The two lists of information items should suffice for any user-at least any user with enough computer experience to make use of a database. This is a very important issue, because so many scholars will be consulting databases in the future. If the documentation is not adequate, information will be lost or misunderstood. Therefore, it seems appropriate to ask for comments on this suggested list of items and to begin the process of setting a standard for archaeological database documentation. Meanwhile, the Archaeological Data Archive Project is using the foregoing as a requirement for data deposited in the archive.
Any database takes a lengthy period of time to develop and complete.
As a natural result, many people will have been involved during its life, few of whom will have been involved for the length of the project. As a result, extensive documentation is required throughout the life of the database. These processes would probably involve yet more people, some of whom may not have participated in the data recording that occurred in the field. Of course, individual experts publishing material from the site would be unlikely to have entered all the data cogent to their analyses. Thus, at the early stages as well, documentation must be provided that will guarantee the quality and consistency of information contained in the database.