The "Big Digs" Go Digital: Sharing Opportunities and Challenges for Large-Scale German and American Excavations

FAIN: HW-50003-09

Trustees of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (Princeton, NJ 08540-5232)
Jack L. Davis (Project Director: November 2008 to February 2011)

A joint three-day workshop with the Deutsches Archaeologisches Institut, Abteilung Athen (DFG request: 14,158 euros) on the application of digital technologies to better preserve, study, and make accessible the data from large-scale, long-term archaeological digs.

The American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the Deutsches Archaeologisches Institut, Abteilung Athen, have conducted excavations at the most important sites in Greece, and since the 1990's have been applying digital technologies to archaeological fieldwork. At the same time, concern has been growing about the best ways to manage, disseminate, and preserve digital resources. Both the ASCSA and the DAI have been investigating the long term preservation and interoperability of data over the last few years, with support from their home countries. This proposal requests funding to support a German-American bilateral symposium, to be held in Athens (November 4-7, 2009) at which specialists in digital archaeology can assess the problems which the "big digs" face in the digital age, discuss the challenges of managing digital assets, and explore opportunities for future transatlantic cooperation in developing a robust cyberinfrastructure to support large-scale excavations.

Associated Products

Big Digs Go Digital (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Big Digs Go Digital
Author: James Herbst
Author: Ortwin Dally
Author: Bruce Hartzler
Author: Rainer Komp
Author: Greg Crane
Abstract: Representatives of the German Archaeological Institute and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens convened in Athens and Corinth for four days (November 4-7) to discuss problems in information technology as they pertain to the so-called “Big Digs,” that is, excavations like Ancient Corinth, the Athenian Agora, Olympia, and the Kerameikos. The purpose of the gathering was to explore opportunities for collaboration between American and German archaeologists. This initial workshop was made possible through a generous grant from the DFG/NEH Bilateral Digital Humanities Program in reponse to a proposal: “The ‘Big Digs’ Go Digital: Opportunities and Challenges for Large-Scale, Multigenerational Excavation Projects in the Digital Age.” The 30 representatives from the two institutions included directors of the German and American schools in Athens, the General Secretary of the DAI in Berlin, and the head of ASCSA’s Committee on Information Technology. Greek colleagues, Metaxia Tsipopoulou, Director, National Archives of Monuments of Greece, and Despina Tsiafaki, Head of Cultural Heritage United, CETI, participated in the discussions. A second workshop will take place at the Annual Meetings of the Archaeological Institute of America in Anaheim, California (January 7, 2010)
Date Range: Nov. 4-7 2009; January 7, 2010
Location: Athens Greece; Anaheim, CA
Primary URL: http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/index.php/news/newsDetails/big-digs-go-digital-conference-explores-collaborations/
Secondary URL: http://bigdigs.org/tiki-index.php

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