Open Archaeology

Open Archaeology

Yann's been contributing a couple of technical posts about the use of Ubuntu at Oxford Archaeology, but I thought I'd talk about something a bit different.

First of all, if you'd like to read some background into our use of Ubuntu you can click for the case study that's also included with every Ubuntu desktop CD image that's downloaded:

http://www.ubuntulinux.org/products/casestudies/oxford-archaeology

The main thing I'd like to write about, however, is our Open Archaeology project; our commitment to Open Source, Open Standards and Open Data.

Archaeology as preservation and communication

Commercial Archaeology, for those that don't know, is largely concerned with the preservation of the archaeological remains that are at risk of being destroyed by development. In most cases we adopt a policy of "preservation by record"; by which we mean that the majority of the archaeological remains discovered on a site, such as features produced by human interaction with the landscape, are physically destroyed, but preserved through the meticulous records we keep. For the most part we're not talking about Indiana Jones style temples that exist to be explored and looted, instead we're preserving the archaeology that you find under a well known airport expansion.

Just producing records, however, is largely a waste of time. You have to be producing records for somebody and in a way that's of the most benefit to them. Archaeology isn't just a process of preserving the remains of the past, but of communicating these remains and their significance to others. If you wanted to know about the archaeology of Terminal 5, for example, you wouldn't want me to dump a load of mud on your doorstep and tell you to work it out for yourself; it would be completely impractical and anyway, it's currently supporting some large buildings and runways. What you would want, however, was the archaeological information that was derived from this initial evidence. Of course, the past doesn't belong to anyone either, so you'd be interested in getting as much from these results as anyone else.

Archaeological Freedom

Our Open Archaeology policy, our combination of technological and social commitments, allows us to preserve and communicate the past most effectively. We also have the freedom to engage in a level of creativity not afforded by proprietary tools; archaeology is safe, free and not constrained by the (lack of) imagination displayed by an application developer catering for another industry entirely. I think that's a pretty cool achievement of the Free Software universe. This brings me to our Launchpad site:

https://launchpad.net/openarchaeology

We don't just talk the open talk, we walk the walk as well; we're active members of the Open Source community, both as users and contributors. That's the reason why all interested people are invited to check out what we do, talk to us about it and help not only improve Free Software, but also our archaeological record and our ability to communicate and think about the past.

That's the cool thing that being free allows you to do.

Joseph