RADIOCARBON, BIG DATA and INTERNATIONAL HERITAGE

TY - JOUR

T1 - RADIOCARBON, BIG DATA and INTERNATIONAL HERITAGE

AU - Griffiths, Seren

AU - Brown, Lisa

AU - Carlin, Neil

AU - Evans, Tim

AU - Gaydarska, Bisserka

AU - Hannah, Emma

AU - McKeague, Peter

N1 - Funding Information: This project was funded under the joint Irish Research Council and the United Kingdom Research and Innovation, Arts and Humanities Research Council scheme “Collaboration in Digital Humanities Research” (AH/W001942/1; IRC/W001942/). No new data were generated for this publication. This research has been supported by contributions in kind from Archaeological Data Service, Department for Communities (Northern Ireland), Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Republic of Ireland), Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland, National Museum of Ireland, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, and The Heritage Council. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona.

PY - 2023/12/12

Y1 - 2023/12/12

N2 - Radiocarbon data are the most commonly used chronometric measurement technique in archaeology. The introduction of the radiocarbon method offered new potential for independent, internationalized research projects. Today millions of radiocarbon measurements exist globally. However, the many strengths of radiocarbon for research in archaeology have also created an internationally significant challenge in heritage practice. How can we attempt to curate huge volumes of radiocarbon "legacy"data in systematic ways that facilitate interdisciplinary, international research? How can we contend with a dataset that is rapidly scalable, and needs to be kept live - updated, validated, curated, and related to existing national archives and data systems - beyond the timescale of any individual project? In this paper we introduce an international project, "Project Radiocarbon; Big Data, integrated cross-national heritage histories", working across the historic environment sector in Ireland and the United Kingdom, that is developing a solution to these issues. We argue that we need to think critically about how we classify and curate radiocarbon data, to render them interoperable and findable. Such work requires inter-sector approaches to ensure sustainability and scalability, and to anticipate the increasing value of these data into the future.

AB - Radiocarbon data are the most commonly used chronometric measurement technique in archaeology. The introduction of the radiocarbon method offered new potential for independent, internationalized research projects. Today millions of radiocarbon measurements exist globally. However, the many strengths of radiocarbon for research in archaeology have also created an internationally significant challenge in heritage practice. How can we attempt to curate huge volumes of radiocarbon "legacy"data in systematic ways that facilitate interdisciplinary, international research? How can we contend with a dataset that is rapidly scalable, and needs to be kept live - updated, validated, curated, and related to existing national archives and data systems - beyond the timescale of any individual project? In this paper we introduce an international project, "Project Radiocarbon; Big Data, integrated cross-national heritage histories", working across the historic environment sector in Ireland and the United Kingdom, that is developing a solution to these issues. We argue that we need to think critically about how we classify and curate radiocarbon data, to render them interoperable and findable. Such work requires inter-sector approaches to ensure sustainability and scalability, and to anticipate the increasing value of these data into the future.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85179915791&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/RDC.2023.111

DO - 10.1017/RDC.2023.111

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85179915791

SN - 0033-8222

JO - Radiocarbon

JF - Radiocarbon

ER -