“Big Digs Go Digital” Conference Explores Collaborations
November 19, 2009
Representatives of the German Archaeological Institute and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens convened in Athens and Corinth for four days (November 4-7) to discuss problems in information technology as they pertain to the so-called “Big Digs,” that is, excavations like Ancient Corinth, the Athenian Agora, Olympia, and the Kerameikos.
The purpose of the gathering was to explore opportunities for collaboration between American and German archaeologists. This initial workshop was made possible through a generous grant from the DFG/NEH Bilateral Digital Humanities Program in reponse to a proposal: “The ‘Big Digs’ Go Digital: Opportunities and Challenges for Large-Scale, Multigenerational Excavation Projects in the Digital Age.” The 30 representatives from the two institutions included directors of the German and American schools in Athens, the General Secretary of the DAI in Berlin, and the head of ASCSA’s Committee on Information Technology. Greek colleagues, Metaxia Tsipopoulou, Director, National Archives of Monuments of Greece, and Despina Tsiafaki, Head of Cultural Heritage United, CETI, participated in the discussions.
A second workshop will take place at the Annual Meetings of the Archaeological Institute of America in Anaheim, California (January 7, 2010) and will include the following presentations:
Ortwin Dally, DAI, “The Impact of Digital Technologies on the Practice of Archaeology at the DAI”
James Herbst, ASCSA, “Corinth Goes Digital: Introducing Electronic Technologies into Fieldwork and Post-Excavation Study at the site of Ancient Corinth”
Bruce Hartzler, ASCSA, and John McK. Camp, II, “Agathe and Beyond: Constructing and Maintaining a Digital Database at the Athenian Agora Excavations”
Rainer Komp, DAI, “What Do the Concepts of ‘Interoperability’ and ‘Sustainability’ Mean in Practice for Digital Archaeology?”
Greg Crane, Tufts University, (discussant) “Is the Digital Archaeology of the ‘Big Digs’ Different?”