Archaeology Data Service

The ADS and Internet Archaeology are very pleased to announce funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a project to find exciting new ways of making academic research material available online. The latest research will build on work completed as part of an award-winning earlier project known as LEAP (Linking Electronic Archives and Publications) which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under its ICT Strategy programme. The primary goal of the new project - Making the LEAP II: A Transatlantic LEAP - is to support the publication of archaeological research from four North American projects in Internet Archaeology.

The ADS and English Heritage are pleased to announce the online release of the St.Anthony Finds Record by Kevin Camidge. This resource provides a record of the finds recovered from the designated wreck site the St. Anthony. Described as a "fine ship" belonging to King John III of Portugal, the St. Anthony was wrecked on 19th January 1527, while sailing from Flanders to Portugal, a short distance from Gunwalloe Fishing Cove, on Lizard, Cornwall. The resource consists of PDF documentation and a downloadable finds database and an extensive image gallery.

The ADS and the University of Reading are pleased to announce the online release of Styling the body in late Iron Age and Roman Britain resource by Hella Eckardt. The online database provides a basic record of c.1300 toilet instruments recorded in the publication 'Styling the body in late Iron Age and Roman Britain: a contextual approach to toilet instruments' (Crummy, N. and Eckardt, H. 2008. Instrumentum Monograph No. 36). Catalogue numbers given in the text and figures of the book refer to the database presented here, which also lists each object's findspot, and provides a reference to the original publication, where such information is available. The database can be searched by catalogue number, by type or sub-type, by site or by context type, allowing researchers to interrogate the data according to their specific questions.

We are very pleased to announce that the ADS and Internet Archaeology were winners in the Best Archaeological Innovation category at the biennial British Archaeology Awards ceremony at the British Museum on the 10th of November for the LEAP Project exemplars.Deliberately blurring the boundary between publication and archive, the LEAP publications were recognised as demonstrating novel ways in which electronic publication can provide broad access to research findings, and make underlying data available in such a way so that readers are enabled to 'drill down' seamlessly into online archives to test interpretations and develop their own conclusions.The LEAP project was also highly commended in the Best Archaeological ICT Project category.

The ADS, the AHRC and the Leverhume Trust are pleased to announce the online launch of the Anglo-Saxon Kent Electronic Database (ASKED). The Database was built collaboratively by Stuart Brookes and Sue Harrington to facilitate their respective PhD researches at UCL Institute of Archaeology, from 1998-2000. A pared down version of its content is presented here, in order for it to act as the pilot database for a much larger corpus of material currently being gathered under the aegis of the 'Beyond the Tribal Hidage Project' - a Leverhulme funded research project undertaken at UCL Institute of Archaeology by director Martin Welch and research assistant Sue Harrington. It is intended that this new dataset will also be deposited with the Archaeology Data Service in late 2009, retaining the same format as this version of ASKED.

The ADS, The Institute of Archaeology University College London and the AHRC are pleased to announce the release of the Ancient Merv archive. Ancient Merv, in Turkmenistan, is one of the most complex and well-preserved urban centres on the Silk Roads of Central Asia. A succession of major cities at Merv started in the 6th century BC and continued until the Mongol sack of 1221AD, although Mongol occupation, a resurgent Timurid city of the 15th century, and expansion in the 19th century continues the urban sequence. This dataset has been developed as part of the LEAP Project, The urban landscapes of Ancient Merv, Turkmenistan: Where to draw the line?, an integrated electronic publications and archive, for publication in Internet Archaeology (Issue 25), with digital archiving by ADS.

Another 147 grey literature reports have been released from OASIS into the Grey Lit Library bringing the total released this month to 262 and the total number held to 2582. This release has included reports from CAM ARC, Archaeological Services and Consultancy, Exeter Archaeology, GSB Prospection Ltd and NAU Archaeology.

The ADS, English Heritage, Cotswold Archaeology and the University of Reading are pleased to announce the online availability of Assessing The Research Potential Of Grey Literature In The Study Of Roman England by Neil Holbrook and Richard Morton. The Roman Grey Literature Project assesses the research potential of grey literature in the understanding of Roman England. The project addresses the grey literature of the whole of England, looking at questions such as: "how many investigations are finding Roman remains, and where?"; "are there any significant distributions in these remains, and if so why?"; and "how many of these investigations are reaching publication?". This extensive database and interactive map are based on data from the AIP and enhanced by Cotswold Archaeology with information on publications. It lists all of the investigations recorded by the AIP which found Roman remains.

The ADS and the University of York are pleased to announce the release of The Viking and Anglo-Saxon Landscape and Economy (VASLE) project archive. Created by Julian Richards, John Naylor and Caroline Holas-Clark and funded by the AHRC, the VASLE project is the first attempt to examine PAS and EMC data on a national scale. There are now thousands more artefacts and coins known than a decade ago which, in conjunction with fieldwork, have the potential to revolutionise our understanding of the early medieval period. This archive contains two datasets: a national database for finds dated to AD c.700-1050; and a sites database providing further information about finds recovered from over 65 so-called 'productive sites'. The archive should be used in conjunction with the report of the VASLE project, "Anglo-Saxon landscape and economy: using portable antiquities to study Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age England", published in Internet Archaeology (forthcoming).

The ADS and English Heritage are pleased to announce the launch of the Review of Animal Bone Evidence from Central England online resource. Created by Umberto Albarella and Tessa Pirnie, the principal aim of this project was to produce a review of the animal bone evidence from Central England from Mesolithic to modern times. The dataset collected for this purpose consisted of details gleaned from excavation reports (or specialist bone reports), concerning vertebrate remains (of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) found primarily on archaeological sites. As well as the production of the Regional Review, the dataset is freely available and searchable online.

Are you a researcher wanting to make use of e-research tools and technologies but don't know where to start? If so you are not alone! We are conducting a major set of studies throughout 2008 and early 2009 into the challenges researchers face in taking up e-research technologies, and how to overcome these.Just one hour of your time would help make this study as representative of researchers as possible. You will discover a range of technologies that could help you in your day-to-day research. You will hear how other researchers are already making use of these technologies. You will also find out about new contacts and discover who to approach if you have further questions. To take part contact us at info at engage.ac.uk. We will then call you and arrange an interview at your convenience. The interview will cover your day-to-day experience of research and last no more than an hour.

The ADS are pleased to announce the release of an additional 107 Grey Literature reports (unpublished field work).This includes reports from Birmingham Archaeology, Colchester Archaeological Trust, Highland Archaeology Services, Aberdeen City Council Archaeological Unit, and also from Stephen Haigh appearing in the library for the first time. As ever, these reports cover a very wide geographical spread and touch upon every conceivable archaeological time period. The total number of reports in the library is 2215 and there are a further 92 awaiting processing and release in the next few weeks.

The ADS and English Heritage are pleased to announce the online release of England's Historic Seascapes. This is a programme of projects funded through the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund to develop a nationally-applicable method for assessing and mapping the historic character of our present coastal and marine environment: Historic Seascape Characterisation (HSC). Development of a robust, nationally-relevant HSC methodology presents many challenges which have been addressed through two rounds of pilot projects, their areas selected to include a broad range of the historic and management contexts encountered in England's coastal and marine zones. It is the results of these pilot programmes that are presented here.

The ADS and Lake District National Park Authority are pleased to announce the availability of the Lake District Historic Environment Record (HER) online. With the objective of making this HER accessible to a wider audience, it is hosted by ADS where it is integrated into their searching and delivery mechanisms. This was made possible through a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the implementation of the Access to Archaeology Project. This HER is now fully cross-searchable with all the other HERs and National Monuments Records made available through the ADSs ArchSearch interface.

The ADS and the Trustees of Glastonbury Abbey are pleased to announce an update to the Archaeology of Glastonbury Abbey archive. This update comprises a report produced by Jerry Sampson in 1995 which records in detail the evidence for a complex painted scheme covering many of the wall surfaces in the 12th century Lady Chapel. The report is made available for download as a series of pdf files.