Archaeological science and the HER/SMR: e-conference 17th January
2005
Archaeological science has become a routine inclusion in many
interventions and can play an important role in our understanding of
their place in our cultural heritage. Whilst information regarding the site
and, sometimes, its artefacts will appear in county HER/SMRs there is
currently very limited provision to include any information about the
scientific techniques used or materials investigated. Consequently it is
difficult for planners or researchers to find which of these aspects have
been investigated where. As a result there has been ongoing
discussion between English Heritage and relevant Local Authority
Officers to address this issue by developing a standard for the
recording of basic information about archaeological science. This
includes two components. The first is an annexe to the MIDAS data
standard, to inform the development of relevant information systems
for the recording and sharing of the data. The second is agreement on
a relevant set of terms, for inclusion in existing thesauri, and new
appropriate term-lists, for recording archaeological science.
We have reached a stage where we feel that it is important to include a
wider audience and will therefore be running an e-conference from 17th
January 2005 through the FISH (Forum on Information Standards in
Heritage) discussion forum. The main discussion will concentrate upon
how the proposals will provide access to reports within the HER/SMR.
We therefore need to make the index comprehensive yet workable for
both those who will be entering the data and those who wish to query
those data whether for planning or research purposes. The draft
proposals will be available for consultation on the FISH discussion list
file archive prior to the e-conference. There will be a digest and
summary produced at the end of this e-conference and these will be
placed on the Environmental Archaeology web pages
(http://www.envarch.net) and the FISH web by the end of February
2005.
You are invited to participate in this discussion and will need to join the
FISH e-mail list to do so (there will be no formal discussion on the
Zooarch list). Subscription is free and you can join/leave any time
either:
* Online: visit www.fish-forum.info and follow the ‘Join the discussion
list’ link to the subscription page.
* E-mail: send text “subscribe fish firstname lastname” (omit quote
marks and substitute your name as appropriate) to
[log in to unmask] There is no need to include a ‘subject’ in
the e-mail.
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Jacqui Huntley
English Heritage NE Regional Advisor in Archaeological Science
Dept. Archaeology, University of Durham,
South Road, Durham. DH1 3LE
phone/fax: +44(0)191 33 41137
Mobile: +44 (0)771 3400387
