Archaeological Computing

Second Edition, December, 2008

Harrison Eiteljorg, II, with GIS chapter by W. Fredrick Limp

This second edition contains one entirely new chapter concerning the digitizing of data from long-running and/or completed projects. The first edition was focused solely on "born digital" data, yet it should have been clear that many digitizing projects for archaeological data are concerned with data already collected in non-digital forms, requiring digitizing to be approached from a very different perspective.

This edition also has been proofread yet again. As a result, it became all too clear that a number of typos and other small errors had been missed in the final proofreading of the first edtion. That number was large enough that it seems pointless to hope all such errors have been found and eliminated. We can at least hope the number has been reduced significantly.

The preparation of the second edition also turned up errors in some SELECT statements in the database management chapter. Those statements should now be correct.

Other changes are neither critical to meaning nor numerous.

Archaeological Computing is intended to provide an introduction to the use of digital technologies for archaeologists. The first two chapters of the book include discussions of a variety of general computing issues, with special emphases on some matters of more importance to scholars, especially archaeologists, than typical computer users. The three following chapters are focused on the three critical data-recording technologies for archaeological projects -- database management, GIS, and CAD -- in that sequence. The authors explore the capabilities of those three software types, and much of the discussion centers on organizing data effectively so that the capabilities of the software -- and the utility of the software for archaeologists -- can be maximized. In the sixth chapter other digital technologies; including digital images, audio, and various kinds of moving images; are discussed in terms of the problems raised by their being digital as opposed to film- or paper-based. The new seventh chapter contains a lengthy but at times frustratingly general and theoretcial discussion of the processes required to digitize data already gathered but not in digital form. The generalities and theoretical approach are required by the diversity of projects for which digitizing paper-based data may be desirable. A lengthy discussion of digital data protection and preservation follows in the eighth chapter. The ninth and final chapter provides a wrap-up.

Abbreviated Table of Contents:

Introduction - Why?
Chapter I - Some Basics
Chapter II - Computing and Computers
Chapter III - Recording Data about Objects, Loci, Trenches, Features, . . .
from Archaeological Projects: Databases and Database Management Systems
Chapter IV - Combining Maps and Data: Geographic Information Systems
Chapter V - Modeling Objects, Loci, Trenches, Features, . . .
from Archaeological Projects: Computer-Aided Design Software
Chapter VI - Miscellany: Digital Images, Audio Recordings, Videos, and Text
Chapter VII - Digitizing Data from an Extant Project
Chapter VIII - Protecting and Preserving the Archaeological Record
Chapter IX - Conclusion

The second edition of Archaeological Computing is available here, at no cost, as a PDF download. Publishing in this way means, among other things, that the book can be changed by the authors with relatively little trouble, as it now has been with this second edition. The authors, of course, think the book is all but perfect as it stands; so they are counting on the readers to suggest the ways that change is needed. We need to know if there are terms in need of definitions, terms in need of better definitions, fuller or more coherent explanations needed for specific topics, topics in need of coverage, more illustrations needed, desirable changes in formatting, or . . . . We are counting on you, the reader, to let us know and to help make this book better and better over time. To do that, please email Mr. Eiteljorg or Mr. Limp (see the CSA email contacts page for the email addresses). It must be noted that the number of such contacts after the posting of the first edition was vanishingly small; please do not keep your criticisms to yourselves. We can only fix the problems about which we are made aware.

This page will contain information about the version of the book currently available so that any user will know its date and revision history. The current version is the second. The original version was completed in March of 2007 and made available in April, 2007. A trivial revision to correct a format error was made on that same day. This second edition is being posted on 18 December 2008.

We hope to use the web site to assist readers in other ways, two of them being carried out already. You will find a page concerned with table joins and SQL queries here. In addition, there is a unified glossary here to augment the glossary in the book, which is spread out over several chapters, each with a glossary for its own subject matter. (The glossary has been updated to reflect the second edition chapter glossaries.) Other, similar pages will be added to the site, as needed, in response to readers' needs. Note, though, that we cannot predict those needs and must hear from the readers to know what things to try to add - and in what way(s) to add them. We have considered discussion groups of several kinds, but we decided to plan nothing in advance and to wait for the readers to tell us through their comments what things might be useful. Your feedback is therefore crucial.

Downloading the PDF File.

There are two versions of the book, one for standard printing on one side of the paper only and the other for duplex printing. The text is the same; the only differences are the arrangements of margins and the orientations of pages that will be on the left in the duplex version, making the two versions equally useful on screen. Either version should have margins wide enough to permit using either a loose-leaf binder or a spring binder. Layout was based on North-American-sized 8.5 x 11 in. paper, but the margins should permit printing on A4 paper as well.

By downloading either version, you are agreeing to the following terms:

You may download the PDF as often as you like, and you may use the file on screen, by making a printed version, or both.
Your own use of the PDF file is limited only in that you may not modify it. However, you may not give or sell the file to anyone else.
You may print as many copies from the PDF as you wish, but only for your own use. No copies may be printed for others, regardless of whether or not a fee is charged by you.
Nothing in the foregoing should be seen as limiting your right to refer to, quote, or cite the work in standard academic fashion.

These conditions are intended simply to make certain that any user knows the date and currency of the version of the document at hand. For instance, the existence of the second edition now makes the first edition obsolete, but someone obtaining the first edition from an intermediary might not realize that the first edition had been superseded. Of course, we want to be sure that alterations that might alter the intent of the authors are not made so that the authors may be responsible only for their own words.

To continue to the download page, please click here.

We hope you find this useful, and we look forward to knowing your reactions to the book. (Should you have some reason to want to first edition of the book, please contact Harrison Eiteljorg at CSA for instructions to download it. It remains available as a downloadable PDF file via the web site.)