Digital Archaeological Archiving in Baden-Württemberg, Germany: an evolving system

Since 2005, the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Baden-Württemberg has been collecting semi-structured archaeological digital project data with the aim of one day turning that data into a real long-term digital archive. This process is still ongoing. In the last 15 years appropriate data formats have been defined, and the transition from CAD to GIS as the mainstay of project recording in Baden-Württemberg has been made. The research-driven development of the Software Survey2GIS (GNU GPL), initiated by the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Baden-Württemberg, facilitates on the one hand an easy-to-use transition of field data into GIS and on the other better control of data formats. We are learning to cope with increasingly more complex data - laser scan, LIDAR and sfm data. The recent advent of commercial archaeology in the state of Baden Württemberg is another factor with which we are confronted. We have experimented with the best methods of convincing archaeologists, technicians and ancillary staff of the necessity of saving their data in a central repository - for example friendliness, even occasional coercion, as well as the guarantee of recoverable data if the deposition rules are followed. The boundary of each saved excavation or survey project is uploaded to the State's own cultural heritage GIS-Application - ADAB - where it can be accessed by researchers. A simple click within the polygon will invoke metadata about the project as well as a selection of quintessential photos. The excavation archive in Baden-Württemberg is, as yet, by no means a fully accessible, usable 'real' digital archive. But we are succeeding in saving the data in a structured manner for future transition into that 'real' archive - hopefully as a pilot project within the framework of the federally financed NFDI infrastructure.

From Amélie to Terrascope: Creation, Development, Struggle and Re-birth of a Small French Independent Archaeological Laboratory

Created in France in May 2007 by Joseph Kovacik and Sabrina Save, Amélie is a small independent laboratory, staffed and partnered with the best specialists in Europe, providing palaeo-environmental and archaeometric services to the French Archaeology community. During its 13 years of existence, Amélie and its owners have been through many hurdles and run fantastic projects, always trying to be forward-thinking and bring high-level research and academia into commercial archaeology, while ensuring the sustainability of the company. One example of their endeavour to innovate is the theoretical framework and methodology they developed to survey large mechanically-stripped archaeological surfaces with pXRF to investigate human impact on soil chemistry. In February 2018, while the future of Amélie was unclear due to three consecutive years of declining turnover, a short stay in Cambridge as visiting scholars re-focused Joseph and Sabrina, with them deciding to launch a new project: the creation of a new facility dedicated to the production of micromorphological thin sections, Terrascope. Since this Cambridge sabbatical, many exciting projects have emerged and reshaped the future of Amélie, Joseph, and Sabrina. This is their backstory.

Heritage in danger. The collapse of commercial archaeology in Spain

As in most European countries and elsewhere, Spanish commercial archaeology is a business model based on the theoretical and technical principles of safeguarding heritage that thrived during the 1990s and 2000s. However, nearly half of the Spanish archaeological companies closed by 2014, stressing the drama associated with the redundancy of its workforce in a mere five-year period and the threat to heritage protection and management. The current context of global crisis has impacted this sector, which is on the brink of extinction. This emphasizes the need for a new paradigm of archaeological heritage management in the 21st century. This breakdown calls into question the extent to which archaeology can generate initiatives of sustainable heritage management. By analysing data derived from an empirical study of Spanish archaeological companies between 2009 and 2017, this paper explores the underlying factors behind the collapse of commercial archaeology. In doing so, it contributes to the current global debate about the future possibilities of heritage management in a post-industrial context.