So, why did I decide to write a blog about Archaeoinformatics, and what is it? In this article I will try to give a very basic definition of the subject and why I decided to write about it.

First of all, Archaeoinformatics is a reletively new field in Archaeology, although the use of computers in the Humanities dates way back. It basically all started with the quantification of Archaeology, a process started in the early 60ies by Lewis Binford and David Clarke and labelled as the “New Archaeology” and later as “Processual Archaeology”.  The new paradigm demanded not only quantification, but also the scientific testing of the accumulated data .

© Sebastian Hageneuer
Poseidon Temple – © Sebastian Hageneuer

In 1973, J.D. Wilcock imagined the use of computers in the field of archaeology as follows: 1. Databases, 2. Statistical analysis, 3. Recording of fieldwork, 4. production of diagrams and 5. Computer Reconstructions. The only thing he failed to predict was the use of Geoinformation Systems . In the following decades, the developments in processing power, memory capacity and prices for personal computers allowed the widespread use of soft- and hardware throughout archaeology.

Today, the use of databases, GIS or statistical analysis is as common for archaeology as taking photographs. The increasing possibilities of technology and software demand more and more the development of new methodologies and tools for archaeology. This is where Archaeoinformatics comes into play. Archaeoinformatics provides the means to transform archaeology and develop methods and tools to make the archaeological process easier and better.

At the moment, Archaeoinformatics develops as a sub-discipline of Archaeology in Germany. In the UK, the field is called Digital or Computational Archaeology. There, the subdiscipline has been a part of Archaeology for 20 years (University College London, University of Southampton, University of York). There is also Digital Archaeology at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. The term Archaeoinformatics has been developed since 2005, where the first lecturing position was ascribed to Archaeoinformatics at the Prehistory department of the University of Kiel. In 2010, there was a assistant professor position in Archaeoinformatics at the Freie Universität of Berlin (Department for Classical Archaeology). Since 2016, there is the first german full professorship in Archaeoinformatics at the Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne. Starting in 2017, there will be also the second full professorship based again in Kiel.

As you can see, the field is pretty new, at least in Germany. We try to develop this field even further and find solutions to archaeological problems. This is also the reason for this blog. I wanted to create something where I can keep track of my progress, my projects and my knowledge in Archaeoinformatics. I am not sure if this blog will develop, or if I even can keep up writing here, but I want to try at least.

[h3title title=”Bibliography” style=”quad”]
Souza, Aaron de, and Martina Trognitz. 2021. “Analysis of Middle Nubian Vessel-Forming Technology Using Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI).” Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica, Natural Sciences in Archaeology XII (1): 19–35. https://doi.org/10.24916/iansa.2021.1.2.
Wilkinson, Mark D., Michel Dumontier, IJsbrand Jan Aalbersberg, Gabrielle Appleton, Myles Axton, Arie Baak, Niklas Blomberg, et al. 2016. “The FAIR Guiding Principles for Scientific Data Management and Stewardship.” Scientific Data 3: 160018. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18.
Doerr, M. 2003. “The CIDOC CRM – an Ontological Approach to Semantic Interoperability of Metadata.” In Ontology Research, edited by Christopher Welty, 3:21. AI Magazine 24.
Brancato, Rodolfo, Marianna Nicolosi-Asmundo, and Grazia Pagano. 2019. “Towards an Ontology for Investigating on Archaeological Sicilian Landscapes.” In Open Data and Ontologies for Cultural Heritage. Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Open Data and Ontologies for Cultural Heritage Co-Located with the 31st International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE 2019), edited by Antonella Poggi, 85–90. CEUR Workshop Proceedings 2375. Rom.
Langis-Barsetti, Dominique. 2021. “Building Kunulua Block by Block: Exploring Archaeology through Minecraft.” Near Eastern Archaeology 84 (1): 62–70.
Berners-Lee, Tim. 2006. “Linked Data - Design Issues.” https://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html.
Maddison, M. Simon, and Sophie C. Schmidt. 2020. “Percolation Analysis – Archaeological Applications at Widely Different Spatial Scales.” Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology 3 (1): 269–287. https://doi.org/10.5334/jcaa.54.
Goedicke, Michael, and Ulrike Lucke. 2020. “Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur für und mit Computer Science (NFDIxCS).” In . Webinar. https://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/foerderung/programme/nfdi/nfdi_konferenz_2020/nfdixcs_abstract.pdf.
Löffler, Frank. 2020. “Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur Für Wissenschaftliche Software (NFDI4RSE).” In . Webinar. https://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/foerderung/programme/nfdi/nfdi_konferenz_2020/nfdi4rse_abstract.pdf.
Bierwirth, Maik, Frank Oliver Glöckner, Christian Grimm, Sonja Schimmler, Franziska Boehm, Christian Busse, Andreas Degkwitz, Oliver Koepler, and Heike Neuroth. 2020. “Leipzig-Berlin-Erklärung zu NFDI-Querschnittsthemen der Infrastrukturentwicklung,” June. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.3895208.
Rollinger, Christian. 2020. “Playing with the Ancient World. An Introduction to Classical Antiquity in Video Games.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 1–18. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.0006.
Rollinger, Christian. 2020. “An Archaeology of Ancient Historical Video Games.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 19–44. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-001.
Chapman, Adam. 2020. “Epilogue: Quo Vadis Historical Game Studies and Classical Receptions? Moving Two Fields Forward Together.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 233–52. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-014.
Holter, Erika, Una Ulrike Schäfer, and Sebastian Schwesinger. 2020. “Simulating the Ancient World. Pitfalls and Opportunities of Using Game Engines for Archaeological and Historical Research.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 217–32. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-013.
Flegler, Alexander. 2020. “The Complexities and Nuances of Portraying History in Age of Empires.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 205–16. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-012.
Paprocki, Maciej. 2020. “Mortal Immortals. Deicide of Greek Gods in Apotheon and Its Role in the Greek Mythic Storyworld.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 193–204. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-011.
Morley, Neville. 2020. “Choose Your Own Counterfactual. The Melian Dialogue as Text-Based Adventure.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 179–92. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-010.
Nolden, Nico. 2020. “Playing with an Ancient Veil. Commemorative Culture and the Staging of Ancient History within the Playful Experience of the MMORPG, The Secret World.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 157–76. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-009.
Clare, Ross. 2020. “Postcolonial Play in Ancient World Computer Role-Playing Games.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 141–56. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-008.
Travis, Roger. 2020. “The Bethesda Style. The Open-World Role-Playing Game as Formulaic Epic.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 127–40. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-007.
McCall, Jeremiah. 2020. “Digital Legionaries. Video Game Simulations of the Face of Battle in the Roman Republic.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 107–24. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-005.
Machado, Dominic. 2020. “Battle Narratives from Ancient Historiography to Total War: Rome II.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 93–106. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-005.
Beavers, Sian. 2020. “The Representation of Women in Ryse: Son of Rome.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 77–90. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-004.
French, Tristan, and Andrew Gardner. 2020. “Playing in a ‘Real’ Past. Classical Action Games and Authenticity.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 63–76. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350066663.ch-003.
Serrano Lorenzo, David. 2020. “Ludus (Not) Over. Video Games and the Popular Perception of Ancient Past Reshaping.” In Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World, edited by Christian Rollinger, 47–62. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/classical-antiquity-in-video-games-playing-with-the-ancient-world.
Solms, Charlayn von, and Richard Warren. 2020. Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Playing with the Ancient World. Edited by Christian Rollinger, K. F. B. Fletcher, Osman Umurhan, and Rosario Rovira Guardiola. Bloomsbury Academic. http://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/classical-antiquity-in-video-games-playing-with-the-ancient-world.
Prescott, Julie, and Jan Bogg. 2013. “The Gendered Identity of Women in the Games Industry” 7 (1): 14.
Hartmann, Tilo, and Christoph Klimmt. 2006. “Gender and Computer Games: Exploring Females’ Dislikes.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 11 (4): 910–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00301.x.
Zamaróczy, Nicolas de. 2016. “Are We What We Play? Global Politics in Historical Strategy Computer Games.” International Studies Perspectives, February, ekv010. https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekv010.
Voorhees, Gerald A. 2009. “I Play Therefore I Am: Sid Meier’s Civilization, Turn-Based Strategy Games and the Cogito.” Games and Culture 4 (3): 254–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412009339728.
Wang, Shiang-Kwei. 2010. “Effects of Playing a History-Simulation Game: Romance of Three Kingdoms.” International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations 2 (2): 36–56. https://doi.org/10.4018/jgcms.2010040103.
Huggett, Jeremy. 2012. “Core or Periphery? Digital Humanities from an Archaeological Perspective.” Historical Social Research: Historische Sozialforschung 37 (3): 86–105. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.37.2012.3.86-105.
Xinhua. 2017. “Restoring Colour to China’s Terracotta Army.” Nachrichten. The Telegraph. September 10, 2017. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/china-watch/culture/terracotta-warriors/.
Macalister, R.A.S. n.d. Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum, Vol. 1. Dublin: 1945.
Hageneuer, Sebastian, ed. 2020. Communicating the Past in the Digital Age: Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Methods in Teaching and Learning in Archaeology (12th-13th October 2018). London: Ubiquity. https://doi.org/10.5334/bch.
Giere, Daniel. 2019. Computerspiele - Medienbildung - historisches Lernen. Zu Repräsentation und Rezeption von Geschichte in digitalen Spielen. Forum Historisches Lernen. Frankfurt am Main: WOCHENSCHAU Verlag.
Yap, B. W., and C. H. Sim. 2011. “Comparisons of Various Types of Normality Tests.” Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation 81 (12): 2141–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/00949655.2010.520163.
Smith, Monica L. 2014. “Citizen Science in Archaeology.” American Antiquity 79 (4): 749–62. https://doi.org/10.7183/0002-7316.79.4.749.
Giere, Daniel. 2016. “Beworbene Vergangenheit: Ein Terminologische Annäherung an Geschichte in Digitalen Spielen.” In Modellierung Des Krieges? Digitale Spiele Als Geschichtswissenschaftliche Forschungsgegenstände, edited by Tobias Winnerling, 13–51. Militär Und Gesellschaft in Der Frühen Neuzeit 20. Potsdam: Universitätsverlag Potsdam.
Dicheva, Darina, Christo Dichev, Gennady Agre, and Galia Angelova. 2015. “Gamification in Education: A Systematic Mapping Study.” Educational Technology & Society 18 (3): 14.
Name, Dein. 2018. “Jedes Medium ist anders: Akzeptanz unterschiedlicher digitaler Medien in der Hochschullehre.” die hochschullehre - Interdisziplinäre Zeitschrift für Studium und Lehre 4. http://www.hochschullehre.org/?p=1131.
Paletschek, Sylvia. 2002. “Die Erfindung der Humboldtschen Universität: Die Konstruktion der deutschen Universitätsidee in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts.” Historische Anthropologie 10 (2): 183–205. https://doi.org/10.7788/ha.2002.10.2.183.
Walz, Markus. 2016. Handbuch Museum: Geschichte, Aufgaben, Perspektiven. Springer-Verlag.
Wosnitza, Marold, Kerstin Helker, and Lucas Lohbeck. 2014. “Teaching Goals of Early Career University Teachers in Germany.” International Journal of Educational Research 65: 90–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2013.09.009.
Hamiti, Mentor, Blerim Reka, and Florinda Imeri. 2015. “The Impact of Computer Components in Enhancing the Quality of Teaching and Learning Process in Universities.” Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences 191: 2422–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.564.
Schütz-Pitan, Jessica, Tina Weiß, and Jan Hense. 2018. “Jedes Medium ist anders: Akzeptanz unter- schiedlicher digitaler Medien in der Hochschullehre,” 20.
Zawacki-Richter, Olaf, and Marco Kalz, eds. 2019. Zeitschrift Für Hochschulentwicklung Bd. 14 Nr. 2: Open Education Im Kontext Der Digitalisierung | Zeitschrift Für Hochschulentwicklung. https://www.zfhe.at/index.php/zfhe/issue/view/62.
Wilkesmann, Uwe, and Christian J. Schmid. 2011. “Lehren lohnt sich (nicht)?” Soziale Welt 62 (3): 251–78. https://doi.org/10.5771/0038-6073-2011-3-251.
Perkins, P., D. A. Spaeth, and R. H. Trainor. 1992. “Computers and the Teaching of History and Archaeology in Higher Education.” Computers & Education 19 (1): 153–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/0360-1315(92)90021-V.
Denard, Hugh. 2012. “A New Introduction to the London Charter.” In Paradata and Transparency in Virtual Heritage, edited by Anna Bentkowksa-Kafel and Hugh Denard, 57–71. London, New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315599366-14.

Sebastian Hageneuer

Founder & Editor

About the Author

My name is Sebastian. I am a research associate at the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Cologne, Germany, Discipline for Archaeoinformatics. My special interest lies in reconstructing ancient architecture and thinking about ways to present archaeological knowledge to other researchers and the public in an informative and appealing way. I teach 3D documentation of material culture as well as 3D modelling and archaeological reconstruction and work on several projects as part of my job.

View Articles

Sophie Schmidt

Founder & Editor

About the Author

My name is Sophie, I am a prehistoric and computational archaeologist and have been research associate at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne, as well as for the NFDI4Objects project at the German Archaeological Institute. I teach statistics for archaeologists, work on new methods in settlement archaeology (GIS, geostatistics in R and stuff) and am interested in archaeogaming. Now I started my PhD-project on the 5th mill. BC in Brandenburg (that's North-East Germany).

View Articles