James Taylor Publishes on Impact of Digital Tablet Recording in the Field at Çatalhöyük
Open Access Internet Archaeology article examines the role of digital recording methods and visualisation tools in archaeological fieldwork
Dr James Taylor and colleagues published 'The Rise of the Machine': the impact of digital tablet recording in the field at Çatalhöyük in Open Access journal Internet Archaeology. The article considers the role of digital recording methods and visualisation tools in the primary recording of archaeology at the Neolithic tell site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey.
The article creates a framework for documenting the complete process of devising, implementing, and assessing digitised and tablet-based workflows. These harness Çatalhöyük's existing SQL database and intra-site GIS, as well as the increasingly user-friendly suite of 3D recording technologies which are now available to archaeologists.
The Çatalhöyük Research Project's longstanding engagement with digital methods in archaeology means that such a study is well placed to provide insights into wider disciplinary trends that might be described as a 'Digital Turn'. By offering a review of tablet recording and exploring the effects of its introduction upon the archaeologists' relationship with the archaeological remains, the article investigates the applied integration of digital recording technologies and their role in facilitating a deeper reflexivity in the interpretation of the archaeology on the site.