[First posted in AWOL 23 October 2013, updated 27 May 2015]
Micropasts: Conducting, designing and funding research into our human past
Micropasts: Conducting, designing and funding research into our human past
Micropasts is a web platform that brings together full-time archaeologists, archaeological societies and other interested members of the public to collaborate on new kinds of research about our human history. It is a place where archaeological enthusiasts not only can create high-quality research data together, but also can collaboratively design and fund entirely new research projects. In particular, we want to encourage better kinds of archaeology by improving the ways that people traditionally distinguished as ‘academics’, ‘professionals’ and ‘volunteers’ cooperate with one another (as well as with others out there who as yet have no more than a passing interest in archaeology).
Through the Micropasts platform, we will develop and support a range of crowd-sourcing and crowd-funding projects. By joining Micropasts, you can help research, fund and/or design as many projects as you like, with as much or as little personal commitment as you wish. Some existing projects are about creating 3D models of archaeological artefacts, enriching old photographic archives or transcribing old archaeological excavation records, to name just a few that we have come up with so far. Other new projects will need your help with financing before they can begin, whilst yet others might be research topics that you want to propose yourself (as an individual, as part of an organised archaeological society or in tandem with other interested people that you meet online). We cannot yet say which projects will prove popular and which ones will not, and we hope that many as yet unanticipated agendas will be dreamt up collectively. In any case, we are keen for your ideas and your contributions wherever we can get them!
In a more technical sense, MicroPasts supports (a) modular applications for massive online data collection about archaeology, history and heritage, as well as (b) a micro-funding model for supporting new (not-for-profit) research projects where collaboration between academic institutions and volunteers is a key feature. The software used to build the platform is entirely free and open source, and the data we create is also required to be open-licensed and publicly available.
Photo Masking a Gold Lunula
Photo Masking a Gold LunulaAmara West Object Cards 1947 - 1948
Transcription of archive cards from Amara West 1947 - 1948 seasonTranscribing the Worthington George Smith catalogue part 4
Transcription of the Worthington George Smith catalogueAmara West Object Cards 1938 - 1939
Transcription of archive cards from Amara West 1938 - 1939 seasonPhoto Masking Palestine Exploration Fund Objects
Photo Masking PEF objectsPhoto Masking the Deansfield Moulds
Photo Masking the Deansfield MouldsPhoto Masking a Bronze Age socketed axehead (LVPL-719FB3)
Photo Masking a Bronze Age socketed axeheadAmphora Profiling: Roman Types A-B
Creation of amphora profiles that can be revolved into 3D solidsAxe outlines
Create axe outlines for morphometric analysisAmara West Object Cards 1948 - 1949
Transcription of archive cards from Amara West 1948 - 1949 seasonPhoto-masking the Mildenhall Treasure
An application for photomasking the British Museum Mildenhall TreasurePhoto Masking Mary Rose Objects
Photo Masking Mary Rose objectsProject Andvari: Tagging objects with Linked Open Data
This application will help the Project Andvari team with their goal of linking Early Medieval object together.