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| Centre for Digital Antiquity | |
|---|---|
| Name | Centre for Digital Antiquity |
| Established | 2006 |
| Type | Research center |
| Location | Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona |
| Director | Steven J. DeRose |
Centre for Digital Antiquity
The Centre for Digital Antiquity is a research organization based at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona that develops digital curation infrastructure for archaeological and heritage data. It operates the tDAR repository and collaborates with institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, National Park Service, University of Arizona, and Getty Conservation Institute to preserve, manage, and provide access to records from projects including the Ancestral Puebloans, Hohokam, Maya, and Inca cultural contexts.
Founded in 2006 at Arizona State University with ties to the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, the Centre for Digital Antiquity emerged amid efforts by organizations such as the Digital Library Federation, Council on Library and Information Resources, Association of Research Libraries, and Society for American Archaeology to address risks to archaeological data continuity. Early collaborations involved the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the National Science Foundation, following precedents set by projects like TDAR prototypes and repositories at the University of California, Berkeley and Oxford University. Leadership and advisory contributions came from scholars associated with University of Cambridge, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Michigan, and Harvard University.
The Centre for Digital Antiquity’s mission aligns with mandates from the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and data stewardship principles promoted by the Open Archives Initiative, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, FAIR data principles, and Digital Preservation Coalition. Its activities include digital curation, metadata standardization, persistent identifier assignment compatible with DOI and Handle System, and long-term digital preservation strategies used by cultural heritage organizations such as the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Museo Nacional de Antropología (Mexico). The Centre supports legal and ethical frameworks referenced by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and collaborates with agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service on stewardship plans.
tDAR, the Digital Archaeological Record, is the Centre’s primary repository and digital curation service, developed to archive data from field projects, reports, and collections produced by institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, American Museum of Natural History, and tribal museums. tDAR implements metadata schemas influenced by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, integrates with identifier systems such as DOI and ARLIS/NA standards, and supports interoperability with aggregators like the Digital Public Library of America, Europeana, and the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. The repository preserves datasets related to cultures including the Maya, Mississippian culture, Ancestral Puebloans, Olmec, and Hopewell tradition.
Research at the Centre engages with digital methods used by projects such as the Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land, the Pelagios Project, and the Pleiades Project. Projects investigate topics spanning archaeological datasets from the Colorado Plateau, Chaco Canyon, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, and Mesa Verde National Park through techniques related to GIS practices promoted by the Esri community, 3D modeling approaches used by the CyArk initiative, and linked data experiments inspired by the Semantic Web and Linked Open Data movements. Collaborations have produced workflow models comparable to those from the Archaeology Data Service at University of York, the Oxford Archaeology digital program, and the British Library digital humanities projects.
The Centre partners with higher education institutions such as University of Arizona, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and University of California, Los Angeles; federal entities including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Archives and Records Administration; and cultural organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution and Getty Conservation Institute. International partnerships engage organizations like UNESCO, International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS, and the European Commission’s digital heritage programs. The Centre also coordinates with professional associations including the Society for American Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America, Register of Professional Archaeologists, and the Digital Preservation Coalition.
Educational efforts target students and professionals via workshops modeled on training from the Digital Preservation Outreach and Education (DPOE) program, curricula linked with the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University, and seminars in partnership with the Society for American Archaeology and the Archaeological Institute of America. Outreach includes public exhibitions in collaboration with the Arizona State Museum, contributions to conferences such as the American Anthropological Association annual meetings and the Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology conference, and online resources interoperable with platforms like the Digital Public Library of America and Europeana.
Funding has come from grants awarded by the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and private foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and St. John’s College-style donors. Governance structures involve advisory boards with members from institutions including Arizona State University, Smithsonian Institution, University of Cambridge, and the British Library, and operational oversight coordinated through university administrative units and funders’ reporting requirements associated with grant programs by the National Science Foundation and NEH.
Category:Archaeological organizations