Collective Re-Excavation and Lost Media from the Last Century of British Prehistoric Studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.v2i1.27124Keywords:
archives, Bronze Age, card indexes, digitization, media archaeology, MicroPasts ProjectAbstract
There are thousands of forgotten archaeological archives hidden away in repositories all over the world, lost worlds where many scholars have toiled away for years, trying to record every detail and bit of information available about rare and precious archaeological objects in an attempt to bring order and understanding to an almost incomprehensible past. This paper discusses how these archives can be approached through Huhtamo’s definition of media archaeology as a ‘historically-attuned enterprise’ that involves ‘excavating forgotten media-cultural phenomena’, focusing on the MicroPasts digitization project. It is shown that greater utilization of digital media simply changes and extends the terms of engagement, accessibility, and flow of information from antiquated archaeological archives to the community and back again.
References
Bennett, T. 2013. “The ‘Shuffle of Things’ and the Distribution of Agency.” In Reassembling the Collection: Ethnographic Museums and Indigenous Agency, edited by R. Harrison, S. Byrne, and A. Clarke, 39–60. Santa Fe, NM: School for Advanced Research Press.
Bevan, A., D. Pett, C. Bonacchi, A. Keinan-Schoonbaert, D. Lombraña González, R. Sparks, J. Wexler and N. Wilkin. 2014. “Citizen Archaeologists. Online Collaborative Research about the Human Past.” Human Computation 1(2): 183–197.
Bonacchi, C., ed., 2012. Archaeology and Digital Communication: Towards Strategies of Public Engagement. London: Archetype Publications.
____., A. Bevan, D. Pett and A. Keinan-Schoonbaert. 2014. “Crowd- and Community-fuelled Archaeology. Early Results from the MicroPasts Project.” Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, CAA 2014, edited by L. Costa, F. Djindjian, F. Giligny and P. Moscati, 1–10. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
____., A. Bevan, D. Pett, A. Keinan-Schoonbaert, R. Sparks, J. Wexler and N. Wilkin. 2014. “Crowd-sourced Archaeological Research: The MicroPasts Project.” Archaeology International 17: 61–68.
Bradley, R. 2013. “Time Traveller: Montelius and the British Bronze Age after 100 Years.” In Counterpoint: Essays in Archaeology and Heritage Studies in Honour of Professor Kristian Kristiansen, edited by S. Bergerbrant and S. Sabatini, British Archaeological Reports, International Series 2508: 649–653. Oxford: Archaeopress
curiouscraig42 [C. Horton] (2014) Comment on forum thread “Just a Silly Thought.” 4 June. Available online: http://community.micropasts.org/t/just-a-silly-thought/140/6
Doherty, J. 2014. “Crowdsourcing the Bronze Age.” Pybossa 5 June. Available online: http://pybossa.com/blog/2014/06/05/crowdsourcing-the-bronze-age/
Ernst, W. 2013. Digital Memory and the Archive. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Harris, V. 2002. “The Archival Sliver: Power, Memory, and Archives in South Africa.” Archival Science 2: 63–86.
Harrison, R. 2014. “Observing, Collecting and Governing ‘Ourselves’ and ‘Others’: Mass-Observation’s Fieldwork Agencements.” History and Anthropology 25(2): 227–245.
Huhtamo, E. 2010. “Natural Magic: A Cultural history of Moving Images.” In The Routledge Companion to Film History, edited by W. Guynn., 3–15. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Keinan-Schoonbaert, A., 2014.“MicroPasts – An Innovative Place for Progressing Research.” British Archaeology 139: 50–55.
Latour, B. 1986. “Visualisation and Cognition: Drawing Things Together.” In Knowledge and Society: Studies in the Sociology of Culture Past and Present, Volume 6, edited by H. Kuklick and E. Long, 1–40. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Mu?ller-Wille, S. and S. Scharf. 2009. Indexing Nature: Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) and his Fact-Gathering Strategies. Working Papers on The Nature of Evidence: How Well Do ‘Facts’ Travel? 36/08. London: Department of Economic History, London School of Economics. Available online: http://www.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/pdf/FACTSPDF/3909MuellerWilleScharf.pdf
Murray, T. 2014. From Antiquarian to Archaeologist: The History and Philosophy of Archaeology. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Archaeology.
Newman, M. 2011. “The Database as Material Culture.” Internet Archaeology 29. Available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.11141/ia.29.8
Parikka, J. 2013. “Archival Media Theory: An Introduction to Wolfgang Ernst’s Media Archaeology.” In Digital Memory and the Archive, edited by W. Ernst, 1–22. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Richardson, L. 2013. “A Digital Public Archaeology?” Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 23: Art. 10 (online edition). http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/pia.431
Bevan, A., D. Pett, C. Bonacchi, A. Keinan-Schoonbaert, D. Lombraña González, R. Sparks, J. Wexler and N. Wilkin. 2014. “Citizen Archaeologists. Online Collaborative Research about the Human Past.” Human Computation 1(2): 183–197.
Bonacchi, C., ed., 2012. Archaeology and Digital Communication: Towards Strategies of Public Engagement. London: Archetype Publications.
____., A. Bevan, D. Pett and A. Keinan-Schoonbaert. 2014. “Crowd- and Community-fuelled Archaeology. Early Results from the MicroPasts Project.” Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, CAA 2014, edited by L. Costa, F. Djindjian, F. Giligny and P. Moscati, 1–10. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
____., A. Bevan, D. Pett, A. Keinan-Schoonbaert, R. Sparks, J. Wexler and N. Wilkin. 2014. “Crowd-sourced Archaeological Research: The MicroPasts Project.” Archaeology International 17: 61–68.
Bradley, R. 2013. “Time Traveller: Montelius and the British Bronze Age after 100 Years.” In Counterpoint: Essays in Archaeology and Heritage Studies in Honour of Professor Kristian Kristiansen, edited by S. Bergerbrant and S. Sabatini, British Archaeological Reports, International Series 2508: 649–653. Oxford: Archaeopress
curiouscraig42 [C. Horton] (2014) Comment on forum thread “Just a Silly Thought.” 4 June. Available online: http://community.micropasts.org/t/just-a-silly-thought/140/6
Doherty, J. 2014. “Crowdsourcing the Bronze Age.” Pybossa 5 June. Available online: http://pybossa.com/blog/2014/06/05/crowdsourcing-the-bronze-age/
Ernst, W. 2013. Digital Memory and the Archive. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Harris, V. 2002. “The Archival Sliver: Power, Memory, and Archives in South Africa.” Archival Science 2: 63–86.
Harrison, R. 2014. “Observing, Collecting and Governing ‘Ourselves’ and ‘Others’: Mass-Observation’s Fieldwork Agencements.” History and Anthropology 25(2): 227–245.
Huhtamo, E. 2010. “Natural Magic: A Cultural history of Moving Images.” In The Routledge Companion to Film History, edited by W. Guynn., 3–15. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Keinan-Schoonbaert, A., 2014.“MicroPasts – An Innovative Place for Progressing Research.” British Archaeology 139: 50–55.
Latour, B. 1986. “Visualisation and Cognition: Drawing Things Together.” In Knowledge and Society: Studies in the Sociology of Culture Past and Present, Volume 6, edited by H. Kuklick and E. Long, 1–40. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Mu?ller-Wille, S. and S. Scharf. 2009. Indexing Nature: Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) and his Fact-Gathering Strategies. Working Papers on The Nature of Evidence: How Well Do ‘Facts’ Travel? 36/08. London: Department of Economic History, London School of Economics. Available online: http://www.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/pdf/FACTSPDF/3909MuellerWilleScharf.pdf
Murray, T. 2014. From Antiquarian to Archaeologist: The History and Philosophy of Archaeology. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Archaeology.
Newman, M. 2011. “The Database as Material Culture.” Internet Archaeology 29. Available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.11141/ia.29.8
Parikka, J. 2013. “Archival Media Theory: An Introduction to Wolfgang Ernst’s Media Archaeology.” In Digital Memory and the Archive, edited by W. Ernst, 1–22. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Richardson, L. 2013. “A Digital Public Archaeology?” Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 23: Art. 10 (online edition). http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/pia.431
Downloads
Published
2015-09-02
Issue
Section
Forum
How to Cite
Wexler, J., Bevan, A., Bonacchi, C., Keinan-Schoonbaert, A., Pett, D., & Wilkin, N. (2015). Collective Re-Excavation and Lost Media from the Last Century of British Prehistoric Studies. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 2(1), 126-142. https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.v2i1.27124
