Documenting and Triaging Cultural Heritage (DATCH): Damage Assessment and Digital Preservation
FAIN: HAA-256218-17
University of Central Florida Board of Trustees (Orlando, FL 32816-8005)
Scott Branting (Project Director: January 2017 to March 2021)
Joseph Kider (Co Project Director: May 2017 to March 2021)
Lori C. Walters (Co Project Director: May 2017 to March 2021)
The development of open source software that will allow archaeologists, historians, and archivists to conduct rapid needs assessment of cultural heritage in conflict and non-conflict situations. The software will, when used in conjunction with mixed reality hardware (which merges both real and virtual worlds), allow users to quickly identify and document damage to structures and sites by providing overlays that compare real-time conditions against previously collected images.
The Documenting and Triaging Cultural Heritage (DATCH) project will develop prototype open-source software for field assessment and documentation of built and movable cultural heritage using mixed reality hardware with or without network connections. It will permit real-time overlay comparisons of cultural heritage against earlier documentation while also enabling the creation of new scaled drawings using gestures, even in field situations with no network connections. When network connections are available additional features such as video calls with specialists and data sharing with management systems will be enabled. DATCH will aid rapid needs assessments of cultural heritage in conflict situations, ongoing assessments of cultural heritage in the field, and enable field work across multiple disciplines. The prototype software will be developed and field tested with Microsoft’s HoloLens, but with a goal of cross-platform compatibility across head mounted display mixed reality devices.
Associated Products
DATCH Project Website (Web Resource)Title: DATCH Project Website
Author: DATCH Project Team
Abstract: The project website for the DATCH project, including information on the goals, team, partners, and contact information. The website also includes a blog for project updates.
Year: 2018
Primary URL:
http://datchucf.orgSecondary URL:
https://sciences.ucf.edu/anthropology/datch/The Ancient City at Kerkenes in Turkey: New Technologies for Exploring Cities of the Past (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: The Ancient City at Kerkenes in Turkey: New Technologies for Exploring Cities of the Past
Abstract: Two thousand and five hundred years ago, an immense city was built in central Turkey by the Phrygians of King Midas fame. While it was only inhabited for around sixty years before it was destroyed with fire, it played an important role in the rise of the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great. Over the past twenty-six years, the Kerkenes Project (kerkenesproject.org) has used new technologies alongside active archaeological excavation to explore this buried city. Our results have been a better understanding of what the people in the city did on a daily basis as well as how the city planning used to build Kerkenes can help us to build better cities around the world.
Author: Scott Branting
Date: 9/26/18
Location: St. Augustine Sunrise Rotary
New Technologies for Exploring Ancient Cities: The Kerkenes Project in Turkey (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: New Technologies for Exploring Ancient Cities: The Kerkenes Project in Turkey
Abstract: Two thousand and five hundred years ago, an immense city was built in central Turkey by the Phrygians of King Midas fame. While it was only inhabited for around sixty years before it was destroyed with fire, it played an important role in the rise of the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great. Over the past twenty-six years, the Kerkenes Project (kerkenesproject.org) has used new technologies alongside active archaeological excavation to explore this buried city. Our results have been a better understanding of what the people in the city did on a daily basis as well as how the city planning used to build Kerkenes can help us to build better cities around the world.
Author: Scott Branting
Date: 10/15/2018
Location: Winter Park, FL
Kerkenes 2017 (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Kerkenes 2017
Author: Scott Branting
Abstract: Report on the activities of the Kerkenes Project in 2017, including collaborative work with DATCH leading up to field-testing during the 2018 season.
Date: 5/8/2018
Conference Name: 40th International Symposium of Excavations, Surveys, and Archaeometry (Çanakkale, Turkey)
The 2018 Season of the Kerkenes Project (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: The 2018 Season of the Kerkenes Project
Author: Scott Branting
Author: Joseph W. Lehner
Author: Sevil Baltali-Tirpan
Author: Dominique Langis-Barsetti
Author: Tuna Kalayci
Author: Sarah R. Graff
Author: Lucas Proctor
Author: Nilüfer Baturayoglu Yöney
Author: Burak Asiliskender
Author: Canan Çakirlar Oddens
Author: John M. Marston
Author: Paige Paulsen
Abstract: The Kerkenes project (kerkenesproject.org) is an international collaboration dedicated to understanding the enormous late Iron Age city located near Sorgun in the province of Yozgat in central Turkey. For the past 26 years, work at the site has included excavations paired with extensive geophysical and geospatial surveys. This report details the results of the 2018 campaign within the context of the long-term project’s goals, including the collaborative work done with the DATCH Project.
Date: 11/15/2018
Conference Name: American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) Annual Meeting in Denver, CO
3D Scanning, Simluation, and Modeling at Kerkenes (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: 3D Scanning, Simluation, and Modeling at Kerkenes
Author: Dominique Langis-Barsetti
Author: Scott Branting
Author: Joseph W. Lehner
Author: Sevil Baltali-Tirpan
Author: Tuna Kalayci
Author: Paige Paulsen
Author: Samuel Martin
Abstract: The use of cutting-edge digital techniques has been a hallmark of the Kerkenes Project (kerkenesproject.org) since its inception in 1993. Such technologies are essential to integrative research at this large and complex late Iron Age city. Over the past 26 years a wide variety of new and emerging techniques have been developed and applied at this important site in Turkey. This report details the latest developments at Kerkenes in this intersection of archaeology and digital humanities, including work done collaboratively with the DATCH project.
Date: 11/17/2018
Conference Name: American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) Annual Meeting in Denver, CO
Kerkenes and CRANE: Collaborative Research and New Endeavours (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Kerkenes and CRANE: Collaborative Research and New Endeavours
Author: Scott Branting
Abstract: The use of cutting-edge digital techniques has been a hallmark of the Kerkenes Project (kerkenesproject.org) since its inception in 1993. Such technologies are essential to integrative research at this large and complex late Iron Age city. Over the past 26 years a wide variety of new and emerging techniques have been developed and applied at this important site in Turkey. This report details the historical developement and future directions of digital work at Kerkenes, including work being done in collaboration with the DATCH Project.
Date Range: 3/16/2019
Location: Computational Resources on the Ancient Near East Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kerkenes News 2016-2017 – Kerkenes Haberler 2016-2017 (Report)Title: Kerkenes News 2016-2017 – Kerkenes Haberler 2016-2017
Author: Scott Branting
Author: Joseph W. Lehner
Author: Sevil Baltali-Tirpan
Author: Dominique Langis-Barsetti
Author: Tuna Kalayci
Author: Yasemin Özarslan
Author: Nilüfer Yöney
Author: Burak Asiliskender
Author: John M. Marston
Author: Sarah R. Graff
Author: Lucas Proctor
Author: Noël Siver
Author: Soran Avcil
Author: Tomasz Wazny
Author: Canan Çakirlar Oddens
Abstract: This report in both English and Turkish summarizes work at Kerkenes in 2016 and 2017. It includes on pages 13-15 a brief summary of the initial vision for the collaborative DATCH Project.
Date: 7/15/2018
Primary URL:
https://sciences.ucf.edu/anthropology/kerkenes/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/11/KerkNews2016-2017.pdfAccess Model: Available for free download and limited print copies
ISBN: ISSN:1302-0749
Documenting and Triaging Cultural Heritage (DATCH): Damage Assessment and Digital Preservation (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Documenting and Triaging Cultural Heritage (DATCH): Damage Assessment and Digital Preservation
Abstract: Two minute presentation on the DATCH Project.
Author: Scott Branting
Author: Lori C. Walters
Author: Joseph T. Kider Jr.
Date: 2/9/18
Location: National Endowment for the Humanities 2018 Project Directors Meeting, Project Lightning Rounds, Washington, D.C.
Kerkenes 2018 (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Kerkenes 2018
Author: Scott Branting
Abstract: Public presentation of the results of the 2018 season of the Kerkenes Project in central Turkey, including field testing of the DATCH Project.
Date: 6/18/19
Conference Name: 41st International Symposium of Excavations, Surveys, and Archaeometry (Diyarbakir, Turkey)
Simulating Movement on Ancient Roads (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Simulating Movement on Ancient Roads
Author: Scott Branting
Abstract: Invited keynote presentation on the variety of modeling and simulation work from the Kerkenes Project, including work with the DATCH Project, that link to the groundbreaking simulations of movement developed at the site.
Date: 11/7/19
Conference Name: Archaeologies of Roads Conference (University of Florence, Florence, Italy)
The Rise and Fall of Kerkenes: New Technologies for Exploring Ancient Cities (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: The Rise and Fall of Kerkenes: New Technologies for Exploring Ancient Cities
Abstract: For almost one hundred years the immense metropolis at Kerkenes in central Turkey has lain shrouded in mystery. Scholars have puzzled over this large pre-planned city apparently built and occupied by the Phrygians, of King Midas fame, for a brief period of time between the fall of the Assyrian Empire and rise of the Persian Empire around 550 BC. Over the past twenty-seven years, the site has been a showcase of new technologies being used alongside active excavation, useful in reconstructing the plan of the buried city and the activities and interactions of the people who inhabited it. Together, the latest excavations and technologies are shedding new light on what transpired in this ancient city in the years prior to its fiery destruction.
Author: Scott Branting
Date: 11/16/19
Location: Jasksonville Archaeological Institute of America Chapter (Jacksonville, Florida)
The Kerkenes Project 2017-2018 (Book Section)Title: The Kerkenes Project 2017-2018
Author: Scott Branting
Author: Joseph W. Lehner
Author: Sevil Baltali-Tirpan
Author: Dominique Langis-Barsetti
Author: Tuna Kalayci
Author: Sarah R. Graff
Author: Lucas Proctor
Author: Nilüfer Baturayoglu Yöney
Author: Burak Asiliskender
Author: Canan Çakirlar Oddens
Author: John M. Marston
Editor: Sharon R. Steadman
Editor: Gregory McMahon
Abstract: A report on the history of the Kerkenes Project and the 2017 and 2018 seasons, including DATCH field testing and development.
Year: 2019
Access Model: Subscription once it is published by end of this year.
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Book Title: The Archaeology of Anatolia Volume III: Recent Discoveries (2017-2018)
ISBN: Accepted
Kerkenes Project (Book Section)Title: Kerkenes Project
Author: Scott Branting
Editor: Christopher Woods
Abstract: Report on the 2018 season of the Kerkenes Project.
Year: 2019
Access Model: Available for open access download once it is published by the end of the year.
Publisher: Oriental Institute Press
Book Title: The Oriental Institute Annual Reports 2018-2019
ISBN: Accepted
Kerkenes 2018 (Article)Title: Kerkenes 2018
Author: Scott Branting
Author: Sevil Baltali Tirpan
Author: Joseph Lehner
Author: Dominique Langis-Barsetti
Author: Tuna Kalayci
Author: Nilüfer Yöney
Author: Burak Asiliskender
Author: Sarah R. Graff
Author: Lucas Proctor
Abstract: Report on the 2018 field season of the Kerkenes Project, including field testing and development of DATCH.
Year: 2019
Access Model: Open access when published in 2020
Format: Other
Periodical Title: Kazi Sonuçlari Toplantisi
Publisher: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanligi
DATCH (Computer Program)Title: DATCH
Author: Scott Branting
Author: Lori C. Walters
Author: Joseph T. Kider Jr.
Author: E2i Creative Studio
Abstract: Prototype open-source software for field assessment and documentation designed to leverage the core capabilities of augmented reality hardware, utilizing in this initial stage the Microsoft HoloLens, but with future cross-platform capability.
Year: 2019
Primary URL:
https://github.com/datch-ucfPrimary URL Description: Repository site for source code and software documentation
Secondary URL:
http://datchucf.orgSecondary URL Description: DATCH Project website
Access Model: Open access
Programming Language/Platform: C# / Unity
Source Available?: Yes