Swedish archaeology becomes digitally searchable

“This will change the way we work with archaeology and look at broader issues related to societal change,” says Daniel Löwenborg, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology, Ancient History and Conservation.

He is responsible for the part of Swedigarch that collects geographic information system (GIS) data from different surveys and excavations. On his computer, he shows a map of Sweden with lots of red dots. Each dot can represent thousands of archaeological finds.

“Since the 1990s, work in the field has been performed digitally. Instead of just drawing what you see, you use a GPS or a total station surveying instrument to get the exact areas that you have examined and measure finds, post holes, graves and everything else. The reports from the surveys and excavations have been digitised and made available, but this geodata, which is an important part of the basic documentation, has not been made available at all,” says Daniel Löwenborg.

A better idea of the lives of ancient people

In the next step, the idea is to develop Swedigarch further so that it is possible, for example, to search for where in Sweden a certain type of artefact, a certain type of building structure and so on has been found. The information can be combined with data from DNA analyses and other sources to get an even better idea of the lives of ancient people.

“Archaeology has very much been about studying single artefacts or individual sites. With Swedigarch, we want to raise the research questions to a higher level and look at societal development and how society has been affected by migration, climate change and other factors,” says Daniel Löwenborg.

A better understanding

The data collected in Swedigarch can help researchers to get a better picture of how people have dealt with serious crises throughout history. This can lead to a better understanding of how similar events can impact society today. For example, climate change – just like in the past – can lead to conflict due to food shortages and people fleeing certain areas due to drought and natural disasters.

“If you think about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, archaeology is needed to get a real long-term perspective over thousands of years and look at the interplay between society, people and climate. Conducting such research will be even better when we have this type of data available,” says Daniel Löwenborg.

A completely different sense of ‘we’

He is pleased that initiatives such as Swedigarch strengthen the collaboration between universities and archaeology and contribute to the development of archaeological research.

“In the past, there hasn’t always been a lot of collaboration between the different universities and with contract archaeology. But now that we can work closely, sit and talk to each other often, and collaborate more concretely, it feels like we have a completely different sense of ‘we’ in Swedish archaeology,” says Daniel Löwenborg.

Åsa Malmberg