How modern archaeology is changing the way we perceive history
Archaeology is currently going through a deep digital transformation. It is a normal state of things given today’s technology development rhythm. Business owners, managers and researchers in archaeology are increasingly looking for efficient web applications to improve operations flow and daily data management.
In addition, archaeologists and skilled tech professionals in the field, look for personalized tools to improve research capabilities and collaboration. In this category, we can enumerate the following essential tools:
1. Personalized content management systems (CMS)
2. Digital recording system
3. User management systems
4. GIS-powered interactive maps
Such digital tools are improving how archaeological data is collected, stored, analyzed and shared among piers or with the public.
In the following rows, we intend to detail the key technologies that drive this change and how companies like ours are leading the way in the archaeological department in Europe, United States and the United Kingdom.
In addition, we will highlight the real-world applications, including Newroco’s work with Oxford Archaeology. This endeavor will illustrate the benefits of using modern web solutions in both on-site excavations and applied research.
Personalized CMS for archaeological data management
Modern archaeology relies on swift and clean data management. Most archaeologists generate vast amounts of information, among which we can mention excavation records, artefact catalogues, photographs, 3D scans, field notes, historical research for background and more. Vast amount of data requires a reliable data management system.
A dedicated CMS designed especially for archaeology help organize data in a coherent and easy to search way. Generic CMS will not work. A personalized CMS can accommodate specific needs and improve productivity tenfold. Generic CMS don’t come with context-based cataloguing, stratigraphic unit tracking or metadata for various artefacts.
Real-world applications: KnowledgeHub
Oxford Archaeology’s Knowledge Hub, built with great attention to details by Newroco specialists, exemplifies a personalized CMS that comes with a large library of archaeological records and stories for professionals and history connoisseurs. It shows how content is organized and shared, offering information to specific user interests.
A custom CMS is priceless to the field. Why? lt allows archaeologists to store and retrieve information by project, site, period, or artefact type with ease.
For example, a researcher could filter all records of Ice Age pottery from a particular region in Britain in merely seconds, or an excavation director might pull up all context sheets from a specific trench without wasting time sifting through physical files.
The immediate and long-term benefits of a personalized CMS are impressive. Solid data storage and organization means nothing will get lost in disparate spreadsheets or handwritten logs. Paper is obsolete. All data, starting from excavation reports to lab analyses, will reside in one structured repository, easy to access when needed.
Smart archaeological work
Data retrieval and analysis is faster, supporting better decision-making and research results. In addition, it also enhances institutional memory: today’s discoveries and observations will be accessible to researchers and the public.
Moreover, a well-designed CMS can present information in an engaging way for various audiences. Take for instance, Oxford Archaeology’s “Knowledge Hub” web application provides an informative public-facing library of records, themes, and stories, allowing both professionals and the public to explore extensive research and heritage data.
You can add new content with ease by turning the CMS into a living knowledge base rather than a static archive.
You can also customize data fields and taxonomies. Archaeology encompasses a wide range of data types – from human remains to ceramic typologies – and a personalized CMS handles them all. We detailed this flexibility in a recent Newroco guide , which noted that any archaeology web application should be flexible in organizing, storing, and interpreting information, with topic-based categories, geographic sorting, and advanced search features.
In practice, this means an archaeology-focused CMS might allow users to browse or search by excavation site, historical period, artefact material, or even specific context numbers. This type of customization allows that the platform aligns with how archaeologists think and work, making it intuitive for them to use. Less time wasted better results.
User management and solid collaboration among teams
Most archaeologists work with data, which needs to be easy to access and updated. Newroco’s User Management System allows you to set the right people to access specific information at a time. They have roles with different permissions. Implementing secure and role-based access controls and collaboration features represents that groundwork for success.
For business owners and project managers, secure user management systems allows users to access sensitive data like site locations, maps, preliminary findings. Team-collaboration is solid and overall performance grows! For a team packed with archaeologists and researchers, our system is a shared workspace where they contribute data without bumping heads.
Real-world applications: HubAdmin
A smart user management system defines roles such as Administrator, Editor, Viewer, Field Archaeologist, Lab Technician, etc., each with relevant permissions.
For example, administrators might have full control to add or edit any content, while field team members could be limited to entering new excavation records, and external collaborators might have read-only access to certain datasets.
HubAdmin system developed for Oxford Archaeology’s Knowledge Hub is a custom CMS backend that gives administrators full control over content and user permissions, while granting editors limited access to manage records.
The product’s architecture ensures swift knowledge sharing and content governance: editors can upload and organize new findings or articles, but sensitive settings and overall structure remain in the hands of admins. Such access prevents accidental data loss or unauthorized changes, maintaining data quality and security.
Archaeologists in the field use mobile technology to input data directly into centralized systems. Role-based user management permits that team members, from field excavators to lab analysts, can collaborate in a common digital environment while protecting sensitive information.
You can also create user profiles and team collaboration features, thus setting a community environment where everyone has a voice. Researchers can log in to view recent updates on a project development, comment or interpret artefacts and upload data. Our clients value user profiles and discussion boards, sharing insights and interpretations. Not every project needs a public forum but you never know when it may come in handy.
Saying goodbye to paper! Digital recording systems
One of the most important changes in archaeological fieldwork is the transition from paper to tablets and smartphones. Digital recording systems are flexible, easy to manage and secure. In the not so distant past, archaeologists used pen/crayons and paper to record their findings: write down context descriptions, sketches, fill out forms. Such data had to be transcribed into databases. This type of process implies time and errors, due to certain human limitations.
Digital tools come to the rescue…
Modern web apps replace the old pen and paper with tablets and smartphones, leaving the artistic nature for posterity. Today’s archaeologists record data once, at the source. In the same time, they save it to a central database, easy to access. This improvement adds efficiency and accuracy at excavation sites and in the research labs.
Going digital on-site is the way to go. For example: at the Pompeii excavations, archaeologists use their iPads to record trenches, ditches, delimitation markers, with significant increase in “ efficiency, accuracy and detail ” in their daily data collection . The digital method allows photo or drawing insertions in context records, accessible by researchers.
Another great example: a team of archaeologists from an University in Sudan used their tablets to take pictures of their findings and transmit them to specific databases . As a result, the data is instantly available for analysis.
Real-world applications: Digital recording system
Newroco created a personalized digital recording system for archaeology. The application removed the need for pen and paper in the field, helping archaeologists save time and reduce unnecessary work. The result is clear: archaeologists use tablets or smartphones to enter context descriptions, measurements and artefact details in digital forms, with built-in validation rules and dropdown lists. Consistency is the rule of law.
When a user submits a new entry, it synchronizes to a central PostgreSQL database and the office can analyze and review the findings in real time. No delays. Our clients have a fast data processing system, with zero transcription errors.
We would also stress out that post-excavation is easier due to digital recording systems. To this extent, we have Osteology Recording system. A web application that allows the osteology department to easily record skeletal data on their mobile device. The entry may include general information to detailed observations like ancestry estimations, sex and age determinations, measurements, pathologies and even data for individual tooth.
What is the kicker?
When the process is digitized throughout the app, the system standardizes how skeletal data is collected across different sites and analysts. In the same time, the system creates a searchable and comprehensive repository of osteological information. No more need for paper forms. The benefit is a major improvement in laboratory workflows.
GIS integration and interactive mapping
You know by now that archaeology is spatial. Everything you find on site has a location and a context within a physical space. This is where GIS ( Geographic Information System ) and interactive mapping come into play. Integrating GIS in a dedicated archaeology platform allows teams to visualize and analyse spatial data in various ways.
Important: for managers, directors and other decision-makers, maps offer a priceless overview of project objective, site layout and work progress. For archaeologists, GIS helps in analyzing patterns, with positive implications for researchers and the public.
Where history was uncovered
Interactive maps transform the past into a tangible form, showing where history occurred. A well-designed and integrated GIS permits users to plot excavation units, survey areas, artefact locations on a map with specific layers and filters.
Our experts underline that a geographic information system is essential to display excavation sites, routes of historical importance or even regions of interest. This is where interactive maps with filter options will come in handy to researchers for better spatial data.
In practice, archaeologists can open interactive maps of their current projects, apply a filter of an ancient map, with relevant features, and generate heat map of artefact densities. In such cases, researchers can reveal patterns like concentration of pottery in one area of a settlement, city, castle or other specific features.
In addition, interactive mapping is essential for site management. You can use maps to plan excavation strategies, avoid areas previously excavated or mark protected zones. When a big team works, it is essential to share GIS to keep everyone updated on work patterns.
We have implemented a personalized interactive GIS in projects like The Pottery Kilns of Roman Britain . A user has the liberty of navigating the map of Great Britain and click on kiln site markers. He or she can obtain details on each location, or search by region or kiln type.
We also offer the ability for the community to add their own findings on the map, which come up right away on the public map as community data or as part of the curated data once a manager validated the entry.
Another example implemented by Newroco is the Past People of Oxfordshire database, which brought together records of excavated burials, complemented by mapping features ( due to tech like LeafletJS ).
Look to the future with digital web apps
It is clear that archaeology needs digital toolkits to improve performance on and off-site. Shovels are great but tablets, databases, and interactive maps will enhance archaeological work. Organizations across Europe with archaeological projects need useful web apps to preserve the past and record history without stress.
Newroco creates amazing digital solutions that empower archaeological organizations.
Our company has over 15 years of experience of delivering web applications within the archaeological industry. If your project could benefit from our expertise, contact us without hesitation !