Beyond spreadsheets: digitising the archaeological artefact inventory process

This paper showcases the process of automated artefact inventory, cataloguing and study applied within “Beyond the city walls (BCW): the landscapes of Aquileia”, a landscape archaeology project based in Aquileia (Italy). Routine collection of artefact samples was undertaken during the field walking survey seasons and a large amount of manifold archaeological artefacts have been collected over the four years of the project. To handle the cataloguing and storing of a considerable number of artefacts an efficient process was set up to minimise the time spent in primary inventory procedures and to automate them as much as possible, as well as provide a valuable analysis tool in the following artefact study phase. The system uses Android mobile devices, Open Data Kit Collect XForms application and an eResearch Data Modelling and Management system, and one of its fundamental aspects is the decoupling of the data collection workflow from the ultimate data model. As part of the initial development, a conceptual data model was created. The inventory and research workflows were then identified and a data collection form created for each workflow. The form – with the existing data model integration mapping – was then downloaded into the ODK Collect Android application running on Lab-dedicated tablets. Data collected were then uploaded, tracked and ingested seamlessly into the data model of the system. Choosing a flexible delivery system that allows applets to capture data in a customised way enables to adapt the system for a variety of data collection needs and to further extend the information gathered to support later eResearch.