CAA2014 Session "Archaeology in the Woods: New Technologies, New Perspectives"
We invite you to submit presentations for our session "Archaeology in the Woods: New Technologies, New Perspectives" at the Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology - CAA2014 Conference, to be held in Paris, France in April 2014. You can find information on our session and the conference below.
The Conference:
Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology - CAA2014 Conference
Where:
"Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - Institut d'art et d'archéologie" 3 rue Michelet, 75006 Paris, France When: 22th to 25th April 2014
Paper Submission Deadline: 31 October 2013
How to Submit:
You can submit your proposal by creating an account on the conference website at http://caa2014.sciencesconf.org/
Our Session:
S03 Archaeology in the Woods: New Technologies, New Perspectives
Chairs:
Rachel Opitz1, Kasper Hanus, Clement Laplaige, Benjamin Stular (1 Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas (CAST
Abstract:
In this session, we hope to bring together papers on a range of technologies,prospection methods, and analyses applied in the contemporary study of forestedenvironments. We define forests broadly, encompassing everything from the temperatedeciduous woodland, to the mediterranean scrublands, to the tropical rainforest, fromorganized and intensively exploited plantations to regenerated and unmanaged mixedwoodland, to "ancient' forests which have been exploited continuously or episodically over anextended period. The technologies and methods of interest include ALS (airborne laserscanning / LiDAR), which has been rapidly changing the large scale picture of archaeologypreserved under woodland for the past decade, geophysical survey in woodlands, whereimportant advances are being made in the detailed description of little studied types of sites,new applications of geochemistry and geochemically-oriented spectral surveys e.g. XRF/XRDwhich could complement both geophysical and ALS surveys, and the ever growingimportance of digital databases and ontologies which make trans-regional comparisons andresearch increasingly feasible.
In this session we are taking inspiration from the work of researchers like A. Groves and O.Rackham, and asking ourselves how the big archaeological picture about woodlands andforests is changing as the result of the deployment of all these new technologies, which areproducing enormous amounts of new evidence about past landscapes preserved underwoodland canopy. We would like to address both our understanding of the past state(s) ofthese now-forested areas, our knowledge of activities and experiences of landscape specific to woodlands, and the implications of past activities in forest and the remains of these activitiesfor the landscapes which exist today.The implications of the technological and methodological leap which has been taking placefor the past decade for the study of forests as an theme/concept/aspect of the landscape/aspect of past societies and economies are not always immediately evident. It is easy enough to say that the advent of these new technologies is changing our understanding of the archaeology of forests, but the nature of this change, the new ideas and understandings, are still in gestation.
The creation of a bridge between archaeologists working directly with new technologies, theenormous data generated by these technologies, and the "data wrangling' tools and methodsneeded to extract information from these data, and archaeologists and researchers in relateddisciplines studying forests and woodlands from various other perspectives requires that allconcerned consider the broader implications of their work. This session aims to draw outexpressions of the broader aims, implications, and new perspectives and understandings fromthe archaeologists working directly with the new technologies and the big datasets they oftengenerate which, we argue, should be leading us to reconsider many aspects of past and present woodlands. The emphasis will be on the chaine operatoire between the technologies, the methodologies, and the archaeological knowledge they create.
Topics:
Field and laboratory data recording; GIS & Spatial Analysis & 3D Archaeology
Contact us directly: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We hope to see you in Paris! Best Wishes,
Rachel Opitz, Kasper Hanus, Clement Laplaige, and Benjamin Stular