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The Central Ohio Archaeological Digitization Survey

A Demonstration of Amplified Public Good from Collaboration with Private Collectors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2022

Kevin C. Nolan*
Affiliation:
Applied Anthropology Laboratories, Ball State University Muncie, IN, USA
Michael J. Shott
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Akron, Akron, OH, USA
Eric Olson
Affiliation:
Cuyahoga Community College, Parma, OH, USA
*
([email protected], corresponding author)

Abstract

Significant parts of the archaeological record are in private hands, including those of responsible and responsive stewards (RRS). This is not necessarily a bad thing. The Central Ohio Archaeological Digitization Survey (COADS) engages RRS in collaborative study of central Ohio prehistory. COADS leverages the mass of RRS data constructively to add depth and breadth to a regional archaeological record. We recorded over 12,000 diagnostic points and about 5,000 other stone tools from 32 RRS collections. All were scanned as two-dimensional (2D) images, and a sample as three-dimensional (3D) models for landmark-based geometric morphometric (LGM) analysis and GIS analysis of prehistoric land use. The resulting dataset is >4.7 times the number of diagnostics recorded in the Ohio SHPO database for the region, shedding new light on land use and tool use over millennia. In addition to academic research, COADS creates an accessible collection of 3D models available to RRS colleagues and to society at large. This reciprocal sharing mutually benefits professionals and the RRS community. Professionals are not the only ones who research the cultural past; the more and better we collaborate with RRS and others with legitimate interests, the better our common understanding of that past.

Partes importantes del registro arqueológico se guardan en manos privadas, incluyendo las de los mayordomos responsables y/o responsivos (RRS en sus mayúsculas inglés). Esta situación no necesariamente sea mala cosa. El Reconocimiento Digital Arqueológico del Ohio Central (COADS en sus mayúsculas inglés) se comprometen los RRS en un estudio colaborativo de la prehistoria de la parte central de Ohio. COADS aprovecha el cuerpo de datos de los RRS para profundizar y ampliar el registro arqueológico regional. Contamos con datos derivados a mas que 12,000 puntas cabezales diagnósticas y cerca de 5,000 otros útiles líticos procedentes de las colecciones de unas 32 RRS. Todo artefacto se escaneó como imágenes digitales en dos dimensiones (2D), y una muestra de casi 500 en tres dimensiones (3D) para análisis de hitos en la geometría morfomètrica (LGM en sus mayúsculas inglés), y análisis espacial por medio de GIS. El conjunto de datos procedentes de este proyecto cuenta con >4.7 veces el número de puntas cabezales ya registrada en el conjunto de la Oficina Estatal de la Preservación Historica (SHPO en sus mayúsculas inglés) de Ohio, arrojando luz nueva al comportamiento espacial y del uso de los útiles prehistoricos. Ademas de las investigaciónes academicas, COADS crea una colección accessible de modélos disponibles a investigadores responsables, quienquiera sean. Tal compartimiento reciprocal ayuda las comunidades profesionales y de los RRS igualmente. Los profesionales no son los unicos que estudian el pasado antiguo; lo más y mejor que nosotros colaboramos con los RRS y con otros que tengan intereses legítimos, lo mejor por el entendimiento común de eso pasado.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

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