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Mobilization as Mediation

Implementing a Tablet-Based Recording System for Ceramic Classification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2018

Parker VanValkenburgh ,
Luiza O. G. Silva ,
Chiara Repetti-Ludlow ,
Jake Gardner ,
Jackson Crook  and
Brian Ballsun-Stanton
Parker VanValkenburgh*
Affiliation:
128 Hope Street, Providence, RI 02906, USA
Luiza O. G. Silva
Affiliation:
128 Hope Street, Providence, RI 02906, USA
Chiara Repetti-Ludlow
Affiliation:
128 Hope Street, Providence, RI 02906, USA
Jake Gardner
Affiliation:
128 Hope Street, Providence, RI 02906, USA
Jackson Crook
Affiliation:
128 Hope Street, Providence, RI 02906, USA
Brian Ballsun-Stanton
Affiliation:
16 University Avenue, Department of Ancient History, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109 New South Wales, Australia
*
(parker_vanvalkenburgh@brown.edu, corresponding author)
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Abstract

In this essay, we examine the potentials and challenges of mobile computing for a core activity of archaeological laboratory research—the typological analysis of ceramics. We discuss the collaborative development, implementation, and evaluation of the PAZC Ceramics module in the FAIMS Mobile platform. Our deployment of the module yielded significant improvements in the efficiency of data collection, as well as reduced numbers of missing fields and higher user satisfaction scores. However, it did not improve data consistency between users and yielded a classificatory system that was somewhat more challenging to update than our previous mode of operation. These results underscore some of the trade-offs that may be entailed in employing mobile technologies for archaeological applications and highlight the ways in which specific media configurations impact the production of archaeological knowledge.

En este artículo, examinamos las posibilidades y desafíos que presenta la computación móvil para una actividad fundamental de la investigación arqueológica —el análisis tipológico de la cerámica. Discutimos el desarrollo colaborativo, la implementación y la evaluación de PAZC Ceramics, un módulo de la plataforma de Sistemas de Manejo de Información Adquirida en Campo (FAIMS, por sus siglas en inglés). Nuestra implementación del módulo produjo mejoras significativas en la eficiencia de la recolección de datos, así como un número reducido de campos perdidos y mayores puntuaciones de satisfacción de usuario. Sin embargo, no mejoró la coherencia de los datos entre usuarios y produjo un sistema clasificatorio un poco más difícil de actualizar respecto al modo de operación anterior. Estos resultados ponen de relieve algunos de los retos que presenta el empleo de tecnologías móviles para aplicaciones arqueológicas y destacan las maneras en que las configuraciones específicas del sistema de registro pueden afectar la producción del conocimiento arqueológico.

Type
Articles
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , November 2018 , pp. 342 - 356
Copyright
Copyright 2018 © Society for American Archaeology 

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