Thinking beyond the Tool: Archaeological Computing and the Interpretive Process

The idea of putting together this book was inspired by the session Thinking beyond the Tool: Archaeological Computing and the Interpretive Process, which was held at the Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) conference in Bristol (17-19 December 2010). The session, as well as the regular format of paper presentations, included a round table discussion at the end of the session, to provide a debate forum for the participants, and encourage the development of the dialogue which emerged from the various presentations. This format not only facilitated the discussion on a better theorised approach to computer applications in archaeology, but also allowed delegates with diverse backgrounds to elaborate on common concerns from different perspectives. The overarching theme of the session, which revolved around how the various computational tools affect the ways we practice archaeology and interpret and disseminate aspects of the past, generated a series of stimulating debates. Contents: Introduction: Archaeological Computing: Towards Prosthesis or amputation? (Angeliki Chrysanthi, Patricia Murrieta Flores, Constantinos Papadopoulos); 1) The Value and Application of Creative Media to the Process of Reconstruction and Interpretation (Alice Watterson); 2) A CG Artists Impression: Depicting Virtual Reconstructions Using Non-photoreal-istic Rendering Techniques (Tom Frankland); 3) Little by Little, One Travels Far (Paul Cripps); 4) Conceptual and Practical Issues in the Use of GIS for Archaeological Excavations (Markos Katsianis); 5) Typeless Information Modelling to Avoid Category Bias in Archaeological Descriptions (Cesar Gonzalez-Perez); 6) The Spatial Construct of Social Relations: Human Interaction and Modelling Agency (Mu-Chun Wu and Gary Lock); 7) The Old and the New in Egyptian Archaeology: Towards a Methodology for Interpreting GIS Data Using Textual Evidence (Hannah Pethen); 8) A Roman Puzzle. Trying to Find the Via Belgica with GIS (Philip Verhagen and Karen Jeneson); 9) Deconstructing and Reconstructing The Landscape of Oxyrhynchus Using Textual Sources, Cartography, Remote Sensing and GIS (Jose Ignacio Fiz Fernandez, Eva Subias, Rosa Cuesta); 10) Beyond the Grave: Developing new tools for Medieval Cemetery Analysis at Villamagna, Italy (Andrew Dufton and Corisande Fenwick); 11) Visitor Reception to Location-based Interpretation at Archaeological and Heritage Sites (Elaine Massung); 12) Facebooking the Past: a Critical Social Network Analysis Approach for Archaeology (Tom Brughmans); Commentary: What Lies Beneath: Lifting the Lid on Archaeological Computing (Jeremy Huggett)