Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Mediterranean Archaeological Network (MedArchNet)

The Mediterranean Archaeological Network (MedArchNet)


The MedArchNet Vision
Our vision for MedArchNet (The Mediterranean Archaeological Network) is to develop an international network of archaeological sites, from remote prehistory to the early 20th century that provides a model for world cultural heritage research, management, and presentation.  MedArchNet is a virtual organization (VO), which will be built initially in small, incremental steps by incorporating a few thematic nodes and requesting VO members to make modest contributions of data.  This prototype represents a shared vision of what MedArchNet can become--a network of archaeological site data spanning the Mediterranean basin that will empower archaeologists, historians, cultural resource managers and the public with tools to conduct cross-regional studies in ways that have never before been possible, while providing methods for monitoring site conditions and planning for infrastructure development that minimizes adverse effects on archaeological sites.
Our first two data nodes, the Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land and the Aegean Digital Archaeological Atlas, are shown on the map as white rectangles; you can click their borders to open the data nodes.   The MedArchNet Home Page contains more information about the project.  The orange rectangles illustrate proposed atlas nodes.
The MedArchNet VO will support information and data sharing, and provide a collaboration space for researchers, students and the public.  Currently, there is no portal science based cyberinfrastructure for archaeology.  We propose to establish one with an existing community of some 70 current international archaeology projects in the Mediterranean that will significantly change the way researchers examine data, monitor archaeological sites and present educational material to the public.  This project is sponsored by the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), the umbrella organization for North American archaeologists working in the Mediterranean and Middle East with projects from Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, the Palestinian Territories (2) and over 11 European Union country projects have committed to providing data to MedArchNet.   The Aegean Digital Archeaological Atlas node is sponsored by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture/National Archive of Monuments and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment