GIS for Archaeology and CRM

“Uncovering progress in FOSS-based archaeology“, by M. Fioretti, in the title of an article published the other week in the trends section of NewsForge, the online newspaper for Linux and Opensource. If you are out of the know, like myself, FOSS is an acronym for “Free and Opensource Software”

As detailed by the author, archaeologists, with our large quantities of data, mapping needs, and repetitive analysis, are well suite for computer applications, but often, this usage does not extend beyond fancy PowerPoint slides. Community based, open and accessible software, as a model, is finely tuned to the needs of low budget institutions that desire to apply archaeology’s fundamental quantitative methods and replicate the analysis of others.

“Archaeological research is based on replicating and analyzing what others have done. That requires unrestricted access to both data and algorithms used to generate or process them — a philosophy that plays well with free software.”

As the author continues, they describe a few FOSS software packages that work well with the data and analysis requirements of archaeology. Software such as BRL-CAD and SAGA-GIS are mentioned, as well as, ArcheOS; which has been covered on GIS for Archaeology. Citing a presentation from the Arc-Team, at the GRASS UC in Genova 2006, Fioretti links to a presentation [pdf] and details the use of the Voxel graphic technique using GRASS and Paraview. This method gives the archaeologist the ability to recreate an excavated context and analyze specific attributes based on a 3D model. This is a very cool technique!

Discussion
The author hits the nail on the head by stating that “the biggest obstacle to open archaeology is data, rather than software.” As discussed here and elsewhere, archaeological data is extremely guarded by many researchers as well as government and private entities. In many states, there are very strict laws about how archaeological data can be displayed and distributed. As contract archaeologists, we are unable to share our data without the express permission of those who pay us to gather it. Even beyond that, once the data is submitted to the State Historic Preservation Office, the state laws take effect. Replicating complex analysis based on the available legal means of displaying, sharing, and transiting data rarely works. Most of the published information that archaeologists use to build their models has to be taken at face value because validating underlying data and methods is usually impossible For reasons such as this, archaeological literature is full of legacy errors that will never be overcome. Okay, I may be going a bit off topic here, but the point is, data availability is the gorilla in the room. Suggested by Fioretti, license agreements such as Creative of Science Commons could foster a more open archaeological data community, but a true fix requires much larger efforts. In the US, this would mean changing laws state by state and convincing archaeologists that sharing data within the community is a good thing.

This was a very refreshing article. The author is very astute in their understanding and description of the problems with the adoption of more open data sharing and computer techniques within the field. Further, the article provides a number of links to FOSS and archaeological software and products which may be of interest.

With the major tenants of the issue outlined, this article encourages the reader to think about how current movements in the FOSS community can be translated to the unique requirements of archaeological data. The gears of change are in motion.

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ArcheOS Akhenaton, an archaeologist tailored GNU/Linux operating system released a new version (1.1.6) today. You know you’ve made it when your field gets its own Linux Distro!

ArcheOS, billed as “The first GNU-Linux distribution for archaeology”, is a PCLinuxOS based released under the General Public License (GPL). Created by the Arc-Team, a 5 archaeologist/craftsman group from the Universities of Padua and Vienna, ArcheOS is a collection of opensource and freely licensed applications that fit well with what archaeologists need to do.

A table of the software follows: (red indicates new to version 1.1.6)

The provided software covers a wide breadth of functionality. Though probably not complete for some users, this distribution is a great starting point for someone wanting to cut the software budget and get down to work. I have only dabbled in the world of GNU/Linux distributions; I wish I had more opportunity. If I do get the chance to dust off an old laptop and mess with Linux, this will definitely be my first project.

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Mapz the GIS Librarian posted an great list of freely available GIS software.  Setting this list apart, is the classification of software into use categories and Mapz annotations.  Outlined is a pretty complete suite of applications that can be used to address many spatial problems.

Having read a survey a few years back regarding archaeologists use of GIS, one of the main issues with integration was cost.  As with many opensource and free licenses projects mentioned on this blog, Mapz list of applications offer a high quality work around for having a slim GIS budget.  Most of these programs are user friendly in both form and function.

Good stuff Mapz!  As mentioned in the post, you can also check out Freegis.org and the Very Spatial Free GIS list.

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This morning, Adena Schutzberg, Executive Editor of Directions Magazine, published a great article on the basics of GeoRSS. Entitled, “Fun with GeoRSS“, this article is fundamental enough to help anyone with a basic knowledge of RSS to understand GeoRSS, but in depth to the point of demonstrating applications and offering future directions.
If you have not run across the term GeoRSS, the concept is quite simple. Take the basic structure of an RSS feed and add simple yet descriptive coordinate data to create geographic objects (points, line, polygons).

Whether this term is new to you are part of your old bag of tricks, this is well written article that deserves a look.

For those interested, I am including a few extra links here to GeoRSS information:

GeoRSS.org

A great article from Mikel Maron on the who and what of GeoRSS

GeoRSS: Adding Location Awareness to News Feeds at aecnews.com
ACME GeoRSS Map Viewer

Mapufacture GeoRSS Feed Aggregator

GeoFeed Explorer: a Mashup of GeoRSS Audio feeds in Europe

MGeoRSS: Google Maps API Extension for GeoRSS

GeoName RSS to GeoRSS Converter

YAHOO! Map API GeoRSS Refernence

A GeoRSS Discussion List

Mixing GeoRSS and RDF by Harry Chen

And here are a few links to give you a window into the recent discussion concerning the future of multiple GeoRSS standards:

OCG to assume GeoRSS?: Hobu, Inc.

OGC and the Little Guy: Digital Earth Weblog 

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Thanks to Kris Hirst, at archaeology.about.com, for pointing out a new blog (Digging Digitally Blog) sponsored by the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Digital Data Interest Group (DDIG).

The Digital Data Interest Group (DDIG) is organized to promote the preservation and sharing of archaeological data that are maintained in digital form.”

The DDIG group objectives include encouraging information and data sharing between researchers interested in sharing and preserving digital archaeological data, providing a forum for discussion of archaeological data sharing, and disseminating these data and ideas to the whole of the archaeological community.

The DDIG blog is directed by Eric C. Kansa and Sarah Whitcher Kansa of the Alexandria Archive Institute, makers of the Open Context, an on-line system for securing and sharing primary field data. Here is a brief post on Open Context, XML, and Tagging I wrote at the CAA conference in April.

The DDIG blog is a resource where DDIG members can post information on projects, news, and all things about digital data sharing. The initial posts include a great statement on politics and public access to archaeology, as well as, the announcement of BoneCommons, an Internet based forum for those interested in archaeozoology.

I look forward to reading future posts at Digging Digitally. This is a great group with objectives that I believe in whole heatedly. You might also notice that the DDIG blog creater has great taste in blog templates! Check them out…

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Here is a link to a well done tutorial for creating 3D models of buildings using historic plans. This tutorial utilizes Inkscape for the vector data and Blender for 3D modeling. Both programs are available freely, for multiple platforms, under open source licenses and have active development communities.
This tutorial is created by Sanna Tammisto & Ari Häyrinen at 3D-Bridge. 3D-Bridge, “Transferring of Cultural Heritage with New Technology”) is a pan-European group the is established to foster heritage preservation through the melding of opensource technology with a mulitperspective architectural practices. As stated in the 3D-Bridge site, there objectves are:

• The target of the 3D-Bridge project is to develop tools of new technology based on an open source policy for the research and preservation of cultural heritage.
• The 3D-Bridge project will highlight the common European contents of regional cultural heritage research based on different geographic, ecological and cultural starting points.
• The 3D-Bridge project will translate European cultural heritage into the language of future societies and media literate generationbels.

IF you are interested in this organizations like this, check out the recent post on IOSA.it, “Open Source Software and Open Standards in Archaeology”

*image property of 3D-Bridge

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The Open Source Software and Open Standards in Archaeology (IOSA.com, IOSA.it) represents a group of various aged researchers ,from the archaeologically oriented Gruppo Ricerche, at the International Institute of From LiguriaStudies (I.I.S.L.), From IOSA.it:

“The aim of the web site and of IOSA research team is to promote the use of open source software and open standards in archaeological computing. Any help is welcome and users are encouraged to register and contribute through discussion forums. IOSA.it is open to all who are interested in archaeology and free software (free as in freedom).”

The English language website contains a news blog, forums, events, and section of links to various sites and opensource software. The forum does not appear to be too active, but the events and news are rather current. Also, the “software directory” link section is full of interesting sites and software links organized by various research interests and fields within technological archaeology.

The IOSA website represents only a part of a large project being undertaken by the Gruppo Ricerche. Headquartered in Genoa , Italy, the Gruppo Ricerche began pursuing the IOSA project goals in 2004. These goals include:

1. a greater and better use of computers in archaeological research, also through better knowledge and consciousness;
2. the spreading of open source not just as software, but as a philosophy too, which is similar to the scientific research model, and therefore is suitable to it;
3. the education to the use of open source software, both generic software and scientific software;
4. to promote open standards that are thought for being exchanged on the web, which represents a good way for sharing and publication of research results, at lower cost than traditional methods;
5. to give students the opportunity to compare between open source software and proprietary software they use everyday, on ready-to-use computers, with generic and scientific software installed;
6. to start archaeological research projects in which open source software and philosophy are part of the original design and not afterwards applied to it;
7. to collect archaeologists who are interested in the use of free/libre open source software, through a web site that should work as a portal and discussion forum.

The IOSA.it website allows the Gruppo Ricerche an outlet to discuss thier research and the research of others, host tutorials, and educate others about the benefits of opensource software. It appears that the latter topic is one which the Gruppo Ricerche is quite passionate about. Reading some of the comments on the IOSA.it blog and their “about” page, it is evident that rights free licensing means much more than cheap software. From IOSA.it:

“When we speak about freedom, it’s not an abstract concept in our minds: it is your freedom to have the best tools that fit your needs, and modify them to have them better and better, and redistribute so everybody can take advantage of your work, just like you can do with others’ ones.
We firmly believe that a lot of advantages can come to archaeology this way, resulting in a more scientific approach, better exchange with other disciplines that are already forward on the way, easier spreading of data and results.”

Although IOSA.it is not frequently updated, the mission and ideas of the IOSA warrant a check in every now and then. Reading through the blog posts, there are some interesting topics. The “Transferring of Cultural Heritage with New Technology: Modelling Buildings with Inkscape and Blender” is a very informative tutorial.

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I couldn’t quite get all this written last night, so here is a brief of the Day 3 afternoon session I attended…

XML and Tagging
The afternoon session on Database management was chaired by database rock star, Edward A. Fox. Ed Fox is gaining quite a fan club here in Fargo, well, there is at least two of us. If you ever need a real-deal session chair, he’s the man!

Back to the session, Tyler Bell, Oxford ArchDigital opened his paper with why XML is like Sex: Everyone thinks they are great at it, Everyone is doing it, everyone is talking about it, but not everyone is as doing what they think they are. This informative talked, in a point counter-point format, followed with what it is to actually “use” XML and why to “use” XML. Although there were no specific applications, Tyler pointed to a number of possibilities and prudent uses for XML in cultural heritage.

Building upon Tyler’s XML info, the session turned to a paper by Eric Kansa, delivered by David Schloen. Eric has developed the Open Context project as “an Internet-based archive that aims to preserve and promote our shared, global heritage.” Open Context is, in short, a searchable and taggable archive of user provided cultural heritage content. The key to this project is the development of a folksonomy based on the tags provided by the community. Yes, this is the application of “web 2.0″ ideas to cultural heritage management! The discussion that followed this paper was quit lively and full of great ideas.

Is a folksonomy the answer to creating a universal language within an discipline that has as many languages as practitioners? Some in the audience agreed that it is a fantastic way to organize data, while others like to view it from the point of adding value and data relationships where specialist have never seen them. The ideas of democratize data and building an archaeological thesaurus based on community tagging was explored. Of course, there are technical problems with relying on tagging as the main system of data description and cross-project mapping. Interestingly, David Schloen, who presented the Open Context paper on Eric’s behalf, is involved with a similar project, OCHRE (Online Cultural Heritage Research Environment) at the University of Chicago.

OCHRE is a XML structured schema, called ArchaeoML, with a java web frontend. The general idea between Open Context and OCHRE seems similar, but the underlying data structure is quite different. As I understand it, OCHREs use of ArchaeoML creates a data structure and mapping capability that is much more robust than community tagging alone. The ArchaeoML structure of OCHRE also carries the capability for community tagging and relationship identification. So although, the OCHRE project has many more standards, it still has all the abilities to build a folksonomy based thesaurus and retains the research grade data structure in the XML schema. I hope I did not butcher those descriptions too bad.

Is the internet and/or archaeological community ready for multi-vocal community interpretation and Cultural Heritage with user added value? I think so. It seems that many others feel the same way. How structured should the common vocabulary be? The OCHRE and CIDOC CRM (Stephen Stead, Paveprime Ltd. UK) projects have gone a long way in creating a usable structure that is flexible enough to map varying data sources, but there was also a backing voice to the idea of letting the community develop the language via tagging. I hope that these discussions continue to expand the possibilities for not only how archaeologists interact, manage, archive, and research, but also how the non-specialist public can learn, interpret, and most interesting to me, teach us about the world’s cultural heritage.

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