ADS Summer School: The archeoViz Ecosystem

Sébastien Plutniak

Context Introduced in early 2023, the “archeoViz ecosystem” is a newcomer in the landscape of archaeological data publication, reuse, online editing and dissemination. It is composed of the archeoViz (R package) and the archeoViz Portal , an online application offering an interactive catalogue of the existing applications of archeoViz to specific archaeological datasets.

For decades, multiple researchers and institutions contributed to this landscape, proposing diverse solutions and perspectives. Drawing on this legacy, the “archeoViz ecosystem” is grounded on three principles:

using open-source resources,
opting for a strongly decentralised dataflow scheme (favouring interoperability between existing applications instead of extending archeoViz’s functionalities), and
fostering data publication by making reuse easy and visible. In this context, the ADS Training School in Data Stewardship appeared as an unavoidable place to learn from the experience of one of the older, larger, and most venerable archaeological data infrastructures. I was confident that the concepts, best practices, and methods presented during the training would certainly fuel the ongoing development of the “archeoViz ecosystem”.

Lessons learnt from the ADS experience

The training school program was especially rich, encompassing not only the technical dimension of data management but also organisational aspects, those regarding long-term preservation, in particular. Inspirations and consequences What we were introduced to was inspirational to get a better understanding of the position of the “archeoViz ecosystem” in the landscape of archaeological data infrastructures on the one hand, and to foresee future developments on the other hand. Concrete consequences of the training include, for example, the discovery of the CoreTrustSeal certification initiative : after the training we engaged in preparing an application about archeoViz Portal.

Specific exploration of the ADS repository

The final day of the workshop includes one-to-one discussions where participants had the opportunity to discuss with ADS staff members. ADS being a very rich data repository, one assumes that it contains datasets suitable for archeoViz applications, namely datasets including spatial information. Retrieving those datasets using the ADS research tool is not a straightforward task. However, it was carried out thanks to the assistance and support of Jamie Geddes (one of ADS digital archives assistants), paving the way for the possible reuse of ADS curated datasets using archeoViz.

Networking in the global archaeological data community

Last but not least, one of the major achievements of the ADS Training School in Data Stewardship was… social. Participants in the school came from different institutions, countries and continents. This week contributed to creating and strengthening professional connections between us and, more generally, to shape an enthusiastic international community devoted to the preservation, reuse, and dissemination of archaeological data at global and international scales.