Theme:
1. Artefacts, Buildings & Ecofacts
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Weaving Big Data for the Digital Middle Ages
Content:
The proposed session follows a very stimulating meeting at EAA 2022 Budapest on a similar theme. Once again, we aim to bring together researchers from Europe who create digital collections and apply new quantitative modelling based on diverse evidence types, primarily archaeological and bioarchaeological data from archival reports and collections.
The session is interested in case studies enhancing the narrative value of the traditional foundation of our discipline like artifacts, ecofacts, and built features. The digital tools allow fascinating and thought-provoking reconstruction of their original context and the often invisible networks connecting disparate source types. Further, the digital approach intertwines with multiple themes highlighted on this year’s event through its sustainability, accessibility, and expanding relevance in the contemporary world.
Adding to that, current research practices, especially prone to recording and analysing big data, will increasingly support and structure the conceptual framework within which archaeology operates. This requires proactive engagement and matching widespread discussion on the ethical, methodological or even cognitive challenges found in the use of large-scale databases. The position of medieval archaeology in the intersection of available sources and competing narratives about the past can facilitate such a discussion rather successfully. Therefore, the session aims to give a platform to consider the potential and the challenges posed by ‘Big Data’ in medieval archaeology, review best practices and possible pitfalls, and stimulate a comparative overview by exploring different projects and research directions.
The session welcomes papers focusing on the Middle Ages, within the range of the following topics:
- Digital collection of archaeological sites
- Digital collection and analysis with burial archaeology
- Digital analysis of large-scale archaeological data
- Digital analysis of Medieval processes by archaeological data
- Digital collections and analysis of Medieval material culture
Keywords:
Digital humanities, medieval archaeology, big data
Session associated with MERC:
yes
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Maria Vargha (Czech Republic) 1
Co-organisers:
Stefan Eichert (Austria) 2
Nina Richards (Austria) 3
Petar Parvanov (Bulgaria) 4
Affiliations:
1. Charles University Prague
2. Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
3. Austrian Academy of Sciences
4. Independent researcher
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT