Wearing computers - An archaeological case study

This presentation will discuss the results of an archaeological field trial using a wearable (PC/104) image capture system in order to demonstrate the potential of image sequence tagging methods for efficient data retrieval in documentary applications. The goal of a field archaeologist is to extract as much information as possible from a working excavation site. It is important that information is gathered during the excavation to ensure that artefact position and orientation information is preserved, because once excavated the site is effectively destroyed. Data recording is often performed through time-consuming hand-drawing of the site, although it may be better achieved with photographs and detailed topological plans. However, as with many documentary applications, one could usefully take many photographs which themselves need to be carefully catalogued.