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Methodology of processing and archiving of aerial survey data in archaeology
Gojda, Martin ; Novák, David ; Kuna, Martin ; Vavřín, P. ; Bíšková, J.
The Methodology of Processing and Archiving of Aerial Survey Data in Archaeology is one of the outputs that concludes not only the research project Archaeology from the Sky, but also one of the stages of aerial archaeology and digitization of archaeological data in the Czech Republic. Both of these areas began to develop in the Czech Republic in the early 1990s, initially independently, and over time in ever closer cooperation. These two branches of archaeological work in the Czech Republic have undergone a deeper transformation in the past decade, which has meant the creation of an institutionalised research infrastructure, the Archaeological Information System of the Czech Republic, for the field of digital documentation, and a full-fledged move towards digital technologies for data collection, preservation, analysis and presentation for aerial archaeology. Nowadays it is hard to imagine aerial survey without digital technologies and at the same time the image of the country's archaeological heritage without attractive and professionally valuable aerial images. Having learnt from the natural disasters at the Archaeological Institutes of the CAS in 2002 and 2008, we now know that digitisation is the only way to save older data, to secure them from future loss and to make them fully usable (by making them accessible to a wide range of experts and other interested parties). Leaving aside the development of proprietary technologies, which will always be a task for a narrower circle of specialists, the development of digitisation in aerial archaeology brings two main challenges for most archaeologists working in this field. The first is the conversion and description of legacy, analogue documents into digital form, as old images can contain irreplaceable information that it would be a shame to leave buried in archives and exposed to the gradual loss of their informational value. The second challenge is to recognise the demands that the advent of the information society in general brings with it, i.e. the need for greater cooperation between professionals, sharing of information and coordination of professional practices. While the entire Archaeology from the Sky project focused on the first task, this methodology offers help with the second task. Methodologies of this type are now being developed throughout Europe, but they are not yet numerous and by no means cover all areas of archaeological work. Only a methodology (“Guide to Good Practice”) prepared in 1999 by the leading British institution Archaeology Data Service has been published directly on our topic, however, it is already evident from the date of its publication that it cannot fully cover the needs of today, not to mention the specific situation of Czech archaeology and its procedures. The European Archaeological Council's 2014 manual, which was also published in Czech translation, focuses on the archiving of archaeological data, but it is general and does not address the specific issues of aerial archaeology. Of the Czech manuals, only the 2017 Methodology for the Identification of Immovable Archaeological Monuments touches our topic in a marginal way. The authors of the presented manual and the members of the expert team of the Archaeology from the Sky project are convinced that this methodology will contribute to the protection of a specific part of the archaeological heritage in the Czech Republic. We also believe that thousands of aerial archaeological images, which are already available through the AMCR Digital Archive, will soon be joined by other collections, and that this fact will contribute to the development of professional research and public interest in archaeology.
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