2018 Considerations Regarding the Tenure and Promotion of Classical Archaeologists Employed in Colleges and Universities, with Addendum, Guidelines for the Evaluation of Digital Technology and Scholarship in Archaeology. Electronic document, https://www.archaeological.org/programs/professionals/careers/tenure/, accessed July 8, 2019.Google Scholar
Atici, Levent 2013 Data Cleaning Protocol from Iran / Chogha Mish. In Chogha Mish Fauna, edited by Atici, Levent, Kansa, Sarah W., and Lev-Tov, Justin. Open Context. Electronic document, http://opencontext.org/media/1B937408-370B-4221-FA7AA2787B6C4BF1, accessed September 23, 2019; ARK: https://n2t.net/ark:/28722/k2dj59g74, accessed September 23, 2019.Google Scholar
Atici, Levent, Kansa, Sarah, Lev-Tov, Justin, and Kansa, Eric 2013 Other People's Data: A Demonstration of the Imperative of Publishing Primary Data. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 20:663–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beebe, Caroline 2017 Standard Descriptive Vocabulary and Archaeology Digital Data Collection. Advances in Archaeological Practice 5:250–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1978 Taphonomic and Ecologic Information from Bone Weathering. Paleobiology 4:150–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berners-Lee, Tim 2006 Linked Data. Electronic document, https://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html, accessed June 8, 2019.Google Scholar
Boessneck, Joachim 1969 Osteological Differences between Sheep (Ovis aries Lineé) and Goat (Capra hircus Lineé). In Science in Archaeology, 2nd ed., edited by Brothwell, Don R. and Higgs, Eric S., pp. 331–358. Thames & Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Dibble, W. Flint 2015 Data Collection in Zooarchaeology: Incorporating Touch-Screen, Speech-Recognition, Barcodes, and GIS. Ethnobiology Letters 6:249–257. DOI:10.14237/ebl.6.2.2015.393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Driesch, Angela von den 1976 A Guide to the Measurement of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Bulletin 1. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Driver, Jonathan C. 1992 Identification, Classification and Zooarchaeology. Circaea 9:35–47.Google Scholar
Driver, Jonathan C. 2011 Identification, Classification and Zooarchaeology. Ethnobiology Letters 2:19–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Driver, Jon, Boebel, Ted, Goldstein, Lynne, Nick Kardulias, P., Limp, Fred, Richards-Rissetto, Heather, and Wandsnider, LuAnn 2018 Report of the SAA Task Force on Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure for Archaeologists in Diverse Academic Roles. White paper, released January 31, 2018. Society for American Archaeology. Electronic document, https://documents.saa.org/container/docs/default-source/doc-careerpractice/promotion-and-tenure-white-paper-02-12-19-web.pdf?sfvrsn=8a5815cd_4, accessed September 23, 2019.Google Scholar
Faniel, Ixchel, Austin, Anne, Kansa, Eric, Kansa, Sarah, France, Phoebe, Jacobs, Jennifer, Boytner, Ran, and Yakel, Elizabeth 2018 Beyond the Archive: Bridging Data Creation and Reuse in Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Practice 6:105–116. DOI:10.1017/aap.2018.2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faniel, Ixchel, Kansa, Eric, Kansa, Sarah W., Barrera-Gomez, Julianna, and Yakel, Elizabeth 2013 The Challenges of Digging Data: A Study of Context in Archaeological Data Reuse. In JCDL 2013 Proceedings of the 13th ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, pp. 295–304. ACM, New York. DOI:10.1145/2467696.2467712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faniel, Ixchel M., and Yakel, Elizabeth 2017 Practices Do Not Make Perfect: Disciplinary Data Sharing and Reuse Practices and Their Implications for Repository Data Curation. In Curating Research Data, Volume One: Practical Strategies for Your Digital Repository, edited by Johnston, Lisa R., pp. 103–126. Association of College and Research Libraries, Chicago. Electronic document, http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/publications/booksanddigitalresources/digital/9780838988596_crd_v1_OA.pdf, accessed September 23, 2019.Google Scholar
Grigson, Caroline 1978 Towards a Blueprint for Animal Bone Reports in Archaeology. In Research Problems in Zooarchaeology, edited by Brothwell, D. R., Thomas, Kenneth D., and Clutton-Brock, Juliet, pp. 121–128. University College London Institute of Archaeology, London.Google Scholar
Hammer, Emily, and Ur, Jason 2019 Near Eastern Landscapes and Declassified U2 Aerial Imagery. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7:107–126. DOI:10.1017/aap.2018.38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huggett, Jeremy 2014 Promise and Paradox: Accessing Open Data in Archaeology. In Proceedings of the Digital Humanities Congress 2012: Studies in the Digital Humanities, edited by Mills, Clare, Pidd, Michael, and Ward, Esther. Digital Humanities Institute, Sheffield, UK. Electronic document, https://www.dhi.ac.uk/openbook/chapter/dhc2012-huggett, accessed September 23, 2019.Google Scholar
Jones, Emily Lena, and Gabe, Caroline 2015 The Promise and Peril of Older Collections: Meta-Analyses and the Zooarchaeology of Late Prehistoric/Early Historic New Mexico. Open Quaternary 1(1):Art. 6. DOI:10.5334/oq.ag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Emily Lena, and Hurley, David A. 2011 Relational Databases and Zooarchaeology Education. SAA Archaeological Record 11(1):19–21.Google Scholar
Kansa, Eric 2011 New Directions for the Digital Past. In Archaeology 2.0: New Approaches to Communication and Collaboration, edited by Kansa, Eric C., Kansa, Sarah Whitcher, and Watrall, Ethan, pp. 1–26. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Kansa, Eric 2012 Openness and Archaeology's Information Ecosystem. World Archaeology 44:498–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kansa, Eric C., and Kansa, Sarah W. 2013 We All Know That a 14 Is a Sheep: Data Publication and Professionalism in Archaeological Communication. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 1:88–98.Google Scholar
Kansa, Eric. C., Kansa, Sarah W., and Arbuckle, Benjamin 2014 Publishing and Pushing: Mixing Models for Communicating Research Data in Archaeology. International Journal of Digital Curation 9(1):57–70. DOI:10.2218/ijdc.v9i1.301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kansa, Eric C., Schultz, Jason, and Bissell, Ahrash N. 2005 Protecting Traditional Knowledge and Expanding Access to Scientific Data: Juxtaposing Intellectual Property Agendas via a “Some Rights Reserved” Model. International Journal of Cultural Property 12:285–314. DOI:10.1017/S0940739105050204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kansa, Sarah W. 2015 Using Linked Open Data to Improve Data Reuse in Zooarchaeology. Ethnobiology Letters 6:224–231. DOI:10.14237/ebl.6.2.2015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kimbrough, Julie L., and Gasaway, Laura N. 2015 Publication of Government-Funded Research, Open Access, and the Public Interest. Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law 18:267–302.Google Scholar
Kintigh, Keith W., Altschul, Jeffrey H., Beaudry, Mary C., Drennan, Robert D., Kinzig, Ann P., Kohler, Timothy A., Limp, W. Fredrick, Maschner, Herbert D. G., Michener, William K., Pauketat, Timothy R., Peregrine, Peter, Sabloff, Jeremy A., Wilkinson, Tony J., Wright, Henry T., and Zeder, Melinda A. 2014a Grand Challenges for Archaeology. American Antiquity 79:5–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kintigh, Keith W., Altschul, Jeffrey H., Beaudry, Mary C., Drennan, Robert D., Kinzig, Ann P., Kohler, Timothy A., Limp, W. Fredrick, Maschner, Herbert D. G., Michener, William K., Pauketat, Timothy R., Peregrine, Peter, Sabloff, Jeremy A., Wilkinson, Tony J., Wright, Henry T., and Zeder, Melinda A. 2014b Grand Challenges for Archaeology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(3):879–880. DOI:10.1073/pnas.1324000111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kintigh, Keith W., Altschul, Jeffrey H., Kinzig, Ann P., Limp, W.Fredrick, Michener, William K., Sabloff, Jeremy A., Hackett, Edward J., Kohler, Timothy A., Ludäscher, Bertram, and Lynch, Clifford A. 2015 Cultural Dynamics, Deep Time, and Data: Planning Cyberinfrastructure Investments for Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Practice 3:1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lau, Hannah K., and Kansa, Sarah W. 2018 Zooarchaeology in the Era of Big Data: Contending with Interanalyst Variation and Best Practices for Contextualizing Data for Informed Reuse. Journal of Archaeological Science 95:33–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marwick, Ben 2017 Computational Reproducibility in Archaeological Research: Basic Principles and a Case Study of Their Implementation. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 24:424–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marwick, Ben, and Pilaar Birch, Suzanne E. 2018 A Standard for the Scholarly Citation of Archaeological Data as an Incentive to Data Sharing. Advances in Archaeological Practice 6:125–143. DOI:10.1017/aap.2018.3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meadow, Richard H. 1978 “Bonecode”—A System of Numerical Coding for Faunal Data from Middle Eastern Sites. In Approaches to Faunal Analysis in the Middle East, edited by Meadow, Richard H. and Zeder, Melinda A., pp. 169–186. Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Meadow, Richard H., and Zeder, Melinda A. 1978 Approaches to Faunal Analysis in the Middle East. Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Michelle J., LeFebvre, Brenskelle, Laura, Wieczorek, John, Kansa, Sarah W., Kansa, Eric C., Wallis, Neill J., King, Jessica N., Emery, Kitty F., and Guralnick, Robert 2019 ZooArchNet: Connecting Zooarchaeological Specimens to the Biodiversity and Archaeology Data Networks. PLoS ONE 14(4):e0215369. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0215369.Google Scholar
Payne, Sebastian 1969 A Metrical Distinction between Sheep and Goat. In The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals, edited by Ucko, Peter J. and Dimbleby, G. W., pp. 295–305. Duckworth, London.Google Scholar
Peres, Tanya M. 2010 Methodological Issues in Zooarchaeology. In Integrating Zooarchaeology and Paleoethnobotany: A Consideration of Issues, Methods, and Cases, edited by VanDerwarker, Amber M. and Peres, Tanya M., pp. 15–36. Springer, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redding, Richard H., Zeder, Melinda A., and McArdle, John 1978 “BONESORT II”– A System for the Computer Processing of Identifiable Faunal Material. In Approaches to Faunal Analysis in the Middle East, edited by Meadow, Richard H. and Zeder, Melinda A., pp. 135–147. Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Reitz, Elizabeth J., and Wing, Elizabeth S. 2008 Zooarchaeology. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, Julian 2017 Twenty Years Preserving Data: A View from the United Kingdom. Advances in Archaeological Practice 5:227–237. DOI:10.1017/aap.2017.11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ScienceEurope 2019 Plan S: Making Full and Immediate Open Access a Reality. Electronic document, https://www.coalition-s.org/, accessed July 23, 2019.Google Scholar
Styles, Bonnie W., and Colburn, Mona 2019 Taphonomic, Environmental, and Cultural Influences on Archaic Faunal Assemblages at Modoc Rock Shelter, Illinois, USA. Quarternary International, in press. DOI:10.1016/j.quaint.2019.03.015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uerpmann, Hans-Peter 1978 The KNOCOD System for Processing Data on Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Approaches to Faunal Analysis in the Middle East, edited by Meadow, Richard H. and Zeder, Melinda A., pp. 149–167. Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
White House 2013 Executive Order: Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information. Electronic document, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/09/executive-order-making-open-and-machine-readable-new-default-government, accessed April 18, 2019.Google Scholar
Wolverton, Steve 2013 Data Quality in Zooarchaeological Faunal Identification. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 20:381–396. DOI:10.1007/s10816-012-9161-4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yakel, Elizabeth, Faniel, Ixchel M., and Maiorana, Zachary J. 2019 Virtuous and Vicious Circles in the Data Life-Cycle. Information Research 24(2). Electronic document, http://www.informationr.net/ir/24-2/paper821.html, accessed September 23, 2019.Google Scholar