Tomoyuki Usami / Takao Uno
(The Graduate University For Advanced Studies, Kyoto, Japan)
Keywords: Documentation, Data Integration, GIS, Dabusia tepa
Abstract:
The international research project, which is a co-operation between the Japanese research group of archaeology and Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan (project leader: Prof. Takao Uno), has been involved in the diligent excavation and continuous documentation of the archaeological site of Dabusia Tepa (Uzbekistan) since 2005. In this presentation we will begin by giving the overview of the results of the project. Then, to take an example of our approaches, we shall provide a detailed account of the methods for the digital documentation of the huge wall of the excavation site, finds, the land-forms, etc. They are composed of the combination of different techniques, and were practically used for this year’s research. In addition, on the basis of proceeding with such technical procedures of documentation, we also introduce the result of simulating the dynamics of the flood plain that have had the great influence on the existence of the site. Finally, the presentation intends to demonstrate the way of integrating the spatio-temporal information extracted from the captured archaeological data set to construct an explanatory model that can help us understand historical (or the past and the present generations’) knowledge.
An archaeological site (cultural heritage) has been taken over from generation to generation up to now with its significance changing each time, and could be regarded as an dynamic entity composed of the different generations’ knowledge involved with it. While there is much work ahead, according to this point, our work above concerning the way of extracting useful information from archaeological data and integrating/analyzing them as an entity can be valuable. However, all data, techniques, instruments, etc. (or a series of procedures) for documentation are deeply rooted in our own knowledge (bias), and this fact reminds us of much difficulty with documentation. The presentation will also review this kind of issue and a future prospect.