Spotlight article
ArkeoGIS: Opening Archaeological Data Across Temporal and Political Boundaries
It is not uncommon for current regional, state and linguistic boundaries to be practically meaningless for the people, places, and artefacts which are the subjects of archaeological study. Yet, for archaeologists, they can be significant barriers to the study of the past. Administrative entities (including funding agencies, local, regional, and national governments) determine the scope and focus of research programs, temporal distinctions, data collection and data-sharing processes that may be incompatible across these boundaries. For archaeologists, it is an increasingly a time-consuming and arduous part of the research process to navigate these barriers, especially when aggregating archaeological information which is typically a layering process of clues gathered over a long period of time at a single site.