Internet Archaeology

30/09/2026

A really lovely evening catching up with lots of former colleagues at the joint 30th birthday celebrations with Archaeology Data Service. And how fabulous does the IA logo look like on a cupcake!

22/09/2026

Who tells your story? Diversifying narratives of the past through storytelling as an archaeological method by Hanna Steyne and Milica Rajić
https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.71.16

In this paper we address the urgent need for diversity in archaeology and propose storytelling as one of the leading archaeological methods available. Historically, archaeological work has been mainly carried out by white European, heterosexual, able-bodied men, who in turn have produced archaeological interpretations that mirror and centre their own lived experience. Marginalised communities, minorities and those who were othered have been actively ignored and excluded from archaeological narratives of the past. By not ignoring the existence of 'others' and employing storytelling as method, we demonstrate how archaeologists can acknowledge and explore marginalised lives and relationships and give them deserved recognition, space and time. We suggest that using storytelling as method not only enriches archaeological narratives but corrects our understanding of the past, demonstrating the longevity of diverse communities. In using storytelling as method our work demonstrates and ensures that archaeology is meaningful, matters, and has social justice at its heart.

In this paper we address the urgent need for diversity in archaeology and propose storytelling as one of the leading archaeological methods available. Historically, archaeological work has been mainly carried out by white European, heterosexual, able-bodied men, who in turn have produced archaeologi...

04/09/2026

01/09/2026

ADS turns 30!

2026 marks our 30th anniversary! To mark this milestone, we'll be highlighting 30 things that have stood out in the last 30 years.

The decision to create the ADS was made by a consortium of UK stakeholders, all dedicated to preserving our digital heritage data. The ADS was officially launched on 1 October 1996 (two years before Google!) with the mission to preserve, catalogue, and describe digital data generated in the course of archaeological research and to facilitate its reuse. Initial funding was a £216,000 commission from the Arts and Humanities Data Service to establish a data service for archaeology.

Director Julian Richards notes: “In 1996 not everyone thought ADS would survive but 30 years later, and with the help of many friends and supporters, and the work of many talented and dedicated staff we are stronger than ever”.

This week we want to focus on some of the things fundamental to the creation and success of the ADS. Take a look in our comments to read more!

10/08/2026

New in IA71: Inset Lead Weights: Trade and Identity in 9th- and 10th-century armies in Britain and Ireland by Dawn Hadley, Julian Richards, Mark Randerson and Rebekah Hiett

https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.71.14

Viking armies introduced a bullion economy to 9th-century Britain and Ireland in which transactions were facilitated through the use of balances and weights. This paper presents the first comprehensive analysis of one type of those weights, made of lead and inset with reused material, which was an innovation of the 860s and 870s. It examines the range of insets and the messages they conveyed, arguing that they were deliberately selected and processed as a means of cultural communication: to express authority, to reflect the experiences and travels of those armies, and to imbue trading with messages of protection and group identity. It addresses the date range of the weights, whether they reflect specific weight standards, the processes for manufacturing them, and their post-depositional histories. The paper is based on a new catalogue of over 390 such weights, including many from private collections, never previously published, now available as an illustrated searchable online catalogue via the Archaeology Data Service. This comprises a critical underexplored dataset for the Viking impact on Britain and Ireland, which can be tightly dated to the late 9th century, presenting new insights into the earliest years of migration and settlement.

The ADS archive can be found at: https://doi.org/10.5284/1144245

Viking armies introduced a bullion economy to 9th-century Britain and Ireland in which transactions were facilitated through the use of balances and weights. This paper presents the first comprehensive analysis of one type of those weights, made of lead and inset with reused material, which was an i...

07/07/2026

New in IA71: Arrington, N.T., D'Acri, A., Baloukidis, D. and Tasaklaki, M. 2026 Always in the Field: Introducing the WebDig App https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.71.13

Amongst the digital tools that projects use to gather data in the field, an application created for use in the Athenian Agora excavations has gained traction in recent decades: iDig. It is used on multiple projects in Greece, and beyond, with positive results. This article describes some of the strengths of the program but also the limitations when it comes to post-season study and publication, which the authors encountered on the Molyvoti, Thrace, Archaeological Project. In response, we created an open-source, web-based application, WebDig, which we present here. WebDig mirrors the content and functionality of iDig in order to facilitate collaboration among specialists and to complement print publication.

Amongst the digital tools that projects use to gather data in the field, an application created for use in the Athenian Agora excavations has gained traction in recent decades: iDig. It is used on multiple projects in Greece, and beyond, with positive results. This article describes some of the stre...

26/06/2026

25/06/2026

New in IA71: Kansa, E.C. 2026 Archaeology in the AI Era: Demystifying powerful and problematic systems shaping the future of the past, Internet Archaeology 71. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.71.15

This essay explores how Large Language Models (LLMs) and the generative "Artificial Intelligence" (AI) services they power impact archaeology's information ecosystem. Most of the discussion focuses on the dangers of escalating costs, commercial dependency, indeterminacy and reliability, and the potential for bias amplification. The essay highlights the need for structural reforms in archaeology's professional incentive systems, especially those systems that measure and reward publishing practices.

It looks at and mass scraping on the infrastructure supporting and . It also looks at the incentives that encourage the mass-production of ****it that may lead to but more likely less dramatic and more dreary outcomes.

16/06/2026

This data paper introduces the CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) Project collection in the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI). The collection is composed of several datasets from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) digital ph...