Distributed Archaeological Sites Information Systems
To support supra-regional archaeological questions, i3mainz is currently developing an archaeological information system in cooperation with the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz (RGZM). Integration and further analysis of the specialist data should thus be made possible and support the interdisciplinary research on “Short-term climate fluctuations and cultural dynamics” within the framework of the Centre of Excellence Earth System Sciences (Geocycles).
Motivation
Over the last decade, a large number of archaeological projects have compiled a comprehensive database of archaeological sites from the Neolithic period in Central Europe. By linking these datasets from different sources, the visualisation of the geographic context and the thematic as well as spatial retrieval becomes possible to offer extended access to archaeological questions.
Activities
The i3mainz is currently working with the RGZM to develop an archaeological information system that simplifies the integration and exchange of existing data. A spatial view of the data and corresponding GIS functionalities should help archaeologists in their research. The integration of complex archaeological data structures into GIS-based systems remains a particular challenge, as the latter are usually limited to simple structures. Furthermore, it is planned to provide web-based geoprocessing tools to discuss supra-regional archaeological issues.