ADD MAP: The Next Step Towards Full Computerisation of the Polish Archaeological Record
paper presented at the XXVIth Conference "CAA. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology" in Barcelona (Spain), 23-30 March, 1998
 

Abstract

Advances in the last dozen years in the documentation of archaeological sites which is a fundamental task of conservation policy, have mostly come about due to the computer technology.Its introduction in Poland has proceeded in three stages: 
     1986 - text databases (System_AZP, AZP_Fox, AZP_Max, MuzArP_1),
     1995 - text-and-graphic databases (KSAWery, MuzArP_2),
     1996 - text-and-cartographic databases (mAZePa).

The concept of the all-country standard of site database software was accomplished in Poznan Archaeological Museum in 1986 (AZP_Fox) and upgraded in 1996 (AZP_Max; Fig. 1). It prints out the data in the Site Register Card standard format (Figs. 2 and 3). 

Our next step was to create a standard for archaeological digital maps (mAZePa), accomplished with the use of MapInfo software. It retrieves the required map according to: 
     (1) AZP working area number (Polish archaeological grid; Fig. 4),
     (2) 1:10 000 scale topographic map sheet (Fig. 5),
     (3) name and/or number of 1: 10 000 scale topographic map sheet, 
     (4) locality name.

The program reads the rich text files generated by AZP_Max all over the country. It produces maps of sites, selected according to any of 59 characteristics. Additional elements can be added as vector graphics. Any object can be described by labels. 

The mAZePa program has already been used to create some larger cartographic products: 
     - general map of archaeological sites in the Poznan province (Fig. 6),
     - map of sites along the the planned A2 motorway (Fig. 7),
     - map of sites along the trans-European gas pipeline (Jamal-Western Europe).

The newest product is an archaeological ortophotomap, which ensures a considerably greater, realistic readability (Fig. 8).
 
 

INTRODUCTION: THE MAIN AIM OF COMPUTERISATION IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT

Among the growing number of software products dedicated for archaeologists one can distinguish two broad categories:
     (1) applications to aid single research projects; often being very sophisticated and efficient tools but rarely distributed on a larger scale,
     (2) applications which serve to fulfill more simple, typical, standardized tasks; they are usually more robust than the former ones, "heavy-duty" products, that are needed by many people as first-step tools in different projects; sometimes they become standards on a provincial or national scale; their most natural environment is the archaeological heritage management service.

Also maybe less spectacular than the former ones, the products from the second group seem to be a must in contemporary archaeological practice, especially in the heritage management service which is always challenged by a lack of time and manpower to face many threats to the heritage.

The planning and then the execution of a conservation policy in the field of the protection of the archaeological heritage is based to a great degree on the listing and documentation of archaeological sites. The continual updating of these records is the basic task of the archaeological conservation services, and analysis of the data resources (in the form of standardised records of sites and the accompanying cartographic material) is the basis for the definition of hierarchies of needs and the creation of a programme of priorities for action.

Advances which have taken place in the last dozen years in the field of the listing and documentation of archaeological sites have mostly comeabout due to the application of computer technology. This dynamically developing discipline has introduced increasingly improved applications of universal value and thus useful both for the professional archaeologist and especially for the needs of the archaeological heritage manager. Among their routine operations is the need for rapid selection and then the effective and exact analysis of data from huge archives of documentation, created over a number of years (in Poland - as the result of the creation of the Polish Archaeological Record, or AZP). 

1. ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATABASES: FROM TEXT DATA TO DIGITAL MAPS

The use of computer technology in the practice of archaeological heritage management is based on the creation and distribution of successive versions of specialist computer programs, designed as the result of cooperation between archaeologists and software engineers, in order to create and manage archaeological databases. 

The introduction of computer technology in Polish archaeology has so far proceeded in three stages: 
     1) Since 1986 - Text databases (e.g., System_AZP, AZP_Fox, AZP_Max, MuzArP_1),
     2) Since 1995 - Text-and-graphic databases (KSAWery, MuzArP_2),
     3) Since 1996 - text-and-cartographic databases (mAZePa).

Ad 1: The use of text databases already represented an advance compared with the traditional paper records (card indexes) and created conditions for the automation of the activities connected with the creation, sorting and updating of the basic component of the record, i.e., the textual information. After mastering the new tool, its users soon saw its advantages, such as:
     - the possibility of determination of and maintaining strict data standards,
     - rapid control of mistakes and missing information,
     - the possibility of application of partial automation of work connected with the data input and correction, 
     - the possibility of rapid and cheap creation of the required number of copies of the data for purposes of security, distribution or further processing.

Ad 2: The appearance of a new operating system MS Windows based on a graphics environment allowed the linking of graphics data to records with textual information. This enriched the archaeological databases with drawings, photographs etc. 

Ad 3: After a new type of computer program - known as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) - became popular at the beginning of the 1990s, further progress was possible. Digital maps could be produced by computer, which are electronic versions of geographical and topographical maps. The archaeologist - to whom the use of maps is a fundamental part of his work - is presented with new perspectives of creating specialist archaeological maps by computer. In order to apply these innovations, it was necessary to supplement the databases with information concerning the location of sites recorded in cartographic form. Fulfilling this requirement has opened new perspectives in the use of computers for archaeological purposes, among them the possibility of the execution of a series of routine heritage management procedures, e.g., :
     a) printing-out of the Archaeological Site Register Form - the standard document applied in the Polish Archaeological Record, together with automatically selected and formatted location map at scale 1:10 000 of the location of a given site. 
     b) creating distribution maps of sites for specific areas, selected from the database; they can be analysed with the tools available in the GIS programs, such as: 
     - buffer: the identification of sites lying in a given strip or radius from a given point/axis,
     - a set of basic statistical tests,
     - graphic presentation of the analysis results ( frequency diagrams etc.).
     c) integration of archaeological maps with other, more general digital maps of a given area (eg. regional planning document maps).

Ad. c: An important argument for the introducing of digital maps to the daily practice of archaeological heritage management service (apart from the economy of effort and the increased precision of the results), is the fact that the same tools have been increasingly utilised by our partners in the wider use of archaeological data, that is planners, national and local government administrators and other specialised communal and public services. In such a situation, it would be a good system solution to create a map of archaeological sites as one layer of a multi-aspectual spatial planning document. For the archaeological heritage services this would have - among other advantages - an important strategic value, since it would eliminate the common practice of disregarding the problem of preserving the archaeological heritage in the planning process. 

2. mAZePa: CARTOGRAPHIC MODULE FOR THE COMPUTER AZP STANDARD 

For many years the electronic databases of the AZP records held in each regional office of Archaeological Heritage Protection Service have formed a standardised nation-wide recording system. The concept of this standard, together with a prototype program intended to create and maintain a database of archaeological sites arose in Poznan Archaeological Museum as a result of a long-term project which started in 1986. Its main product is the program AZP_Fox, which was replaced in 1996 by its enlarged version AZP_Max (Fig.1). The program was introduced on the basis of:
     - cooperation with the Centre for the Documentation of Historical Monuments in Warsaw (ODZ), concerning its dissemination among all the regional archaeological conservation services,
     - a specialist publication, addressed to the future users of the program,
     - a series of schooling sessions, organised jointly with the ODZ in Warsaw,
     - presentations and lectures delivered at annual meetings of archaeological conservators.

The above-mentioned standard radically improved the accessibility of the masses of textual data on archaeological sites. As its use became more widespread, it could be seen as an efficient modern tool in the professional toolkit of the archaeologist, considerably shortening the searches for archival information of old discoveries, indispensable for almost every research project, museum activities and especially in heritage management. It also allows the printing  out the data in the same all-Polish standard format as the Site Register Card (KESA), used in AZP (Figs. 2 and 3). It contains, however, only the textual data on archaeological sites, while in many cases it is cartographic information which plays a key role - and even more frequently, the possibility of correlation of both types of information. The choice of our next step in the standardisation and automation of mass data was therefore clear, namely the creation of a standard for archaeological digital maps and their integration with the existing standard textual databases in the version of AZP_Fox and AZP_Max. With this aim in mind, in 1996 Poznan Archaeological Museum began work on the program mAZePa, which is intended to create and maintain archaeological digital maps concordant with the AZP standards (both of its traditional "paper" as well as its electronic form). The initial assumptions accepted by the authors of the program were:
     1) Absolute logical and software compatibility with the existing textual data standard (AZP_Fox and AZP_Max). The mutual exchange of data, compatible format of generated documents, and shared data search mechanisms were regarded as fundamental.
     2) The choice of a suitable GIS system, fulfilling the following criteria:
          a) accessibility,
          b) typicality,
          c) efficiency, 
          d) ease of use.

We have selected MapInfo software for our tasks. It is one of the most popular GIS systems worldwide, and at the same time one of the cheapest. It is also a product developed for many years so its present version can be regarded as mature. The program is accessible in a Polish language version which certainly aids its introduction as a standard. An important feature of the system is its programmability, due to the compiler of a special programming language called MapBasic. 

3. mAZePa: A SHORT OVERVIEW OF THE OF THE PROGRAM. 

The program mAZePa in its present form (version 1.5, Fig.4) is able to execute the following basic functions: 
     1. The choice of any fragment of a topographical map in one of three ways: 
     1.1) according to an AZP working area number (choice from the graphic interface of AZP grid; Fig.4),
     1.2) according to a 1: 10 000 scale topographic map sheet (choice from the graphic interface of map sheets index; Fig.5),
     1.3) according to a name and/or number of 1: 10 000 scale topographic map sheet (choice from a list of map sheets), 
     1.4) according to a locality name (choice from a list of localities).
     2. Choice of any file with textual information on archaeological sites. The program mAZePa reads the files previously generated by AZP_Max which allows the use of the rich databases created by the Centre of Documentation of Monuments in Warsaw and the regional offices of the Monuments Protection Service all over the country. At present they cover the majority of the sites recorded in Poland so far. 
     3. The above-mentioned data and programs allow the automatic generation of the complete KESA card - i.e., together with the 1:10 000 scale location map (see Fig.3). 
     4. The creation of maps of archaeological sites, previously selected in the program AZP_Max according to a variety of criteria (the user has a choice of 59 characteristics, according to which the site is described, for example: chronology, culture, type of investigation, physiography of terrain, surface area etc.). This allows the automatic creation of a wide selection of single- or multiaspectual thematic maps, ie.: 
     - a map of sites of a selected culture or chronological period,
     - a map of all excavated sites of a specified period and area, 
     - a map of all sites threatened by destruction by a specified threat (planned building of a motorway, pipeline etc). 

5. Additional elements in the form of vector graphics can be superimposed on such a map. These may represent factors and phenomena important for heritage management, such as administrative boundaries, the line of a planned investment, areas which have not yet been investigated by the AZP etc.

6. Changes in the scale of the map. At present these are possible within the range of 1: 5 000 to 1: 20 000. Maps at a scale of 1: 50 000, 1: 100 000 and 1: 300 000 are in preparation. 

7. The possibility to add descriptive labels to any objects on the map. They can be generated automatically from the database (e.g., the label for an archaeological site: locality name + site number + administrative district + chronology + culture).

8. The printing on the KESA card of a standardised location map of the site, previously selected and automatically formatted.
 

4. mAZePa: THE FIRST PRODUCTS

In the course of the exploitation of the mAZePa program in the Department of the Protection of Archaeological Heritage in Poznan Archaeological Museum, besides using it in daily routine, it has been utilised as a tool for the creation of several larger cartographic products. These include:
     - map of archaeological sites in the area of the Poznan province (Fig.6),
     - map of sites along the line of the planned A2 motorway in the Poznan area (Polish / German border - Poznan - Wrzesnia; Fig.7),
     - map of sites along the line of the trans-European (Jamal-Western Europe) gas pipeline in the Poznan area.

The most recent initiative of our museum in the process of perfecting computer tools for archaeologists is the creation of so-called ortophotomaps, i.e., maps of the new generation, the background of which is formed from numerous aerial photographs of the area, mounted in such a manner as to avoid the linear and angular errors usual in normal photographs, which ensures at the same time a considerably greater - because realistic - readability of the map (Fig.8).

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