Digital Archaeology: Promises and Impasses (Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia)

Archaeology has gone digital for some time now! Topics such as GIS databases, 3D models, drone photography, meta- and para-data, semantic mapping, text mining, simulation, and social network analysis have become commonplace in archaeological discourse and practice. Digital and technological advancements seemingly offer limitless promises for data recording, analysis and dissemination. Yet, after several decades of innovation, we must ask ourselves which of these promises are actually fulfilled, and which persistent impasses are present. Today, some reflexive questions are more important than ever. In particular, when, how and why do our innovative archaeology tools fail? Do we approach our archaeological projects with a digital wand and (implicitly or explicitly) expect a magical solution? And when there is indeed a digital solution, at what expense does it come? In this volume, scholars and practitioners in the field discuss the state of the art, as well as the promises and impasses that digital approaches to archaeology entail. The authors discuss the current state of teaching digital archaeology, the societal impact of digital innovations, current issues in archaeological data management, promises and limitations of isotopic research and remote sensing techniques, and why subfields such as agent-based modelling and serious gaming struggle to keep momentum.

Tuna Kalaycı is an assistant professor of computational archaeology. His main quantitative interests are remote sensing, data analysis, and modelling. He also tackles questions of landscape archaeology and (ancient) cities. In particular, he focuses on productive landscapes, landscapes of movement, walking/walkability and neighbourhoods. His work also aims to positively challenge modern concepts, such as digitalisation, machine automation and smart cities. He is affiliated with the SAILS Initiative. He is a member of the Kerkenes Project, working on Iron Age urban dynamics. Tuna holds degrees in Statistics (BSc), Settlement Archaeology (MSc), and Anthropology (PhD). His dissertation work at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, focused on the stability of urban systems during environmental crises. Next, he held a post-doctoral researcher position at the IMS-FORTH (Greece), specialising in remote sensing approaches to archaeology. Before joining Leiden University, he was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at the ISPC-CNR (Italy) and Durham University (UK). His “Modern Geospatial Technologies for Ancient Movement Praxis” project produced computational tools to understand Bronze Age traffic in Upper Mesopotamia. Selected publications Katsianis M., Kalayci T. & Sarris A. (2022), Bridging digital approaches and legacy in archaeology, Digital 2(4): 538-545. Kalaycı T. & Wainwright. J. (2021), An abstract Agent-Based Model (ABM) for herd movement in the Khabur Basin, the Jazira. In: Recht L. & Tsouparopoulou C. (Eds.) Fierce lions, angry mice and fat-tailed sheep. Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Atalan Çayırezmez N., Hacıgüzeller P. & Kalayci T. (2021), Archaeological digital archiving in Turkey, Internet Archaeology 58. Sarris A., Kalayci T., Papadopoulos N., Argyriou N., Donati J., Kakoulaki G., Manataki M., Papadakis M., Nikas N., Scotton P. & * Kissas K. (2020), Geophysical explorations of the classical coastal settlement of Lechaion, Peloponnese (Greece). Dabas M., * Campana S. & Sarris A. (Eds.), Mapping the Past From sampling sites and landscapes to exploring the ‘archaeological continuum’. UISPP 4 June 2018 – 9 June 2018 no. 8. Oxford: Archaeopress Archaeology. 43-52. Kalayci T. (2020), Processing and Analysing Satellite Data. In: Gillings M., Hacıgüzeller P. & Lock G. (Eds.), Archaeological Spatial Analysis: A Methodological Guide: Routledge. Seifried R. M. & Kalaycı T. (2019), An Exploratory Spatial Analysis of the Churches in the Southern Mani Peninsula, Greece, Open Archaeology 5: 519-539. Erb-Satullo N., Jachvliani D., Kalayci T., Puturidze M. & Simon K. (2019), Investigating the spatial organisation of Bronze and Iron Age fortress complexes in the South Caucasus, Antiquity 93(368): 412-431. Kalayci T., Lasaponara R., Wainwright J. & Masini N. (2019), Multispectral Contrast of Archaeological Features: A Quantitative Evaluation, Remote Sensing 11(8): 913. Kalayci T., Simon F-X. & Sarris A. (2017), A Manifold Approach for the Investigation of Early and Middle Neolithic Settlements in Thessaly, Greece, Geosciences 7(3): 79.

Karsten Lambers is an associate professor and head of the Digital Archaeology research group at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University. His research considers computational methods (e.g., Machine Learning) that enable the (semi-) automated extraction of meaningful archaeological entities from large bodies of digital data from different sources as a starting point for archaeological analysis and heritage management. Examples include the detection of burial mounds in LiDAR data and the detection of archaeological concepts in excavation reports. He also conducts multi-proxy analysis of human-environmental interaction with a focus on settlement patterns and resource use. Karsten holds degrees in American Anthropology (MA, University of Bonn, 1998) and Prehistoric Archaeology (PhD, University of Zurich, 2005). His award-winning PhD research investigated the famed Nasca geoglyphs in southern Peru using a combination of field survey, remote sensing, 3D modelling and GIS-based spatial analysis. Before joining Leiden University, he held research and teaching positions at ETH Zurich, University of Zurich, the German Archaeological Institute, and the universities of Konstanz and Bamberg. At Leiden University he is affiliated with the SAILS initiative and directs research projects in computational archaeology and field projects in the Netherlands and in Switzerland. Selected publications Kothieringer K., Seregély T., Jansen D., Steup R., Schäfer A., Lambers K. & Fuchs M. (2023), Mid‐ to Late Holocene landscape dynamics and rural settlement in the uplands of northern Bavaria, Germany, Geoarchaeology 38(2): 220-245. Brandsen A., Verberne S., Lambers K & Wansleeben M. (2022), Can BERT dig it? Named entity recognition for information retrieval in the archaeology domain, Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage 15(3): 1-18. Verschoof-van der Vaart W.B. & Lambers K. (2021), Applying automated object detection in archaeological practice: A case study from the southern Netherlands, Archaeological Prospection 29: 15-31. Verschoof-van der Vaart W.B., K. Lambers, W.J. Kowalczyk & Q.P.J. Bourgeois (20202), Combining Deep Learning and Location-Based Ranking for Large-Scale Archaeological Prospection of LiDAR Data from the Netherlands, ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 9(5): 293. Lambers K., W.B. Verschoof-van der Vaart & Q.P.J. Bourgeois (2019), Integrating Remote Sensing, Machine Learning, and Citizen Science in Dutch Archaeological Prospection, Remote Sensing 11(7): 794.Scherjon F., I. Romanowska & K. Lambers (2019), Digitally Teaching Digital Skills: Lessons Drawn from a Small Private Online Course (SPOC) on ‘Modelling and Simulation in Archaeology’ at Leiden University, Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology 2(1): 79-88. Lambers K. (2018), Airborne and Spaceborne Remote Sensing and Digital Image Analysis in Archaeology. In: C. Siart, M. Forbriger & O. Bubenzer (eds.), Digital Geoarchaeology: New Techniques for Interdisciplinary Human-Environmental Research, 109-122. Cham: Springer. Zingman I., D. Saupe, O.A.B. Penatti & K. Lambers (2016), Detection of Fragmented Rectangular Enclosures in Very High Resolution Remote Sensing Images, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 54(8): 4580-4593. Lambers K., H. Eisenbeiss, M. Sauerbier, D. Kupferschmidt, T. Gaisecker, S. Sotoodeh & T. Hanusch (2007), Combining Photogrammetry and Laser Scanning for the Recording and Modelling of the Late Intermediate Period Site of Pinchango Alto, Palpa, Peru, Journal of Archaeological Science 34: 1702-1712.

Victor Klinkenberg is post-doctoral fellow at the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus. He investigates social structures in the past through the analysis of the construction and use of domestic space. He specializes in techniques from digital archaeology (3D GIS, spatial analysis) and geoarchaeology (micromorphology). His PhD was on reconstructing activities at the LBA settlement at Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, part of the ERC project Consolidating Empire (dunnu.nl). Afterwards he held a post-doc research position, and a lectureship teaching in the BA and MA Archaeology at Leiden University. As a post-doctoral fellow at the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus, Victor uses micromorphology and spatial analysis to investigate changes in building technology in relation to societal change in Chalcolithic Cyprus. The main focus in this research is on buildings from the excavation at Chlorakas-Palloures, of which Victor is field director (palloures.eu). Victor remains associated with Leiden University as series editor of the APL book series of the Faculty of Archaeology, published at Sidestone Press. Selected publications Klinkenberg, V. & Düring, B.S. in press: Middle Assyrian Cuneiform Tablet clusters: Archives or Rubbish? Journal for Cuneiform Studies. Düring, B.S., V. Klinkenberg, E. Souter, P. Croft & M. Gamble 2023: The 2015-2017 Excavations at the Chalcolithic Site of Chlorakas-Palloures on Cyprus. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 23, 1: 165-198. Klinkenberg, V. & Düring, B.S. 2022: Inequalities Before the Bronze Age, the Case of Chalcolithic Cyprus. Oxford Journal of Archaeology. Klinkenberg, V. 2022: Building Biographies of the Cypriot Chalcolithic. Levant. DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2140975 Mickleburgh, H.L., D.J. Wescott. S. Gluschitz & V. Klinkenberg 2022: Exploring the use of actualistic forensic taphonomy in the study of (forensic) archaeological human burials: An actualistic experimental research programme at the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University. In: The Routledge Handbook of Archaeothanatology / [ed] Christopher J. Knüsel; Eline M. J. Schotsmans, London: Routledge, 2022, p. 546-566 Klinkenberg, V. 2021: Building Function through Micromorphology of Floors at Chalcolithic Chlorakas-Palloures, Cyprus. In: Amadio, M. (ed.) 2021. Archaeology in the Smallest Realm. Micro analyses and methods for the reconstruction of Cyprus early societies. Artemide Edizioni, Roma Klinkenberg, V. 2020: Talking Trash, Reconstructing activities, discard and abandonment at LBA Tell Sabi Abyad (Syria). In: A. Blanco-González & T.L. Kienlin (eds.) Current approaches to tells in the prehistoric Old World. Oxbow, Oxford Sifogeorgaki, E., V. Klinkenberg, I. Esteban; M. Murungi; A.S. Carr; V.B. van den Brink, G.L. Dusseldorp 2020: New excavations at Umhlatuzana rockshelter KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A stratigraphical and taphonomical evaluation. African Archaeological Review 37, 551–578 Klinkenberg, V., R. van Oosten & C. van Driel (eds.) 2020. A Human Environment, Studies in honour of 20 years of Analecta editorship by Prof. Dr. Corrie Bakels. Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 50. Sidestone press, Leiden