Managing the real with the virtual: a role for digital media recording in archaeological fieldwork

Recent innovations in digital media have allowed for a surge of new techniques to be applied to an old problem - how to record and archive the archaeological record and the process of archaeological fieldwork. Like many new technologies, digital recording is rife with limitations and challenges - low resolution when compared to traditional film, a lack of standards for both media types and archiving methods, expensive entry costs and a relatively high technical skill level required for implementing a complete digital recording methodology, to name a few. However, the benefits of embracing digital recording techniques range from the practical to the profound, for once the initial investment has been made, digital media is relatively inexpensive and allows for a more rich and finer grain of recording, including exciting innovations in GIS-information systems and visualization tools. While the benefits may outweigh the costs, there is within the field of archaeology a strong "Resistance To Change" and a feeling that digital media recording, while novel and promising, is nonessential when compared to traditional photography and illustration. To overcome this 'RTC' factor, archaeologists working at the Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk, Turkey, have developed a set of digital recording practices that augment, rather than replace traditional film photographs and ink illustrations. Over the past five years, many of these practices have proven to be invaluable, especially in rapid recording of friable or at-risk archaeological features, such as burials and painted walls. Digital planning of skeletons, for example, can dramatically reduce desiccation of the bones through exposure by cutting the recording time from hours (or days) to minutes. QuickTime VR technology is allowing us to holistically document pit walls in cuts too narrow to photograph with 'real' film or see with the naked eye. Digital photography and video can provide us with windows into the archaeological process itself, especially when judiciously used as part of a daily recording practice. This paper describes a few of these recording methodologies in an attempt to discuss the symbiotic relationship between real (archaeological) sites and virtual (web) ones. In many ways, the process of working on archaeological sites and web sites is similar - one develops a set of research aims or designs, collects data, analyzes the results, publishes conclusions and archives and manages the material record. In both cases, the real world pressures of limited time, resources, budget, environmental conditions and the changing needs of both the site (archaeological conservation, technological advances) and the audience requires innovative approaches at every step of the process. By situating digital recording as an integral component of the archaeological process, we are attempting to move away from the 20th century view of a fixed, static archaeology to one where the site is defined by an ever-growing and dynamic web of data, analysis, interpretation and intrigue. The dig site and the web both require management plans and stewardship in order to survive the rapid changes of our new millennium.