treehugginghippycrap » English Heritage

Public Access through technology; Using archaeological computing to interact with wider audiences in new and engaging ways

Paul — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:30:09 +0000

A talk given earlier this year at Strode College based largely on a talk given earlier this year at the IfA conference. The main aim was to show the students some of the ways in which technology is used in contemporary archaeological practice to help disseminate findings, with numerous examples from all over the place; credits to all those people and organisations mentioned. Topics covered included data standards, GIS, ontologies and terminology through to innovative uses of the web and so-called web2.0 services such as blogs, twitter, flickr and the like. Videos from the day are over on Vimeo.

Slides on Slideshare:

View more presentations from paul cripps.

Presentation on Vimeo:

Strode College Archaeology Conference 09 – Paul Cripps. from Henry Rothwell on Vimeo.

Paul Cripps of Wessex Archaeology (www.wessexarch.co.uk) speaks on the subject of infomatics, HER/SMR storage and access, and covers a considerable amount of ground concerning information technology in relation to archaeological data.
Well worth a look.

Summer Solstice, 2009

Paul — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:49:12 +0000

The summer solstice this year was apparently the biggest since the exclusion zone was lifted nine years ago, with access again managed by English Heritage: The BBC reported 36,500 revellers in attendance although given the way in which people were being counted, the real figure is almost certainly lower than this (counting was done by stewards on entry to the stones, so as people travelled back and forth to the campsite, they were presumably counted more than once).

The mood of those attending was largely good and I for one had many interesting and varied conversations with a variety of folks and even enjoyed a bit of dancing inside the bluestone circle, the latter not being something one can do everyday! There were folks from all over Europe and further afield and it is great to see so many people coming to see the event. I walked in from Durrington (avoiding the traffic carnage!) and couldn’t help but be moved by the people streaming in towards the circle from all directions, making me think of our ancestors who would have travelled along similar lines for soltices past: A truly inspiration feeling and one which really provides a sense of place.

The druids were there to welcome the dawn and the traveller community were well represented as ever. I really love the way in which Stonehenge represents so many different things to so many people from such diverse backgrounds: There are few events in the modern world which attract such a variety of people from all walks of life. Of course, there was a small contingent of ignorant yoof causing trouble, particularly at the buses in the morning, but this is the way of most such events these days, and it was more selfish, drunken bad behaviour than anything serious. I guess this is simply the way of the world these days: Even Glastonbury is no longer the preserve of the caring sharing hippy… And it is this minority which gives cause to the police presence…

The police, despite being present in numbers, were largely restrained although their heavy presence at the entrance, including dogs, and the use of metal-detectors and searches was intrusive to say the least but again, some level of intrusion seems to be the norm at any kind of public gathering these days. Thankfully, they were all wearing their ID numbers unlike at the recent G20 protests even if most of them had obviously forgetten how to smile, at least on the way in where intimidation was the order of the day: all the police I chatted to and saw around the circle were actually quite jovial, picking up on the good vibes from the crowd. I did hear a funny conversation between a visitor and one of the search teams as we passed through the security barriers which revealed they weren’t quite sure what they were looking for! I would guess from the police comments reported in the Guardian that illegal drugs were top of the list, hence the dogs but a tip for next year would be to watch out for large flares, at least one of which was sneaked in and caused mayhem in the circle when lit amongst the crowds…

The much talked about spy-in-the-sky seemed to be largely ineffective, with limited battery life (it kept disappearing, presumably for new batteries) and the laser-pointers aimed at it by the crowds can’t have helped it’s surveillance operations! From a geek point of view, I was rather jealous of the pilot: what a job flying such an amazing machine around (even if it does represent the rather repulsive surveillance obsession the authorities seem so keen on). I guess this was more of an intimidation tool than anything else, a bit like the zero-tolerance policy towards drugs which was patently untenable, much of the crowd enjoying, ahem, herbal cigarettes judging by the smells around the site.

The stewards did a fair job of keeping folks from climbing the trilithons but seemed resigned to letting people clamber on the smaller stones, a marked change from previous years and one which really ought to be remedied: The stones are not just important archaeological remains and of religious significance to some but are also home to a wide range of lichens which, taking years to grow, are very sensitive to damage.

One major problem, as in previous years, were the transport links. The roads became impassable and the police response was simply to close them and turn people away. The view in the morning was one of carnage with abandoned cars littering the surrounding roads where people trapped in the logjam had simply left their cars and walked to the henge. Yes, it was possible to get a bus between the event and Salisbury but the bus company certainly made a tidy profit, charging £6 for a single and £9 for a return ticket. Given that other similar sized (free) events such as the BBC One Big Weekend in Swindon earlier this year seem to manage the volumes of people and traffic, is it really that hard to implement some way of getting people to and from the event and ensure there are adequate numbers of stewards in the right places…? But of course, the difference being the solstice is an event which the authorities really don’t like like or want to happen, memories of the 1980’s festivals still influencing decision making. The use of tactics such as the bold statements about zero-tolerance to drugs accompanied by searches and sniffer dogs, the use of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, rumours of police horses being deployed for the first time since the Battle of the Beanfield and the alcohol restrictions, not to mention the rather under-resourced management of essentials such as the roads and public transport in favour of large number of uniformed officers on patrol all suggest the authorities would rather we simply weren’t there. Lessen the enjoyment and perhaps folks won’t return or be put off in the first place. Appreciated, English Heritage and the National Trust don’t want visitor numbers to increase but I for one am not keen on these rather insidious means of discouraging people, especially when all this security still fails to stop idiots bringing large flares into the event.

So, overall a wonderful experience once again but I have to wonder what will happen in the years to come…

Stonehenge world heritage status at risk as tunnel plan is shelved – Times Online

Awards for the Presentation of Heritage Research, 2007

Paul — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 23:04:16 +0000

The awards were once again held as part of the BA Festival of Science, introduced by Sebastian Payne and judged by the audience and a team of judges led by Julian Richards and including Mike Pitts. The full programme is available here. I was looking forward to a couple of presentations in particular and overall I would say that the standard this year was much higher than when I last visited in Dublin 2005.

Morning Session:

Some aspects of product packaging and recycling in later mediaeval Baltic trade
Gavin Simpson gave an interesting account of chests and how plain- or ‘bare’- chests were reused.

Working partners: Tessa Verney Wheeler; Mortimer Wheeler, and the Caerleon Amphitheatre
Lydia Carr gave an informative account of the life and works of Tessa Verney Wheeler and her husband Mortimer.

Dating fixtures and fittings in historic buildings; work towards a typology
Linda Hall has published a book on fixtures and fittings and done an enormous amount of research along the way; her tales (and photos) of the destruction of various interiors was worrying, such fittings often being overlooked. Hopefully her book will allow more people access to information regarding household fixtures and fittings.

The silent shores speak: investigating a maritime landscape in north Argyll
Colin Martin’s talk (read by a colleague who kindly stood in at short notice) showed convincly how the nature of the sea is integral to the north Argyll way of life; channels for rather than barriers against communication which ultimately allowed heavy gunships access to this remote area.

The Van
John Schofield introduced the project video, a video diary of the investigations with commentary from various folks with some interest. This project has been reported on by the BBC, the Guardian and was presented at CHAT 2006 and can be seen as a slightly off the wall look at the archaeological process. There is also an associated blog.

A cautionary tale: conflicts of opinion in the interpretation of an early medieval battlefield
Of all the papers presented, this was the one that kind of left me wondering what it was doing there… The point seemed to be that, in the case of the battle of Fulford, there is no evidence to suggest the site is where it is thought to be by historians and locals; their claims are simply ‘bogus’, the historical records inaccurate (and it is therefore ok to develop the land, the consultancy working for the developer in this case). This on the basis that they have found no archaeological evidence at the site. When pressed about the sorts of evidence expected, as this was not made clear during the presentation, the answer came graves. But what about eg Stamford Bridge where there is equally little archaeological evidence…? Ah, in that case the historical evidence is sound. Hmmm.

Afternoon session:

Beneath the sands of time: unravelling the hidden past of the Vale of Pickering
I was looking forward to this talk. I am familiar with the project through it’s various publications and Dominic Powlesland’s work on archaeological computing systems but had never seen him speak before. Not one to disappoint, the audience were given a roller-coaster ride through various aspects of the project, all of which were both informative and entertaining. A thoroughly enjoyable talk and his ‘wallpaper’ (a plot of survey results across the Vale of Pickering, metres in length!) proved to be bit of a talking point.

Doggerland: mapping a lost European country
This was the other talk I was looking forward to. Vince Gaffney has done amazing things at Birmingham University with the Vista Centre, funded by Hewlett Packard, not least of which is persuade the oil exploration industry to give him vast amounts of digital data regarding the seabed under the North Sea. The presentation described the process of turning this data into reconstructions of environments long since vanished; the level of detail achieved is truly outstanding.

Time and tide: five millenia of environmental change and activity on the banks of the Suir
A fascinating account of the findings from excavations in Ireland.

Shake, rattle and roll: vibration effects at the Hampton Court Music Festival
This was a presentation which interested me for a number of reasons. Firstly, I am a big fan of historic buildings and recently visited Hampton Court Palace for the first time; a truly magnificant place. Secondly, I sometimes make loud noises myself and have an interest in waveforms, frequencies (particularly those at the lower end of the spectrum) and the like. As such, I was interested to hear how the monitoring of noise levels at the Historic Royal Palaces is now being employed to help reduce the impact of noise associated with events held, this being a major source of income to the palaces and thus an impact which can at best be minimised, the palaces being dependent on raising their own funds. Perhaps scope for collaboration with an academic centre such as the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) at Southampton.

And the Winner is…

Joint winners this year: Dominic Powlesland and Vince Gaffney. The award was presented by Julian Richards at a reception held in Kings Manor, home of the archaeology department and the Archaeology Data Service.

More information:
For the submerged landscapes of Doggerland, see the North Sea Palaeolandscapes website. For more information about Heslerton and the Vale of Pickering see the Landscape Research Centre website. The rest of the photos taken on the day are over on Flickr.

3D Laser Scanning for Heritage: Advice and guidance to users on laser scanning in archaeology and architecture

Paul — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:41:44 +0000

The final version of the guidance for laser scanning in archaeology is available from Heritage3D.org. I thought this was due out ages ago but good things, as they say… The Stonehenge Laser Scanning project gets a link but no case studies from Archaeoptics, unfortunately, imo; their projects, as presented at the BGS conference on laser scanning and at CAAUK have been by far some of the most challenging and interesting of any carried out to date (see their featured projects here).

Stonehenge world heritage status at risk as tunnel plan is shelved – Times Online

Paul — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:29:42 +0000

Here we go again. Having spent the past decades going through the options and coming up with a solution that, whilst not perfect, was a compromise accepted by many and which stood up to Public Inquiry, we have suddenly been placed back in a state of flux, not knowing if the road scheme is on or off or what form it may or may not take. Anything could happen in the next half hour (or later this year when the government finally decide), with all cards back in play including the potential for miles of new dual carriageway through the World Heritage Site. Or nothing. Or perhaps those who campaigned so hard for a longer tunnel will suddenly get their way (unlikely given the decision seems to be based around project costs rather than archaeological issues). What is going on here? There was a public inquiry which reported and considerable work has been done over the years evaluating the various proposals and assessing their archaeological impact. A tunnel is the only option that does not involve excessive destruction of archaeological deposits within this important cultural landscape, removes the barrier through the heart of the World Heritage Site and satisfies the need for a dual-carriageway between London and the West. The only real question is how long it should be. I would hate to see the prolonged debate surrounding this topic to be used as an excuse to bulldoze through a scheme whose primary interests are transport issues and cost to the detriment of all else.

This news has been reported elsewhere by campaigners and is being seen as a positive thing and used as more ammunition against English Heritage; whilst it is true English Heritage supported the proposed tunnel scheme (and disagreed with the National Trust over it), this must be seen in context against the other options under scrutiny; long dual carriageways through the landscape going around the henge or a tunnel, the tunnel (even a short one) being the obvious choice. Lord Wayland also seems quite happy at the news, arguing a few cosmetic changes are all that is needed. It is the removal of the roads and restoration of the landscape that is important, not simply a few speed bumps and anyway how on earth is traffic calming on the A303 supposed to ease congestion…? And as for building a new car-park within the World Heritage Site, I’m sure the good folks at UNESCO would have been pleased with that example of best practice and how it would enhance the visitor experience, an important justification for the proposed works (hence the proposed visitor centre is outside the WHS, to allow space for facilities worthy of a world class tourst attraction without building in the vicinity of or even view of the stones). Going back to square one is an alarming development, contrary to the opinions of Save Stonehenge and others. It does not mean that the game is over; there is still a need for a new road to help with traffic issues (unless views on this have also changed with the wind) and having all options back open can only be a bad thing, having ruled most of them out as unacceptable previously.

To be fair, the area has now been thoroughly investigated using all available techniques and development would be preceded by yet more survey and excavation so the main issue is that of the landscape as a whole, how to reconstitute the space as an open landscape through which people are free to explore and experience; any new surface route would be catastrophic from this perspective, even if it did divert the road away from the stones themselves. I would like to see a longer tunnel so that the avenue can once again be walked along from the henge to the Avon but it comes down to how much we, as a society (or at least our elected representatives), are prepared to value such concerns when a cheaper option will suffice and satisfy the needs of the majority.

Stonehenge roads scheme condemned (Telegraph, 2002) and the National Trust calling for a longer tunnel; examples of how the debate was reported in the press at the time.

English Heritage’s previous letter from the Chairman to the Highways Agency outlining their position and stating in what ways the other options (surface routes and cut & cover tunnel) are unacceptable.

Free our data: New study casts doubt on Ordnance Survey’s copyright control @ SocietyGuardian.co.uk

Paul — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:37:24 +0000

The Guardian recently ran an article discussing availability of Ordnance Survey’s MasterMap product. As a daily user of MasterMap on projects, I would be so glad to see MasterMap become freely available; besides access to good quality mapping having obvious benefits for archaeology as a whole, especially to those who do not have access to resources such as Digimap and other resources hosted by Edina, from a commercial perspective, I could build and maintain a library of map data rather than constantly having to reprocess bits under project specific license agreements.

Having said this, I would be concerned about the maintenance of what is currently an outstanding dataset and the other services currently provided by the OS (and have mentioned this before); yes, some of the topographic polygon classifications in MasterMap are amusing to say the least, but the overall quality of the spatial information is world class and must be maintained alongside the services which make the data so useful (eg GPS survey, the Positional Accuracy Improvement (PAI) programme, and helping organisations such as English Heritage use geographic information effectively).