Ethan Gruber – THATCamp CAANA 2012 – Computer Applications in Archaeology North America

Research Applications for 3D Models

Ethan Gruber — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:38:52 +0000

Archaeologists are familiar with 3D reconstructions for virtual reality as an enhancement to the museum-goer/tourist experience or for illustrative purposes. Architectural reconstructions themselves are academic. Even though 3D reconstructions are hypothetical, a lot of research goes into creating something that could have appeared or functioned in the way that you envisioned. Once your model has reached a point of historical plausibility, it can be used for simulations to address specific research questions.

Here are a few examples:

The video above is an accoustic simulation of Stonehenge. You can read more about it by clicking “More Info.” It won a “best project” award at CAA a few months ago in Southampton because they have even introduced augmented reality stuff for mobile devices for people visiting Stonehenge. Very cool stuff.

Below is a selection of walthrough and timelapse clips depicting lighting simulation of the House of the Drinking Contest, a third century Roman house near Antioch. This is one of several models I have used for testing natural lighting. I’m not the only researcher engaged in these sorts of simulations, but I can’t find other videos online. This methodology is very useful for recontextualizing art within the house–specifically mosaics.

Finally, another project presented at CAA in March. This is CT scanning of a coin hoard in Britain by a high powered scanner at Southampton University in conjunction with researchers at the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the British Museum. CT scanning can be a real game-changer. It is a low-cost*, high-yield method of documentation when time and money for a systematic excavation of an object (like a hoard or a burial) are lacking.

I think CT scanning has great potential for analysis.

I’d like to propose a session for those who are already involved in these sorts of activities or are interested in getting started.

*it is low cost if you have access to someone else’s scanner

Three days to submit proposals!

Ethan Gruber — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 03:51:09 +0000

There are three more days to submit session proposals for THATCamp CAA-NA. We have a good number so far, but not quite enough to keep the all of the participants, with their diverse array of backgrounds and interests, occupied for the whole day. If you’ve got problems, ideas, technologies, or projects you’ve been wrestling with, now’s the time to submit your session proposal!

The Schedule page has now been activated on the site. The page includes an embedded Google Spreadsheet with the session list, which will be modified Friday morning as participants vote on the the proposals they would like to attend as sessions. You’ll have the opportunity to write your name on the whiteboard Friday morning to deliver a Dork Short (two-minute lightning talk) during lunch.

Finally, whether you are a participant or interested observer, the Twitter hashtag for the event is #caana.

See you Friday!

Data Sharing in Archaeology

Ethan Gruber — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:58:47 +0000

I am interested to learn more about how other participants are recording and sharing their data (if you are). Are you using an in-house schema or an off-the-shelf commercial or open-source database? I would like get a general sense on what is out there.

The second aspect of my interest in data sharing is focused more directly on the classical archaeologists coming to THATCamp. The American Numismatics Society and ISAW just released Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE), which aims to create a record for every coin type in the Roman Imperial Coinage catalog. So far, we have all of the coin types from Augustus to Hadrian (ca. 27 BC – AD 138). Our data is open and accessible. One of the aims of OCRE is to link to coins contained in various public and private collections. OCRE can ingest weights, measurements, and findspots for quantitative and geographic analyses, but none of the American Numismatic Society coins have known findspots. I’d love to talk about linking OCRE to “real” archaeological finds. In order for OCRE to link to other coins, metadata has to be available in a machine-readable format, like RDF. Anything I can learn about other archaeological data recording systems can help me adapt OCRE to interact with them.

Registration Now Closed

Ethan Gruber — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:26:19 +0000

Thanks to all who have registered for THATCamp CAA-NA! We have 46 total registered participants. Thanks to my friends and colleagues on Twitter and in the Scholars’ Lab who helped get the word out in the last two weeks and grow our list by about 30. I will be sending out logistical emails to participants in the coming weeks relating to travel, hotels, and the like. In the meantime, all participants should have received WordPress account emails for logging into the THATCamp CAA-NA blog, which will enable them to create new blog posts for session proposals.

Registration Period Extended

Ethan Gruber — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:11:19 +0000

In order to provide more time for potential attendees to register for THATCamp CAA-NA, we are extending the deadline from May 31st to June 10. We have plenty more space for participants. Registration is first come, first served until June 10. We currently have a diverse and interesting crop of applicants, and we’d love to have a bigger crop of diverse and interesting applicants!

Reminder that this event is free!

Application Period for THATCamp CAA-NA Now Open

Ethan Gruber — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:30:14 +0000

The application period for THATCamp CAA-NA is now open. Please visit caana2012.thatcamp.org/apply/ to apply. The application window closes May 31, and acceptances will be made several days after that.

Announcing THATCamp CAA-NA

Ethan Gruber — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:06:03 +0000

We are pleased to announce THATCamp CAA-NA, a computational archaeology-focused unconference co-sponsored by the Computer Applications in Archaeology (CAA) – North America chapter and the University of Virginia Library! THATCamp CAA-NA will be held Friday, August 10 in the Harrison-Small Special Collections Library in Charlottesville, Virginia. Registration will open Monday, April 30 and close May 31. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance as soon after May 31 as we can manage, probably no later than Friday, June 8. This is, as far as I know, the first unconference of its type in the field, and I hope you will be as excited to come and participate as we are to host it!