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Archaeological Visualization: Towards an Archaeological Information Science

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Article in Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · September 2011

DOI: 10.1007/s10816-010-9098-4

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J Archaeol Method Theory
DOI 10.1007/s10816-010-9098-4

Archaeological Visualization: Towards

an Archaeological Information Science (AISc)

Marcos Llobera

# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010

Abstract This paper reviews and evaluates the potential use of modern visualization
techniques in archaeology. It suggests the need to apply and develop such techniques
as a central part of any modern archaeological investigation. The use of these
methods is associated with wider questions about data representations, in particular,
their integration with archaeological theory and their role in facilitating analysis and
shaping interpretation. Concern for these questions and with the overall potential that
information systems provide to capture, represent, analyze, and model archaeolog-
ical information suggests the need for a new interdisciplinary focus, Archaeological
Information Science. For such a focus to prosper, archaeologists need to develop
additional skills that go beyond mere technical ones. They need to become more
active in the design and creation of future information archaeological systems. To
this end, archaeologists are urged to view this task as a way to extend archaeology in
new directions and to recognize that the digital representation and treatment of
archaeological information can generate new forms of doing archaeology.

Keywords Visualization . Information science . Computation . Theory ladenness .

Computer science . Archaeological theory

The following paper has two aims. The first and prime goal is to discuss the potential
role that different types of visualization can play in archaeological discovery and
discourse. The second goal is to suggest the need for a new archaeological specialty
concerned with the use of archaeological information within the context of
information systems. Both of these goals are predicated on the ever growing use
of information systems in archaeology and the potential new venue these provide to
exploit, among other topics, the theory-ladenness of archaeological data.

M. Llobera (*)
Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Denny 32, Box 353100, Seattle,
WA 98195-3100, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
 Llobera

The importance of visualization has been widely recognized in many different

fields, including medicine, genetics, physics, mathematics, and economics, as being
a key component in knowledge discovery and interpretation. Its importance has been
such that it is currently considered to be its own discipline and has several dedicated
journals (e.g., IEEE Visualization and Computer Graphics, Information Visualiza-
tion, Computer and Visualization in Science). Different forms of visual communi-
cation are used to make massive amounts of data readable, to illustrate the results of
a model and make them more intelligible, and to render part of an argument visible
by converting it into a “reasoning artifact” (Thomas and Cook 2005, pp. 36;
Gooding 2008, para. 50).
Reference to visualization in archaeology can be found in several earlier
publications. Of these, it is worth pointing out the edited volumes by Reilly and
Rahtz (1992) and, more recently, Frischer and Dakouri-Hild (2008). Reilly and
Rathz’s volume provided a series of early examples where visualization is
discussed in relation to geographic information systems (GIS) (Lock and Harris
1992), excavation, and survey data. These examples were generated at a time when
access to software (e.g., GIS) and computers was still quite limited, and computer
output was rather restricted. Frischer and Dakouri-Hild’s (2008) edited volume
provides a good survey of visualizations that are currently found in archaeology.
Within this work, Gooding (2008) provides an excellent discussion on the
importance of visualization in science. His chapter could be used as a preamble
to any course on visualization.
Although separated by a decade and a half, these two volumes are similar in
their preoccupation with implementation and technical issues. In both, the
concept of visualization is often restricted to purely “empirical” and/or realistic
visualizations, that is, visualizations that are intended either to emulate reality
(virtual reality, discussed below) or to display data in traditionally abiding ways.
Visualization itself is seldom discussed, that is, there is little concern with
questions about what are the best strategies to display and/or visually explore
archaeological information or with alternative ways in which the data may be
represented, the merits and limitations of each, etc. Instead, rather than
discussing the nature of visualization, these earlier publications treat visualization
as a matter of applying existing software. With few exceptions, the purpose of
visualization in archaeology is largely reduced to a question of illustration and/or
digital archiving.
Archaeological visualization has not developed much since the introduction of
stratigraphic sketches by Boucher de Perthes (1847) and distribution maps by O.G.S
Crawford during the early twentieth century. Even with the incorporation of
advanced tools such as GIS, the use and production of forms of visual
communication remain painfully narrow. Given how much of archaeology relies
on recognizing and comparing patterns, spotting outliers, identifying relationships,
and building arguments to forward interpretations, the lack of a focused interest in
visualization is both surprising and unfortunate. For the most part, the role of visual
output is restricted to legitimizing our output rather than as an active element within
the archaeological reasoning machinery. Visual communication is reduced to the
production of graphical tokens that make up a relatively fixed traditional checklist (e.g.,
site plan, profiles, etc.).
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

The importance of visual representations in archaeology becomes clear when

we acknowledge the inherently analytical nature of any archaeological investi-
gation: that the choice of representational genre presupposes a set of accepted
conventions and purposes and that seeking new forms of data representation will
have a direct impact on our ability to generate new interpretations. Indeed, the
desire to find better ways to visually convey information as a vehicle to sustain
particular interpretations appears in the work of various archaeologists (e.g.,
Cummings et al. 2002; Lucas 2001; Criado and Villoch 2000; Hamilton et al.
2006). Lucas’ (2001, pp. 157–162) discussion on how excavation units are
“flattened” into objects after all information about them (except for their relation to
other units) has been stripped away clearly illustrates this point. More specifically,
Lucas makes reference to the use of the Harris matrix and the way it records
exclusively the topological relationship between archaeological contexts leaving
out other information, such as longevity or postdepositional use of the units. One
effect of recording information in this way is that when reconstructing a site’s
sequence, each unit is recorded as an event, and reference to the processes that occurred
after the unit was formed and their associated temporality is totally lost (ibid., pp. 159).
So if we were interested, as Lucas is, in understanding the longevity of each unit as a
way to reconstruct the biography of the site/feature, this would be out of our reach given
our choice of representation. Lucas’ discussion on the Harris matrix is a key reminder of
the very limited diagrammatic choices we have when it comes to accepted
representations of stratigraphy (essentially one). It also helps to highlight the critical
role that the nature of such representation plays in any interpretation when used as the
sole record of this information.
Is there a way we could produce a visual representation that provides information
on a stratigraphic sequence, while still retaining other information such as the rate of
deposition and duration of use at the same time? It is questions like this that make
the need to explore the appropriateness of available visualization techniques and/or
the possibility of developing new ones relevant, even central, to the archaeological
endeavor.
Before going any further, it is important to clarify the specific meaning I
attribute to the term “visualization” within the context of this paper. Visualization
involves the mapping (transformation) of data or any sort of information into a
representation that can be perceived. Theoretically speaking, this coupling does
not need to be exclusively visual (could be haptic or auditory), but this is seldom
the case and will not be considered here. The ultimate aim of visualization is to
render data and information in order to ease communication, insight, and/or
understanding. I would like to distinguish this definition from other “more
realistic” forms of archaeological representation and illustration. Of course, this
distinction is totally arbitrary for even the most “realistic” renderings include at
some level a decision about what should be represented and how. This is
precisely the main focus of the recent work done by Moser and colleagues (e.g.,
Moser and Smiles 2005) who have exposed the cultural and social baggage
implicit in archaeological imagery. For the most part, here, I will be concerned with
visualizations produced as part of the process of analysis and interpretation of
archaeological data with a particular emphasis on those generated in connection to
an information system. By concentrating on this particular use, I hope to extend
 Llobera

and complement some of the topics that are currently addressed by Moser and
colleagues.
In addition, I will purposely omit any reference to the application of Virtual
Reality (VR) in archaeology (Barceló et al. 2000; Benko et al. 2004) given its
limited role as an active tool in the process of archaeological discovery, analysis, or
interpretation. Most examples of VR in archaeology capitalize on their ability to
render “realistic” scenes and, in turn, to generate holistic experiences of the past.
Many are aimed at the heritage industry or at generating some form of display for
public consumption (Forte 1997; Niccolucci 2002). At some point, its application
to archaeology was hailed as an improvement over tools such as GIS based on its
ability to handle more complex spatial representations (Gillings and Goodrick
1996; Goodrick and Gillings 2000; Gillings 2004). However, as powerful as VR is
when rendering complex scenes, it was never intended as an analytical tool. This
does not mean that VR cannot be useful to archaeologists. The ability to render
alternative versions of a model (i.e., a structure or a scene) can be instrumental in
providing archaeologists new insights and raising new questions (e.g., Earl and
Wheatley 2002). VR can successfully be used to display the results of complex
simulation models and analytical tools (e.g., Winterbottom and Long 2006). But
VR is ultimately a protocol for rendering 3D graphics. In a sense, the role of VR
as an analytical tool is similar to the one that was associated with computer-aided
design (CAD) systems when GIS first appeared. CAD may be used in
combination with another tool to conduct analyses but, contrary to GIS, it was
never intended to be an analytical tool or to aid archaeologists to discover and
make intelligible data that otherwise would be impossible to grasp. The same can
be said about VR.

Why Visualization?

The general rise in importance of visualization is likely to be a consequence of

several interrelated factors. The ubiquitous use of the internet and/or other digital
networks as a means for collecting, accessing, sharing, and distributing large
amounts of diverse information is a key factor. This increase in quantity and
diversity of data has raised serious computational challenges that could not have
been met without a similar increase in processing power, particularly from
commodity computers and distributed systems. The ever-increasing capacity of
computers has, in turn, fostered the development of sophisticated forms of graphic
representation. Far from being static or fixed in any medium, these new forms of
visualization offer the possibility of being manipulated and queried interactively.
Most importantly, the explosion in digital data has been fueled by the rapid
improvement, and invention, of data-capturing devices like satellite imagery, digital
cameras, medical scanners, genetic sequencers, and so on. Fields that have
experienced the biggest surge in visualization are those in which such improvements
resulted in a rampant increase of data (e.g., genetics).
The advancement of any specific data-capturing device is less likely to have the
same type of impact in archaeology, but, as I discuss below, the amount of
information that archaeologists handle is inherently large and complex. Archae-
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

ologists are already, and are likely to be more in the future, confronted with large and
complex volumes of data. Access to data-rich sources and the use of devices that can
deliver vast amounts of data, such as satellite imagery, geophysics, laser scans,
LiDAR, GPS, portable XRF, to mention a few, are steadily increasing. The future
adoption of XML, or a similar mark-up language, to tag archaeological data (Gray
and Walford 1999; Crescioli et al. 2002; Isaksen et al. forthcoming), the
development of widely accepted ontologies to describe archaeological information
(Richards 2006), and the creation of digital archiving initiatives such as Archaeology
Data Service in the UK and Digital Antiquity in the US (Kintigh 2006; Snow et al.
2006; McManamon and Kintigh 2010), aimed at enabling access to large databanks
of archaeological information, will undoubtedly contribute to further increase the
amount and variety of data accessible to archaeologists.

Review of Visualization

The field of visualization is broad and interdisciplinary, currently encompassing

many subfields or specializations (for a comprehensive overview, see Card et al.
1999, also http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html).
While each of these subfields claims to exploit visualization with a particular
focus or purpose, they all share a similar basic goal which is to amplify visual
perception and cognition in order to ease the understanding of data. What
distinguishes the different types of visualization is often the emphasis that is put on
certain aspects of the visualization such as the nature of data, the method by which
it was generated or collected, whether the purpose is strictly communication or
exploration, and so on.
In the following pages, I attempt to provide some insight into the most significant
subfields and to show their relevance to archaeology. As will become apparent,
archaeologists have barely scratched the surface when it comes to the possibilities
offered in this field.

Data Visualization

Data visualization (sometimes known as infographics or information graphics) is

probably the oldest type of visualization and the one most people are familiar with as
it is now currently used in many national newspapers. It is often static in nature and
lends itself easily to being reproduced in print or as a hardcopy (see Fig. 1).
The primary objective of data visualization is to communicate information more
clearly and effectively rather than to facilitate the viewer’s ability to discover new
information (as opposed to other types of visualizations). The exact topic of this
communication can vary widely; sometimes, it is used for public consumption (as
shown in Fig. 1); on other occasions, it is much more restricted and specialized. A
common trait of examples in data visualization techniques is to generate succinct
representations containing a large amount of information. The nature of visual-
izations classified under this category is typically wide-ranging; symbolic displays
(like traffic signs), collages, combination of texts, images, and colors, drawings and
 Llobera

Fig. 1 Based on one of Randall Munroe’s movie narrative charts found at XKCD (http://xkcd.com). The
chart plots the interactions between key characters on a timeline, grouping the character lines together
when they are interacting in the movies

sketches, and so on (see http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/14/Monday-

inspiration-data-visualization-and-infographics/).
Early works by Jacques Bertin, his Semiology of Graphics ([1967] 1983), and
Tufte ([1983] 1998, 1990, 1997), in particular his first contribution, Visual Display
of Quantitative Information, have been instrumental in providing the inspiration and
guidelines for visualizations of this type. In these works, the importance of visual
communication (e.g., see Tufte’s now classic example of the explanation of the
Challenger disaster) is highlighted.
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

Examples of this type of visualization have already been used in archaeology.

Cummings et al. (2002) integrate the plan view of Neolithic Welsh chambered
tombs with a 360° horizon profile showing the main landforms surrounding each
monument. They argue that forms of data representation like this one help
readers to better follow the heavily descriptive narrative that make up
phenomenological approaches and, more importantly, provide a means by which
some of the interpretations forwarded in these narratives may be legitimized (see
Fig. 2).
A second, more abstract, example of data visualization comes from a recent study
focusing on the genesis and dynamics of past visual landscapes (Llobera 2007). The
main goal of this study was to describe and explore patterns of co-visibility through
time that existed between clusters of Bronze Age round barrows in the Yorkshire
Wolds. Co-visibility occurs at those locations from where two or more sets of
monuments are visible. These patterns are very dynamic, insofar as they depend on
the number of monuments at any one time in the landscape, and change as one
moves across the landscape. This complexity could only be tackled through the use
of a computer simulation that generated vast amounts of numerical information.
Table 1 provides information about the visibility of one cluster of monuments
in relation to the remaining clusters. Rows are grouped into three categories that
correspond to the visual appearance of cluster 1. For instance, rows classified as
B refer to the case when cluster 1 appears in the background. Let us imagine that
we can freely move throughout the background. We would like to know how
often cluster 2 is visible or shows up as being in the background (b), middle
ground (m), or foreground (f). If we look at the bottom four values on the first
column, i.e., the column that corresponds to cluster 2, we read the values of 0.52,
0.09, 0.01, 0.37 (not counting rounding errors, this would add to 1.0). The first
value (0.52) tells us that within 52% of the area from where cluster 1 appears in
the background, we cannot see cluster 2 as indicated by the x on the second
leftmost column. From within 9% of this area, cluster 2 would appear in the
foreground. Only within 1% of this area would we be able to see cluster 2 in the

Fig. 2 A combination of a plan view of two burial sites, showing the axial line representing their entrance,
and a profile of the topography surrounding the sites, after Cummings et al. (2002) with permission
 Llobera

Table 1 Co-visibility patterns between a cluster of round barrows (cluster1) and other cluster of barrows
in the landscape

c1 c2 c5 c6 c7 c8 c9 c10 c12 c13 c14 c17 c18 c20 c21 c22

F x 0.00 0.17 0.42 0.99 1.00 0.05 0.00 0.89 0.31 0.00 0.49 1.00 0.00 0.02 1.00
f 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
m 1.00 0.83 0.58 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
b 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.95 1.00 0.11 0.69 1.00 0.51 0.00 1.00 0.98 0.00
M x 0.79 0.70 0.53 0.72 0.40 0.39 0.46 0.65 0.62 0.47 0.55 0.57 0.60 0.38 0.66
f 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.11 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.05 0.00
m 0.20 0.29 0.47 0.26 0.59 0.51 0.54 0.35 0.38 0.53 0.45 0.43 0.30 0.58 0.34
b 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
B x 0.52 0.77 0.80 0.92 0.99 0.92 0.93 0.98 0.95 0.88 0.95 0.90 0.92 0.91 0.99
f 0.09 0.17 0.09 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.05 0.01 0.00 0.06 0.05 0.00
m 0.01 0.05 0.11 0.04 0.00 0.05 0.05 0.02 0.02 0.07 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.04 0.01
b 0.37 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00

middle ground. Finally, within 37% of the area, we would see both clusters 1 and
2 in the background.
Given the complexity of the data generated by the simulation, a graphical format
was devised as a way to summarize and compare information among clusters (see
Fig. 3). Each ring represents a different visibility range (foreground, middle ground,
and background) for the same cluster. In this example, the innermost ring represents
the area where cluster 1 appears in the foreground. The next ring represents where it
appears in the middle ground and so on. Within each ring, the total area is further
subdivided into similar categories representing the visibility ranges of the other
clusters. This subdivision (represented by different gray scales) represents the
proportion or probability of seeing other clusters at different visibility ranges. So for
the case of cluster 1, we can read from the graph that within roughly 85% of the area
where cluster 1 appears in the background, no other cluster is visible. Within the

Fig. 3 A graphical representa-

tion of the co-visibility patterns
shown in Table1, after
Llobera (2007) with
permission
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

remaining 0.15 (15%) chance, there is a 0.05 chance that some cluster will appear in
the background, 0.05 that it will occupy the middle ground, and 0.05 that it will
show up in the foreground. When we move to the next ring (middle ground), we see
that the overall visibility of other clusters has jumped to 45% and so on.
As with Cummings et al. (2002), this type of data visualization aims at aiding the
reader in constructing an interpretation from the data. Given perhaps its less iconic
nature, at least when compared with Cummings, the form of data representation calls
for a process of “discovery”, a process born from the possibility of multiple
readings, a common trait among other data-rich representations (Tufte [1983] (1998),
pp. 167–68). In this case, data can be inspected in various ways. One way would be
by simply comparing the percentage of white versus gray in a ring and/or across
rings. Another possible reading would come from comparing the percentage of each
visual range within a single ring. Finally, one may focus on how the different visual
ranges change across rings and whether a visual range appears or disappears and
increases or decreases and by how much. We may add another level of interpretation
by exploring the same questions using different number of clusters present at any
one time (see Llobera 2007). In this sense, this visualization straddles between two
types of visualization, data visualization and scientific visualization.

Scientific Visualization

The use of scientific visualization is to some degree much more familiar to

archaeologists. For the most part, this type of visualization refers to various
techniques used to represent, explore, and interpret data derived from both
observations and models. The purpose is to gain understanding and insight into
the data and the underlying processes that generate them (Brodlie et al. 1992, p. 1).
Commonly, it makes reference to an array of techniques used to generate, display,
and query data as surfaces, flows, and volumes. Currently, scientific visualization
includes not only the production of static displays but also a whole suit of strategies
used to interactively manipulate and query data.
With the advent of the internet and increased computer power, scientific
visualization is used to process vast quantities of observations with the intention
of spotting latent patterns, identifying new relationships between variables, and
describing trends or detecting outliers. The process of visualization will often entail a
preliminary stage within which multidimensional data are reduced into a smaller
dimensional space, that is, into fewer variables capturing most of the variability of
the original ones. In this sense, scientific visualization builds in part on earlier work
done in statistical visualization (Cleveland 1994; Tukey 1977). Archaeologists who
have used statistical data reduction techniques (e.g., dimensional analysis, principal
components, or correspondence analysis) will be familiar with this idea.
In addition to rendering observations, scientific visualization is used to display the
numerical results of mathematical models and simulations. An example is provided
by the display of the effect of drag on the wing tips of an airplane (see Fig. 4). The
nature of these visualizations is often highly interactive and may include the use of
animations as a way to explain processes or to aid in the discovery of latent features
(for a similar discussion in geography, see Harrower and Fabrikant 2008).
 Llobera

Fig. 4 An example of the use

of scientific visualization
to display simulation results.
Simulation of wing drag ©
Stuart Rogers http://people.nas.
nasa.gov/~rogers/images/

As opposed to other types of visualization (see information visualization

below), scientific visualizations tend to be generally viewed as being relatively
straightforward (a careful examination of the decisions surrounding their
production shows how this is not the case, see van Fraasen 2008; Lynch and
Woolgar 1990). Implicitly, there is a sense that whatever data are being represented
possess structure or geometry and that, by visualizing it, the process behind it can
be uncovered. It also presupposes that this structure will be revealed through
regular, and exhaustive, sampling. Indeed, many scientific visualization strategies
(e.g., isosurfaces, contours, cut-planes, streamlines, ribbons) used to render and
query spatial and volumetric data are predicated on the need for such type of
sampling.
Despite the wide-ranging and the well-established techniques that are currently in
use in scientific visualization, very few have been adopted by archaeologists (for
some pioneering examples, see Dibble and McPherron 1988). There are many
possible reasons for this absence:
& Archaeologists constantly alternate between different conceptualizations of space,
while scientific visualizations are mostly based on a field-based concept of space.
According to this view, a single property or attribute extends continuously across
space. If we consider the case of archaeological excavations, most archaeologists by
formation are trained to conceive of excavation units as discrete entities (e.g., Lucas
2001, Ch. 5; Harris 1989, Ch. 6), i.e., to identify depositional units/events and their
relationships. Indeed, many archaeologists would consider this practice, the
identification and interpretation of separate stratigraphic units, as a requirement of
the discipline (Hodder 1999, pp. 82). This object-based concept of space
(Couclelis 1992) does not lend itself to the application of scientific visualization
methods commonly used to analyze volumes. Yet on occasions archaeologists
represent the distribution of certain materials (e.g., pottery shards, lithics) using a
field-based concept of space where observations (e.g., pottery counts) are assumed
to spread continuously across space. McPherron et al. (2005) make a similar point
and provide a very illustrative discussion on the effect that different ways of
recording (whether field- or object-based) have on interpretation.
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

& The highly regular and exhaustive level of sampling needed for scientific forms
of visualization, especially volumetric, is rarely achieved in archaeology (Barceló
and Vicente 2004). It is only in a limited number of cases, notably through
geophysical surveys (e.g., Gaffney 2008; Losier et al. 2007; Leucci and Negri
2006) and some excavations (e.g., McPherron and Dibble 2000) that this type of
sampling is ever achieved. While it is possible to use some scientific
visualization techniques with excavations that have been recorded using
“continuous” 3D coordinates (i.e., not artificial stratigraphy), they often suffer
from a lack of mathematical continuity. That is, observations do not extend
across space in a smooth fashion but instead present many abrupt breaks and
gaps. This produces artifacts that are not easily resolved graphically.
& For the most part, archaeologists concern themselves with collecting simple
information that can be adequately displayed using basic symbols and color.
Even after complex simulations (e.g., Kohler and van der Leeuw 2007; Kohler
and Gumerman 2000), visualizations have remained very basic. Current
scientific simulations, however, go beyond simple quantities and display
information (e.g., rates of change) that require more complex data structures
such as vectors and tensors. It is hard to ascertain whether the lack of higher-
order data structures, and their representations, in archaeology is a consequence
of the simple nature of the data being recorded or simply the lack of innovation
when it comes to recording, and displaying data, in new ways. It is probably
both. It is however possible that the use of “higher-order” data structures,
particularly in association with simulations, could provide the means to sustain
novel data interpretations.
An example of the possible use of higher data structures is shown in Fig. 5. This
example makes use of tensors, complex mathematical entities that have various

Fig. 5 Close-up showing the

distribution of tensors (ellip-
soids) representing visibility
around a set a monuments (red
semi-spheres)
 Llobera

interpretations depending on how they are derived. Diffusion tensors, the type shown
here, are regularly employed to visualize information obtained through magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) (see Fig. 6). The rate at which a fluid diffuses across a
tissue depends on the internal structure of the tissue. The fluid will diffuse more
rapidly in the direction aligned with the internal structure and much more slowly
when moving perpendicular to it. In order to describe these changes around a
location, it is necessary to make reference to more than two dimensions. A second-
order tensor, represented here by an ellipsoid, is used to display the rate of diffusion
in multiple directions.
In the archaeological example shown above (Fig. 5), tensors are used to
describe how visibility associated with a certain distribution of monuments
changes around each location in the landscape. Locations closer to a single
monument will show up as an elongated ellipsoid. This is due to the visual
predominance of the monument at closer range. A similar result is obtained when
several monuments appear to be lined up when viewed from a single position. On
the other hand, locations where visible monuments are evenly distributed present
well-rounded ellipsoids, indicating the absence of any preferred viewing direction
(n. b. for the sake of simplicity, all monuments were assigned the same size). The
use of tensors (in this occasion represented as ellipsoids) allows us to describe the
visual structuring of the landscape due to the presence of monuments in a way that
is closer to that experienced by an individual in the landscape.

Fig. 6 MRI Diffusion tensors represented by 3D glyphs representing diffusion of fluid in a human brain.
Brain dataset courtesy of Gordon Kindlmann at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute,
University of Utah, and Andrew Alexander, W. M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and
Behavior, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

As mentioned above, the use of scientific visualization techniques has been absent
in archaeology. For example, the majority of 3D renderings of archaeological
excavations make little use of well-established volumetric techniques in this realm.
Instead, they are primarily constructed as static post facto illustrations rather than as
active aids to interpretation. This is likely to do with the nature of archaeological
observations and practices. Given these caveats, the application of these tools and
strategies is likely to be more successful in conjunction with simulations than as a
way to view and explore empirical data.

Information Visualization

Information visualization is a set of techniques aimed at visualizing data that does

not have any inherent geometry like a flat database. The relation between
variables may not be well understood or even known to exist a priori. It is up to
the researcher to decide how to “map” observations to whatever geometry is most
appropriate. It is best applied for exploratory tasks involving a large information
space. It is exploratory in nature, that is, the person using these techniques may not
often have a concrete goal or question in mind. Instead, he or she is interested in
examining the data to learn more about it and to make new discoveries (Fekete et
al. 2008, pp. 2).
According to Chen (1999:27), the process of visualizing information has two
stages: an initial “structural modeling” stage through which the main underlying
relationships are detected, extracted, and simplified and a second “graphical
representation” stage wherein these structural components are visualized and
interacted.
To illustrate the important role that information visualization can play in
archaeology, I would like to make brief reference to the notion of “context” as
archaeologists often use it. There are ample references to this concept in the
archaeological literature, but its precise definition remains elusive, often having
various meanings and connotations. Reference to what actually constitutes the
meaningful context of any archaeological observation is central to any
archaeological approach to the extent that some archaeologists consider its
study to be the main focus of archaeological investigation (e.g., Hodder 1987,
pp. 120; Barrett 1987, 1994, pp. 4). Here I shall argue that the essence of what
constitutes “context,” however it is defined, is linked to the archaeologist’s
ability to identify/define multiple sets of relationships. Tools developed in areas
like information visualization are ideally suited to explore the nature and
structure of such sets.
Often, the term “context” refers to two sets of meanings in archaeology, one
more restricted than the other. The more restricted sense refers to the set of
relationships that archaeologists identify as being associated with any archaeo-
logical observation. During excavation, for instance, a particular shard might be
interpreted as belonging to a certain scatter or to be associated with a certain
structure and/or sediment (Schiffer 1972; Yarrow 2008, pp. 125). This sense of
context is the one captured in context sheets and site plans. A much wider sense
makes reference to the historical circumstances (e.g., economic, social) informing
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and giving meaning to material culture (Hodder 1987, pp. 1–2; Moore 1986, pp. 2–
3; Meskell 2004, pp. 249; Jones 2007, pp. 79–80). These two ways of conceiving
and referring to the notion of context are related to each other. Indeed,
archaeologists frequently concern themselves with the former in order to throw
some light on the latter. A thorough discussion detailing the different strategies
archaeologists use to bridge both realizations would certainly be helpful, but it is
beyond the scope of this paper. Suffice it to say that the way in which we construct
both realizations is essentially the same, primarily by selecting, identifying, and
defining different types of relationships with other observations. Depending on our
scale of analysis and interpretation, the result, at the end, is a more or less complex
web of relationships.
For instance, for many archaeologists, the meaning of an object at any point in
time cannot be defined exclusively as a function of its immanent properties but must
also include reference to the sets of past and present relationships in which it
participated (e.g., Jones 2007). If we take a minute to imagine what these sets would
look like if represented as a network, it is clear that the network would be massive.
Most likely, it would contain many different types of relationships, or if we prefer,
be made out of multiple concurrent networks each of a different nature. Our task, as
archaeologists, is to identify and recover the relationships between the object and
other elements along with its life history (e.g., Kopytoff 1986; Gosden and Marshall
1999) and to determine, of all possible networks, which ones may have been
relevant for a particular purpose or setting. The nature of these relationships and the
criteria by which they are established will vary widely, ranging from the immediately
observable, e.g., spatial, topological, chronological, and meronymic, to those
requiring more interpretation, e.g., figurative (metaphorical, metonymic), temporal.
Currently, many of these relationships are unaccounted for and remain buried in
project databases.
With the increasing use of information systems, traditional forms of recording
archaeological contexts have given place to databases and other forms of digital
media. While their application is not contested by anyone, their use among
archaeologists remains less than optimal. The most sophisticated and widely used
method of recording context in archaeology is the relational database. However,
there has been remarkably little discussion of how easy or efficient it is to store,
access, and query data stored in such types of database. Commonly, databases are
designed for data entry, moreover, for a particular form of data entry. Emphasis is
on recording data and less on how easy it is to retrieve the data or to generate
data output in a certain form. The truth is that, even when archaeologists use
complex relational entity databases, their queries remain very simple and limited
in scope. Our ability to find new links among attributes of archaeological entities
stored inside a database is curtailed by its limited interface (traditionally in the
form of a table).
To illustrate, consider the example of a shard for which we have recorded the
traditional kind of information: stylistic elements, dimensions, physical properties of
the clay, temper and slip, etc. The range of meanings associated with the shard in the
past will most likely be a function of its relationship with other entities in our
database. The nature of this relationship may be simple and direct, e.g., sharing the
same space, or it may be complex and indirect, e.g., related to an activity that took
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

place in a location where some of these other entities were also present (e.g.,
Moore’s example of the use of ash, 1986, pp. 127). It is clear that our capacity to
investigate this second type of relationship hinges on the possibility of retrieving
information that is “deeper” in our database. It might require the intersection of
several queries. Furthermore, with each degree of separation, the size of what now
constitutes “relevant context” will increase exponentially, requiring a way to
prioritize relevant information.
The inability to explore this information adequately, i.e., to recover context, is
further exacerbated when archaeologists try to gain access to information beyond
a single project (i.e., other databases, site reports, publications). This is largely
due to the absence of commonly recognized conventions in data recording (see
Snow et al. 2006 and Kintigh 2006). It is precisely the ability to elicit information
from sources of a diverse nature that makes the development of information
visualization techniques in archaeology a key topic for the archaeology of the
twenty-first century.
To illustrate how techniques borrowed from information visualization may be
useful when exploring a real archaeological example, let us consider a typical
archaeological dataset containing information about the lithics from a site. These
data come from Close’s (2006) analysis of the assemblage of stone tools made from
crystalline volcanic rock at the English Camp site on the San Juan Island, Washington,
USA. Lithic typology, stages of production, and measurements were recorded in a flat
database (originally an SPSS table; see Table 2). The visualization technique presented
here is called Treemap (Johnson and Shneiderman 1991). This technique allows the
user to interactively organize data within a table into different tree-like hierarchies. The
presentation of hierarchical information using a traditional tree becomes quickly
cumbersome and ineffective once a dataset reaches a certain size. Treemap, however, is
able to render very complex nested structures in a compact space, allowing the user to
take in a large volume of information in a single viewing. It does this by representing
the relationship between one branch and each leaf within as a set of nested rectangles.
Each rectangle (its size and color) is proportional to the numerical variable/s set by the
user.
There are many implementations of the treemap algorithm. Most of them are able
to read flat database files with minimal alteration. Like other information
visualization techniques, treemap is used to help the researcher uncover patterns
and better understand data. The outcome is a very data-rich visualization that may be
read in many different ways.
Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 show different treemap renderings of the data
contained in Table 2 that can be instantly generated by the user. It is this ability to
rearrange information quickly and render data in compact form that facilitates the
discovery of relationships latent within the data. Many of the patterns shown here
can be obtained through traditional means through a much longer period of
exploration, as opposed to seconds, and only after countless additional calculations
(Close, personal communication).
Treemap is one of the most popular visualization techniques used to render raw
table information into graphical form. There are potentially many other ways to elicit
structure from a database based on different metrics and/or other digital media as
well as to render this structure visually. Many of these are now becoming standards
Table 2 A typical spreadsheet table or flat-database commonly used by most archaeologists. Source of lithic data provided by A. E. Close used in her publication (2006)

Id Debtype Length Width Thickn Plfm Cortex Lip Natbk Unit Stratum Screen Tooltype Length_width

4819 chunk −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked 105–365 1U one_fourth_inch unid/frag core −99
4870 chunk 40 25 18 n_a n_a n_a Unbacked 121–347 1A one_inch unid/frag core 1.6
4916 pebble −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked 130–352 1B trench unid/frag core −99
4955 99 −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked TRAB 1A half_inch unid/frag core −99
4987 pebble −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked TRCD 1A one_inch unid/frag core −99
4988 pebble −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked TRCD 1A half_inch unid/frag core −99
4990 pebble −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked TRCD surface noprov unid/frag core −99
4991 pebble −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked TRCD 1A trench unid/frag core −99
5032 pebble −99 20 9 n_a n_a n_a unbacked TREF 1C half_inch unid/frag core −99
5038 pebble −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked TREF 1C trench unid/frag core −99
5116 pebble −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked TREF 1A half_inch unid/frag core −99
5126 pebble −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked TRGH surface half_inch unid/frag core −99
4799 fl_from_single_plfm_core 34 21 5 n_a primary n_a unbacked Unit_1 1C half_inch triangle 1.619047619
4800 unid_fl_not_bipolar −99 −99 6 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked Unit_1 1D half_inch triangle −99
4803 unid_fl_not_bipolar 38 22 7 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked Unit_1 1V trench triangle 1.727272727
4804 99 31 25 7 n_a tertiary n_a unbacked Unit_1 1E trench triangle 1.24
4805 unid_fl_not_bipolar 31 25 5 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked Unit_1 1S half_inch triangle 1.24
4806 99 45 24 5 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked Unit_1 surface noprov triangle 1.875
4807 unid_fl_not_bipolar 49 23 5 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked Unit_1 1W half_inch triangle 2.130434783
4808 99 −99 24 7 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked Unit_1 1C half_inch triangle −99
4809 99 −99 26 6 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked Unit_1 1T half_inch triangle −99
4810 unid_fl_not_bipolar −99 23 6 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked Unit_1 1D half_inch triangle −99
4813 unid_fl_not_bipolar −99 36 11 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked 107–341 1C half_inch triangle −99
Llobera
Table 2 (continued)

Id Debtype Length Width Thickn Plfm Cortex Lip Natbk Unit Stratum Screen Tooltype Length_width

4826 99 −99 −99 −99 n_a n_a n_a unbacked 105–365 1O one_fourth_inch triangle −99
4837 unid_fl_not_bipolar −99 25 6 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked 105–365 surface half_inch triangle −99
4838 unid_fl_not_bipolar 38 21 6 n_a secondary n_a unbacked 105–365 1W half_inch triangle 1.80952381
4839 unid_fl_not_bipolar 28 23 5 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked 105–365 1H trench triangle 1.217391304
4840 unid_fl_not_bipolar 36 22 6 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked 105–365 1U half_inch triangle 2.117647059
4842 unid_fl_not_bipolar 36 17 5 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked 105–365 surface trench triangle 2.117647059
4843 unid_fl_not_bipolar −99 24 6 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked 105–365 1T trench triangle −99
4844 unid_fl_not_bipolar 45 21 7 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked 105–365 surface trench triangle 2.142857143
4845 unid_fl_not_bipolar −99 23 5 n_a nocortex n_a unbacked 105–365 1L half_inch triangle −99
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc
 Llobera

Fig. 7 Application of treemap visualization to display flat-database information. The size of each square
is proportional to the length:width ratio. Color brightness is also proportional to this value

within the information visualization world and can be found as part of software
research libraries and frameworks (e.g., Indiana University School of Library and
Information Science’s InfoVis Cyberinfrastructure or Sandia National Laboratory’s
Paraview).

Fig. 8 The length:width ratio is shown by debitage type. The size of the box representing each debitage
type is proportional to the sum of the length:width ratio in that debitage type. This snapshot shows how
three types of debitage clearly dominate over the others. It also points out how the less common debitage
types tend to be more homogeneous and present larger length:width ratios. Overall it appears to reflect the
choice of type list used in this study
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

Fig. 9 The length:width ratio is shown by debitage type. The size of the box representing each debitage
type is proportional to the average of the length: width ratio within every debitage type. Except for some
categories (bipolar 1st flake and batonnet) the more prevalent debitage types appear to have, on average, a
similar length:width ratio

Visual Analytics

To conclude this overview of the world of visualization, I shall briefly refer to the most
recent development within visualization: visual analytics. As with other visualization

Fig. 10 The length:width ratio is shown by debitage type and further subdivided by platform type. The
box is proportional to the sum of the length: width ratio within each category or subcategory. In this image
we can readily compare what platforms are more present depending on debitage or whether all debitage
types share the same types of platform
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Fig. 11 The length: width ratio is shown for a particular branch of the tree created after we subdivide
assemblage first by debitage type and then by platform type (see Fig. 10). In this particular case the branch
corresponds to flakes from a single platform core further subdivided by core type. This shows that it is
possible to zoom in and out any branch within the hierarchy in order to further explore data

fields, it is hard to tell where this field begins and where it ends; however, the primary
focus of visual analytics is the use of visualization as the active element of the analytical
process. According to Wong and Thomas (2004, pp. 20–21):
Visual analytics is the formation of abstract visual metaphors in combination
with a human information discourse (interaction) that enables detection of the
expected and discovery of the unexpected within massive, dynamically
changing information spaces. […]
Visual analytics is an outgrowth of the fields of scientific and information
visualization but includes technologies from many other fields, including
knowledge management, statistical analysis, cognitive science, decision
science, and many more.
Visual analytics focuses on the process of analysis facilitated by the use of highly
interactive visual displays. Emphasis is on the role that representations play within
analytic discourse and reasoning. Both exploration and development are essential
traits of this area. It fosters the design of new visual interfaces aimed at maximizing
human capacity to perceive, understand, and reason about complex and dynamic
data. Not surprisingly, these goals have been extended to incorporate spatial and
geographic information giving way to the field of Geovisualization (Dykes et al.
2005; Andrienko et al. 2007). The suitability of some of the techniques developed
within this field to archaeology has already been explored in a recent article by
Huisman et al. (2009). The authors of this paper used a modern version of
Hägerstrand’s space–time cube to visualize basic archaeological information. It is
still early to determine whether the use of this specific way of visualizing space–time
information may be an appropriate one for archaeological purposes. The geographic
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

representation of space–time is likely to be useful for some archaeological

approximations but not all. However, the article points out the possibility, even the
need, for devising new visual interfaces that help archaeologists explore similar
questions from an archaeological perspective (see Bailey 2007; Lucas 2005;
Holdaway and Wandsnider 2008).
It is hoped that the discussion and examples presented above have illustrated the
potential of and the need for adopting visualizations in archaeology. Fortunately for
us, the ever-growing world of visualization already provides us with many
possibilities from which we can learn and initiate our own explorations in this field.
Ultimately, the success of visualization in archaeology will depend on our ability to
develop our own visualization techniques and esthetics. To some extent, this
endeavor is directly related to the role information systems play in the production of
archaeological information, a theme that was implicit in the previous discussion and
that it is further developed in the following section.

Towards an Archaeological Information Science

We really cannot talk about the possibilities of information visualization without

making reference to the importance of data presentation and data manipulation
within an information system, particularly as it applies to archaeology. Equally
important is reference to the way archaeologists currently make use of information
systems like computers.
The task of unraveling how information systems relate to the production of
archaeological knowledge may seem, at first, a truly daunting endeavor, particularly
in light of the overwhelming diversity of software applications that archaeologists
currently employ. However, the recognition that any information system ultimately
relies on the use of one or several data representations, or data structures, provides a
useful starting point. In computer science, data structures represent different ways of
organizing data, particularly with regard to a set of operations or actions. They are
designed with a sense of efficiency in light of specific goals (e.g., to facilitate a fast
retrieval, to occupy little space, etc.). They are central to the design and development
of algorithms. The nature of data structures can be simple or complex. A simple data
structure might just provide a format or template to store information; more
sophisticated ones will support a set of operations from which data can be retrieved.
They might also be associated with an “algebra,” i.e., a set of operations that allows
them to be manipulated—the same way one manipulates numbers when adding or
subtracting.

Data Structures and Theory-Ladenness

Archaeologists are no strangers to certain forms of data representations and, by

extension, to data structures. The application of predetermined context sheets is
essentially an example of their use. However, the topic of data representation within
archaeology has not received as much attention as it should, especially in light of the
pivotal role it has in the production of archaeological knowledge and its potential to
precipitate different interpretations. The consequences of this oversight become
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deeper and more far-reaching the moment information systems are adopted. It is all
too easy for the user to forget that he/she is subscribing to a particular form of data
representation.
Nowadays, most archaeologists agree that the empirical basis of any archaeolog-
ical investigation, i.e., recording and quantification, contains a certain level of
interpretation, and it is related to specific goals. However, discussions on this matter
have been mostly reduced to an issue regarding the choice of data (Chippindale
2000; Hodder 1999, pp. 62, 67) not its form. Archaeologists decide what data to
collect based on the questions they are asking and on their theoretical orientation.
Attention to the embedded nature of theory in data seems to be suspended after a
choice has been made or it is simply dismissed. With some exceptions (e.g., Lucas
2001), the connection between theory and data has not ignited any further
developments or translated into different forms of data collection, representation, and
processing. This absence is significant and important in light of the flurry of theories that
is currently used in archaeology. Theoretical referents, and ideas, are readily
incorporated into narratives but seldom trickle down to change the way we gather,
organize, and represent our data (for an example within a “phenomenological”
approach, see Hamilton et al. 2006).
Concern with the integration of data, its representation, and theory is not new in
archaeology. Early studies, many of which have given way to well-recognized
standards, in archeozoology (e.g., Grayson 1984) and pottery analyses (e.g., Orton
1982, 1993), focused on how empirical data and subsequent transformations
supported certain interpretations. While many of these aimed at resolving questions
about data reliability (e.g., what can we say from our density of shards or bone
fragments?), the bulk has been directed towards supporting interpretations that were
mostly economic and/or about subsistence. This type of focus is noticeably absent
with later theoretical orientations. It is within this context that reference to data
structures, i.e., the way observation are collected and given shape, becomes relevant
to archaeology as a whole.
Hence, the treatment of archaeological information proposed here is that outlined
by Van Fraasen in his discussion on the role representations play in science (2008).
In his synthesis, Van Fraasen makes a useful distinction between phenomena and
appearances. Phenomena are observable entities (e.g., the shards, the eroded land
surface). Appearances are “the contents of observation or measurement outcomes”
(ibid., pp. 8). They have to do with how we “capture” information (what we record
and how). Constructs such as minimum number of individuals (MNI) (Grayson
1984) and estimated vessel equivalent (EVE) (Orton 1993) are appearances that have
already been accepted in archaeology. In the context of this paper, they would
correspond to data structures. The key point is that they are subject to theoretical
orientations and to the intentions and goals of the researcher.
Archaeologists seldom go directly from observations to producing an interpreta-
tion; instead, they generate tangible pieces of information or “reasoning artifacts”
(Thomas and Cook 2005, pp. 36; Gooding 2008, para. 50) along the way that
contribute towards supporting a final interpretation. Data structures, when used to
organize archaeological observations, can be employed in the same capacity and
provide a new venue for exploring the connection between data and theory in
archaeology. Unlike archaeological observations, where reference to their theoretical
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

content is seldom explored, data structures are by definition arbitrary so there is no

question about their nature being interpretative. The fact that they organize
observations explicitly and that their manipulation is done via a set of operations
defined a priori provides transparency and flexibility. Indeed, it is the marriage
between data and purpose that make them so powerful and appealing.
A simple example may help illustrate how the use of certain data structures can
precipitate new forms of archaeological investigation. The example, provided by
Helbing et al. (1997), comes in the form of a simulation used to understand how
human trails emerge naturally without the need for central planning. It is not an
archaeological example per se but could easily form the basis of a model exploring
the transformation of a cultural landscape through time. Helbing and his colleagues
borrowed the concept of “social force,” first introduced by social psychologist Kurt
Lewin (1938, 1951), as a way to describe how the existence of previous markings on
a terrain exerts a sort of attraction that influences people’s choice of direction when
moving between two locations. The attraction of the markings generates a potential
field that may be represented by a mathematical vector field. Their simulation was
successful in explaining the emergence of human trail systems and other more
dynamic aspects surrounding the transformation of those trails through time. It is
easy to imagine how the idea of potential fields, and their representation, could be
extended to model the impact of other features. Such a simulation could be used to
explore how various features on a landscape “acted on,” or influenced, the
movement of individuals and to assess what differences, if any, the emergence of
new features, like fences, paths, monuments, or ditches, had over patterns of
movement through time. Features, as forms of materialized social rules (DeMarrais
1996, pp. 11–21), would act as agents affecting space around them. This is in line
with how Gell (1998, pp. 16–17) understands the concept of material agency:
An agent is one who ‘causes events to happen’ in their vicinity.[…] Whereas
chains of physical/material cause-and-effect consist of ‘happenings’ which can
be explained by physical laws which ultimately govern the universe as a
whole, agents initiate ‘actions’ which are ‘caused’ by themselves, by their
intentions, not by the physical laws of the cosmos[…] Whenever an event is
believed to happen because of an ‘intention’ lodged in the person or thing
which initiates the causal sequence, that is an instance of ‘agency.’
Agents are responsible for initiating causal sequences that are acknowledged as
acts of mind, will, or intention rather than the mere concatenation of physical events.
Gell recognizes that no object can be ultimately considered to be the origin of a
causal chain, but this is not necessarily how people culturally experience objects.
Whether a feature was perceived as something an individual wanted to walk towards
or away from, they would be behaving as actors influencing the movement across
the landscape.
By representing the effect of previous markings with a vector field, Helbing and
his colleagues essentially provide an example of how the agency of markings
generated by previous walkers may be represented and integrated into a model. This
example is significant for two reasons. First, it demonstrates how the notion of
agency may be explicitly incorporated into the investigation, via its vector field
representation, at a level that is closer to the data, as an appearance (sensu van
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Fraasen 2008, pp. 8). Theoretical constructs, such as agency, are often only
incorporated at the later stages of a study when the interpretation is being narrated (e.g.,
Dobres and Robb 2000). Second, if this form of representing agency is accepted, how
should we interpret the results of this simulation? Regardless of the exact outcome, the
results are likely to be quite robust and would exhibit the kind of vertical
independence that Wylie (1999, pp. 176) has identified as a form of validation in
archaeology. This example illustrates how archaeological theory may directly inform
the choice and creation of data structures used within an information system. It also
hints at the possibilities that the incorporation of new forms of representation may
bring to archaeology (see Miller and Wentz 2003 for a similar discussion regarding
GISc).
Interest in these matters requires a deliberate focus on questions that lie at the
interface between theory and data representation that are currently absent in
archaeology. It also calls for a concerted interest in the study of information
structures and a discussion about their potentials, limitations, and appropriateness.
These goals represent a significant departure from, or at least an important overhaul
of, the prevailing way archaeologists have conceived and approached the use of
information systems in archaeology.

The Current State of Archaeological Computing

In recent years, archaeology has experienced a substantial increase in the use of

information systems in archaeology. A quick glance at the proceedings of the main
conference on this topic (Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in
Archaeology or CAA) and journals (e.g., Archaeologia e Calcolatori) shows a
staggering panoply of interests and topics. One might infer from the volume and
diversity of the applications that these make reference to a well-established subfield
in archaeology. This is far from the case (contra Hodder 1999, pp. 117, and Frischer
2008). A critical review of many of the studies found in these venues would
conclude that most of them:
& Do not make direct reference to any coherent body of theory and/or to
archaeology at large. Concordance between these studies and broader theoretical
concerns is mostly lacking or tenuous
& Reflect the possibilities and limitations dictated by whatever software is currently
being applied but not necessarily the goals, needs, and aspirations of
archaeologists
& Focuses on the narrow implementation/technical details surrounding the
applications without actively engaging in the bettering of these tools
& Do not follow clear and well-defined research lines or paradigms
& Are not part of any well-establish curriculum within archaeology
Despite their long presence in archaeology, the impact of computer applications
has been surprisingly limited (for a similar view, see Lock 2003, Ch. 8), i.e., they
have not been part of any radical departure in how we conduct archaeology. This
does not mean that the advent of information systems has not changed how we
perform certain tasks. We are certainly able to collect, process, and store data much
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

faster and in larger quantities. But changes seem to have been more quantitative than
qualitative. We are able to record information much more quickly in the field but to
what degree is this “new information”? How much has it changed the way we
conduct our analysis? We have the capacity to process and visualize information in
novel ways but are we actually doing this? More importantly, are we even thinking
about new possibilities? How do these new developments relate, if at all, with
theoretical orientations currently found in archaeology? Has the introduction of
information systems precipitated new ways of doing archaeology?
There is no denying that the use of information systems is allowing us to obtain
new insights, but these remain far in between, marginal in scope, and seldom
championed by archaeologists themselves. This is because the use of information
systems is still reduced to a desirable technical skill that some archaeologists manage
to “add-on” to their bag of tricks. There is little recognition that the intersection of
information systems (computers primarily) and archaeology provides new paradigms
and/or research venues. Furthermore, there is little recognition that such intersection
requires its own set of standards and most likely its own specialized curriculum.
Evidence of this handicap is clear when we reflect on how rarely the most basic trait
computers have to offer, i.e., handling vast amounts of data and cycling endlessly
through similar calculations, is harnessed within archaeology.
A 2007–2008 report on the status of archaeology as a profession in 12
European countries commissioned by the UK’s Institute for Archaeologists
concluded that while the need for IT had steadily grown in recent years and was
accepted as being a necessity, it was considered to be a “non-archaeological”
skill (Jefferey and Aitchison 2008). Furthermore, when confronted with many of
the known limitations inherent in current IT applications, archaeologists have often
failed to deal with them in a productive way. This is the result of lack of proper
training and sometimes ignorance about the proper use of applications. In some
cases, archaeologists brush off any concerns about these deficiencies by claiming
that they are just archaeologists and not computer scientists. They are simply
applying what is on offer and that is that. All that is needed then is to mention the
limitation to make it right and to proceed as usual. Actively engaging in
understanding the underpinnings of applications, let alone developing them, is
generally not considered to be archaeology even among many of those trained in
IT within the discipline.
This situation is further perpetuated in the academic world where, with the
exception of some European postgraduate courses, there is an absence of proper
curriculum. Even in the European cases, and with a few exceptions, most curricula
have aimed at forming competent technicians but not researchers. That is, the
emphasis has been on forming archaeologists as “competent” consumers of IT.
“Competency” refers in most cases to becoming familiar with the basic workings of
an application. There has been limited effort to form archaeologists on how IT may
be integrated within current archaeological discussions (both at a practical and
theoretical level), to provide them with the skills needed to actively engage in the
development of new IT tools consonant with archaeological interests, to foster a
deeper conceptual understanding of how applications work as a necessary step
towards the creation of new ones, and finally, to entertain discussions, or initiatives,
on how IT may precipitate new ways of doing archaeology beyond what is readily
 Llobera

available. Yet thanks to their ubiquity, and moderate cost, computers are an
invaluable resource for archaeology, perhaps far more central than archaeologists
would like to concede. A resource that can, nevertheless, be easily, and
inadvertently, abused without proper training.
A call for new ways to integrate information and computer science with
archaeology beyond technical prowess has not happened yet. If we consider the
adoption of computing and other information systems as one leading towards further
insight and maturity, archaeologists need to move beyond the level of technicians
where they are currently at to that of full-blown researchers. This would represent
the next logical step from where we are now positioned. This is already implicit in
recent articles by Snow et al. (2006) and Kintigh (2006) when discussing the need
for an information cyberstructure for archaeology. Both of these articles focus on the
challenges behind the creation of an information infrastructure (i.e. protocols,
standards and tools) that would bring the integration of archaeological data under a
common digital “umbrella”, ultimately allowing greater data sharing amongst
archaeologists. While none of them discuss the necessity for specialized training
directly, the full benefits of such a cyberstructure would only be possible if such
preparation is in place for archaeologists to reap the benefits.
In order for the marriage between computer and information science with
archaeology to be successful, it is necessary for some archaeologists to attain what
some authors refer to as an ‘amphibious state’ (Bunge 1973; Wylie 2002), that is, a
state in which the level of competency attained in all of the disciplines is such that
will enable them to move from one discipline to another with ease and, more
importantly, to generate novel insights. To form this set of specialists there is a need
for a specialized curriculum, one that will initially borrow elements from computer
and information science but that will ultimately need to develop into its own
paradigms and methods. It is the responsibility of those of us who may have already
glimpsed at the possibilities that lay ahead to engage in such an endeavor, and to
communicate these insights effectively to the rest of our peers.
To this day the application of information systems by archaeologists has been at
the very least narrow, and at the very worse naïve. It needs to be broadened in order
to capitalize on the advantages that the manipulation of digital information can bring
to archaeology. The intersection between information and computer science and
archaeology calls for a new concerned focus in archaeology which we could label
Archaeological Information Science (AISc). While a call for an additional specialism
(curriculum, etc.) may undoubtedly contribute towards further fragmenting the
discipline of archaeology, the price of neglecting this call is simply too high. Broadly
defined, AISc would be concerned with the generation, representation and
manipulation of archaeological information within the context of information
systems. It would call for archaeologists becoming more skillful and having a more
pro-active role in the use and design of these systems. While we could think of AISc
as not being restricted to the application of computers in archaeology (i.e. we can
think of data representations without reference to computers), both become
inseparable once the latter are adopted. With this in mind, AISc does not seek the
reduction of all archaeological information into a set of formal representations but
rather mindfulness about their use in archaeology. It aims to capitalize on the
potential advantages that come from generating, representing, visualizing and
Archaeological Visualization - Towards an AISc

manipulating archaeological information through the use of computers and other

information systems.

Concluding Remarks

In this article I have discussed the possibilities of archaeological visualization. The

current field of visualization is a very heterogeneous area that has been recognized as
playing a central role in processes of discovery, analysis, interpretation and communi-
cation. The richness of data, and the types of queries, that archaeologists handle make the
development of new forms of visualization, new interfaces and exploratory strategies a
potential research topic in the future of archaeological investigation.
The relevance of archaeological visualization makes sense when viewed as part of
a larger disciplinary focus called Archaeological Information Science (AISc), a
specialty predicated on the possibilities that the intersection between Computer and
Information Science with Archaeology brings. This specialty would follow from the
possibilities that information systems offer to capture, represent, manipulate, analyze
and model archaeological information, each of which provides fertile ground for
connecting archaeological theory and practice.
To pursue the possibility for an AISc, archaeologists interested in the potential
offered by the digital revolution need to reconsider their attitude towards the use of
information systems and computing. In addition, the archaeological community on
the whole needs to shift the way it conceives of the use of computers within the
discipline to be able to capitalize on these possibilities. This can only be achieved by
accepting the need for a new breed of specialists within archaeology (see Scott 1991,
pp.177–8, for a similar call in the analysis of lithics), and recognizing that the
treatment of archaeological information goes beyond the mere application of
whatever software is currently available; that instead, it represents a new area where
archaeologists can focus on discussions about the nature of archaeological data: on
its definition, representation and manipulation. There must also be an acknowledge-
ment that the digital representation of archaeological information can precipitate new
forms of doing archaeology. This is not limited to novel ways of ‘capturing’ and
visualizing data. It includes new ways, and standards, of handling, processing and
modeling this information as well. Failure to identify the centrality of these
questions, and to develop the relevant skills to tackle them within archaeology,
represents a lost opportunity to steer the discipline into new directions. Furthermore,
it will have a direct impact on our ability to handle information in the future.
To conclude this paper, it is worth reflecting on the development of Geographic
Information Science (GISc), and how it provides some hindsight on the development
of an AISc. It took several years after GIS were first introduced before a community
of people emerged who felt that questions surrounding their application and design
represented a new research area. Central to this development was the recognition that
many of the questions addressed were beyond the purview of geography alone
requiring contributions from other fields (e.g. Computer Science). We can expect a
similar requirement for the development of AISc. Before that ever happens, we first
need to accept and embrace what information science and technologies can provide
to archaeology not as passive bystanders but as active participants.
 Llobera

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