First Person: Avatars, simulation, bioarchaeology and the reanimation of past peoples

Event details

T'ain't no sin to take off your skin/And dance around in your bones 

-Walter Donaldson / Edgar Leslie

Advances in archaeological simulation, including virtual reality and augmented reality have led to extensive reconstructions of past landscapes and architecture. These include creative interventions in mixed reality, with photo overlays from modern street scenes, whispered conversations from gravestones, and immersive gaming events. Simultaneous bioarchaeological advances in ancient DNA, istotopic and proteomic analyses lend an incredible fidelity to reconstructions of past individuals and their lifeways. In this talk I discuss the ethics and affordances of the virtual simulation of past people, and the near-future potential and implications of avatar embodiment and identity. What happens when you can become someone from the past?

Colleen Morgan is the EUROTAST Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of York where she explores the intersections between digital media and difficult heritage. She received her PhD in Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley in 2012 and her BA in Anthropology/Asian Studies in 2004 at the University of Texas.  Since that time, she has worked both as a professional and academic archaeologist in Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, England, Greece, Texas, Hawaii and California, excavating sites 100 years old and 10,000 years old and anything in-between.

Colleen's current research is based on building archaeological narratives with digital media, using photography, video, mobile and locative devices. Through archaeological making she explores past lifeways and our current understanding of heritage, especially regarding issues of authority, authenticity, and identity.