What is the European Archaeological Heritage Web?
Background
The European Archaeological Heritage Web (EAHW for short) is an idea that is
currently growing in the minds of a rapidly expanding group of Internet-
conscious professionals in the fields of Archaeology, Conservation & Management,
Networking technology, and Education. It was started by Martijn van Leusen at
the University of Amsterdam in
mid-1994 when he organised a meeting of representatives of the main Dutch
organisations working in the field of the archaeological heritage, with the
purpose of establishing a national archaeological network. This initiative
came to fruition in early 1995 with the establishment of
ArchWEB-NL
. Now at the University of Birmingham, Martijn van Leusen contacted other
workers in the area of Web-archaeology, notably Sara Champion at the University
of Southampton and Jonathan Lizee and Thomas Plunkett, well-known maintainers
of the
ArchNet
site at the University of Connecticut, in order to collaborate on the design
and implementation of a European version of ArchNet. A paper on this subject
was presented at the 1995 Computer Applications in Archaeology (CAA)
conference held from March 31 to April 2 in Leiden (NL).
In the course of writing and researching this paper, it became clear to us
that instead of merely providing access to existing Internet resources, a
much more useful project might be initiated by applying for EC funding for
telematics initiatives. An outline proposal was drafted for this purpose,
an appropriate announcement was made via the UPTURN mailing list,
and we are currently
corresponding with numerous groups and individuals all over Europe in order
to assess openings for a Europe-wide collaborative program of development
for a European Archaeological Heritage Web.
Main principles of the proposal
We intend to base the proposal on the text of the revised Convention on the
Preservation of the European Archaeological Heritage, which was signed at
La Valetta (Malta) in January 1992. Accordingly, our proposal will be aimed
at Conservation, Heritage Management, and the Participation and Education of
the general public as much as at professional Research and Communication.
In order for our proposal to succeed, we will depend on the formation of
support groups at the national level all over Europe. These groups
will be responsible for organising and monitoring access to archaeological
resources within their regions, and should be fairly representative of their
National Archaeological Heritage communities. A list of our current contacts
is provided at the bottom of this page.
The success of our proposal being dependent upon access to and regular use
of high-speed and broad bandwidth communications, we feel that the active
involvement of network managing organisations is of paramount importance,
whether these be of a private or public nature.
Taken together, these principles imply that our proposal must be carried at
the national level by groups representing the full cross-section of public,
private, professional, and amateur communities involved in the production,
transmission, and consumption of information relating to Europe's
archaeological heritage. The EAHW will provide extra support for those areas
that are not currently able to organise themselves at this level.
Although our proposal is NOT aimed at developing new technologies, we
recognise the fact that the requirements of archaeologists may sometimes be
unusual - access to large image databases being an example - and that
collaboration with groups developing such applications may be warranted.
Conversely, the proposed EAHW would be an ideal testing ground for new
technologies, and we therefore encourage groups currently active in this area,
or planning to be, to contact us and discuss some kind of organisational
linking.
Background Materials
Our paper entitled Toward a European Archaeological Heritage Web, version dd 11-08-95, is available here.
Pending publication, please quote this paper as a web document, giving authors,
date, title, full URL.
Please contact us
The formation of a collaborative European Archaeological Heritage Web can
only be successful if this proposal is supported widely by as many groups
and nations as possible. We therefore ask you to share your thoughts and
comments with us, especially on subjects which we have not covered here. If
you or your organisation is able to provide material support or official
endorsement of our proposal, our chances of making a successful application
for EC funding will be significantly enhanced!
Please mail
comments to P.M.van-Leusen@bham.ac.uk
Current list of contacts - 950905
The following organisations and individuals have expressed interest
in the EAW proposal:
- Belgium:
- Prof Koenraad van Balen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Faculteit Toegepaste Wetenschappen Centre R. Lemaire
- France:
- Mr Pierre Ageron, University of Lyon 2
- Dr Norman Barth, involved in "The Black Sea Project"
- Germany:
- Peter Baumann, Assistant Research Group Head, FORWISS research establishment
- Dr Armin Schmidt, University of Bradford Dept. of Archaeological Sciences
- Greece:
- Mr George Lepouras, Research Fellow, Department of Informatics, University of Athens
- Mr Panagiotis Telonis, ARIADNEt manager, NCSR Demokritos
- Dr Andreas Persidis, Projects Manager, RTD Department, of a software and manufacturing company with some experience in archaeology
- Mr Nicos Ioannidis, Multimedia Applications Projects Coordinator, Development Programmes Department, INTRACOM SA
- Ireland:
- Alan Byrne, Projects Group Manager, Computing Services, University College Dublin.
- Israel:
- Prof Isaac Gilead, Ben-Gurion University, Department of Prehistoric Archaeology
- Italy:
- Mr Sanzio Bassini, Coordinator, supercomputing group CINECA, a 13 university consortium
- Mr Giovanni Meloni, Consortio Interuniversitario Lombardo per l'Elaborazione Automatica (CILEA), a 7 university group
- Netherlands:
- Drs Milco Wansleeben et al, University of Leiden, Faculty of Prehistory
- Drs Paul Zoetbrood, State Service for Archaeological Investigations of the Netherlands and ARCHIS Center of Archaeological Expertise
- Poland:
- Dr Arek Marciniak, Member of executive board, European Association of Archaeologists.
- Portugal:
- Mr Pedro Rangel Henriques et al, Computer Sciences and Archaeological Departments, University of Minho
- Spain:
- Prof Teresa Areitio, University of Deusto
- Sweden:
- Mr Jacob Palme, DSV-SU/KTH company, developers of an asynchronous computer conferencing system
- United Kingdom:
- Dr Sara Champion, University of Southampton, Department of Adult Education
- Dr David Wheatley, University of Southampton, Department of Archaeology
- Mr Mark Roberts, Director Boxgrove Projects, Institute of Archaeology, UCL
- Dr Simon Stoddart, Bristol University, Department of Archaeology
- Mr John Gray, Principal, Newark & Sherwood Further Education college
- Dr Ewan Campbell, Coordinator, Computers in Teaching Initiative, Centre for History (CTICH)
- Keith Challis, Field Archaeologist: Trent & Peak Archaeological Trust
- Martin Belcher, Department of Archaeology at the University of Bristol