digitization Archive

  • Most long term archaeological projects have stacks of film photos stuck in a cabinet, set aside to be organized—some day. The thousands of images of pots, spear points, bracelets, bones, and excavation layers taken during decades of excavation and analysis in the Ban Chiang Project weren’t stuck in a cabinet. Instead, slides were organized in little boxes on shelves, and negatives and contact sheets were loaded into large and unwieldy loose leaf binders and stored in cardboard boxes. To find all the photographs taken of a certain pot required hours of hunting through dusty boxes, flipping through file folders, and deciphering twenty-year-old handwritten notes.

    The Ban Chiang Digital Image Project

    Posted on August 27, 2009 | No Comments
    Most long term archaeological projects have stacks of film photos stuck in a cabinet, set aside to be organized—some day. The thousands of images of pots, spear points, bracelets, bones, and excavation layers taken during decades of excavation and analysis in the Ban Chiang Project weren’t stuck in a cabinet. Instead, slides were organized in little boxes on shelves, and negatives and contact sheets were loaded into large and unwieldy loose leaf binders and stored in cardboard boxes. To find all the photographs taken of a certain pot required hours of hunting through dusty boxes, flipping through file folders, and deciphering twenty-year-old handwritten notes.

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