Disciplinary issues: challenging the research and practice of computer applications in archaeology

Huggett, J. (2013) Disciplinary issues: challenging the research and practice of computer applications in archaeology. In: Earl, G., Sly, T., Chrysanthi, A., Murrieta-Flores, P., Papadopoulos, C., Romanowska, I. and Wheatley, D. (eds.) Archaeology in the Digital Era. Series: Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Amsterdam University Press: Amsterdam, pp. 13-24. ISBN 9789089646637 (hardback), 9789048519606 (e-book)

Abstract

An annual international conference on computer applications in archaeology (CAA) has been meeting annually for almost forty years, so one might expect that there would be a reasonable idea of the nature and role of archaeological computing. However, some commentators see it as an emerging field while others suggest the need for a new archaeological speciality: Archaeological Information Science. Even the Wikipedia page on computational archaeology describes archaeoinformatics as an emerging discipline. Is this a sign of a lack of confidence in forty years-worth of enterprise and development or is it instead an indication of growing self-assurance in the subject? In recent years other fields, including GIScience and Information Systems, have sought to evaluate their intellectual core and identity; this paper suggests that it is time that archaeological computing does likewise.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Additional Information: Papers from the 40th Annual Conference of Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Southampton, 26-29 March 2012.
• Keywords: archaeoinformatics; archaeological information science; archaeological computing; digital archaeology; anxiety discourse; grand challenges
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Huggett, Dr Jeremy
• Authors: Huggett, J.
• Subjects: C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Archaeology
• Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
• ISBN: 9789089646637 (hardback), 9789048519606 (e-book)

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