Description:
This book presents the impact of data derived from large repositories and synthesis projects in archaeology. It discusses the opportunities and challenges for archaeology in a number of ways: from practical, theoretical and methodological issues in the collection, sharing, management, and use of data to examples of (potential) impact of such newly constructed datasets, to identified or foreseeable difficulties in maintaining and further developing the databases.
This volume examines best practices and strategies for handling large data sets in archaeology. It looks at opportunities for better contextualization of present challenges and how can data mining or modelling applied to large datasets bring new understanding to archaeological questions. With strong attention to bioarchaeological data, the book includes contributions from different fields (zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, anthropology, etc.) and focus (osteology, funerary archaeology, science-based approaches, etc.). The book illustrates these different initiatives and share some views about best practices.