Issue 96

September/October 2007

Contents

news

Ambassador sees peace message in museum

Archaeologist who fought for history's underdogs dies

Roman fort found in Cornwall

Full scale of ancient Welsh stone quarry revealed

In Brief & Phase 2

features

More travels - This is not just a walk, this is an archaeological walk
John Cannon considers places to see in County Durham

Green treasures from the magic mountains
Alison Sheridan describes exciting new French project on Jade Axes

Fading star: Star Carr
Fieldwork at the iconic mesolithic site reveals new fears

opinion

Let Lucy sparkle

on the web

Recommended websites
Who's blogging? And the Society of Antiquaries of London

letters

Views and responses

CBA correspondent

Campaigns, comment and communications from the CBA
Mike Heyworth wonders what lies ahead for archaeology

ISSN 1357-4442

Editor Mike Pitts

on the web

Where is the personal touch?

Caroline Wickham-Jones finds time to read some archaeological blogs.

The internet is no longer simply a remote provider of information: it offers more personal services, the most popular of which must be the blog. From travel journals to the risqué doings of Washington interns, many people take the opportunity to parade their activities and thoughts before a world-wide audience. Many people enjoy reading them. Some are instructive, others whacky. What does archaeology offer?

Interestingly, there are surprisingly few truly personal archaeological blogs to be found. Links to many so-called blog sites produce mundane listings of recent news with little comment or discussion. This is not a blog. One of the few true blogs comes from a site that has appeared on these pages before: Thetford Forest Archaeology (On the web May/Jun 2006) provides an archaeo blog (spamandchips.net/archaeology/blog.htm) comprising a set of (interesting) ramblings on various topics vaguely connected by archaeology. Sadly, there does not seem to have been an entry for a while.

Another nicely personal site is Remote Central set up by Tim Jones from London (remotecentral.blogspot.com). Is he an archaeologist? The minimalistic profile does not tell us, but his contributions are wide and stimulating. Archaeogeek, in contrast, gives us plenty of background (www.archaeogeek.com/blog) and provides a good mix of serious thought and useful discussion.

Archaeoseek (archaeoseek.ning.com) describes itself as a social network for archaeologists. This is a us based site, but the reach is world-wide. The topics look appealing but unfortunately it is not possible just to browse. Anthropology Net (anthropology.net), allows one to read the entries in full, though registration is necessary to post a comment. There are some wide-ranging entries, and the theme is not as palaeolithic as it may seem at first. These are communal blog sites, as is Archaeolog (www.archaeolog.org). Here you will find less of the meanderings of the solo diary, but it does provide personal insights into the concerns and work of archaeologists around the world.

Despite their web address Archnetwork (arch.blogware.com/blog/ichi) hides its blogs well (check the menu at the bottom left for reports). This is a good example of the way in which the internet can transmit experience, but beware: unless you are a participant you will be envious.

What about the UK mainstays? The Council for British Archaeology's new Community Archaeology Forum (www.britarch.ac.uk/caf; see On the web, May/Jun) offers potential as a blogspot, though as yet it deals only with information on specific projects. There are some interesting links, but no personal accounts so far.

Current Archaeology's new website (www.ilovethepast.com) also misses a trick and seems to provide mainly static articles and dig listings. BAJR, the British Archaeological Jobs Resource (www.bajr.org), which long ago outgrew its modest name, also does not (yet?) offer any blogs despite the eclectic and nicely alternative viewpoint of the information and services that it offers.

The general lack of personal archaeological weblogs is disappointing for they can provide a popular means of communication to a wide audience, as many have found in other walks of life. What are all the archaeologists or archaeologically-interested doing? Too much work obviously.

Historic Webscapes

• The Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavations Official (and Unofficial) Weblog – gath.wordpress.com
  • An excellent mix of academic thought and personal gossip.
• Archaeogeek – www.archaeogeek.com/blog
  • Jo Cook from Oxford Archaeology treats us to a view of her world.
• Remote Central – remotecentral.blogspot.com
  • Don't be put off by the essay on aliens – the entries are eclectic and range worldwide with many useful links.
• Archaeolog – www.archaeolog.org
  • Everything from the most recent tag to graffiti as archaeology.
• Aardvarchaeology – scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology
  • Apparently the world's number one archaeology blog.

Keeping the balls rolling

Christopher Catling describes the revamped website of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

The Society of Antiquaries celebrates its tercentenary in 2007/8. To accompany a series of major linked events, the website has been redesigned from scratch (www.sal.org.uk). David Gaimster, the society's general secretary, expresses the key philosophy when he describes the site as an opportunity for people to get to know us better. "We are 300 years old, but we are modern, relevant and accessible", he says. "This is our shop window".

This accessibility is reflected in the simplicity of the home page. Studying other websites and talking to web users, we decided that this should have no more than three major story links. We also have an area for punchy news headlines linked to pages deeper into the site, and we thought long and hard about the number and names of the tabs and the header and footer links to make finding information as intuitive as possible.

Currently we expect most people will come to the site to find out about our Royal Academy exhibition (Making History, Sep 15–Dec 2), and the public lectures to be given by such prominent fellows as David Starkey, David Cannadine and Sir Neil Cossons. So these are now our first two home page stories.

The third home page link takes you to the society's newsletter, Salon (the Society of Antiquaries' Online Newsletter). This began as an internal bulletin for fellows, but the popularity of its mix of news and comment on current heritage issues encouraged us to make it more public. "Salon shows that the society is not afraid to engage in debate over the policy issues that affect our lives as heritage professionals", says Gaimster. "It has come to be regarded by many in the heritage sector as essential reading".

The website is entirely under the control of society staff who update the pages with a content management system designed by Adaptive Technologies, a Brighton-based IT company that specialises in websites for museums and heritage bodies. The budget was very modest. Developing a site capable of being updated easily by non-specialists has meant jettisoning flashier features, but it is still surprisingly rich.

For example, the interview of the month feature means that users can listen to prominent archaeologists (such as the late John Hurst) by downloading audio files from the society's archives; in due course we might even post up lecture video footage. Users can check the library catalogue online, or identify recently accessioned books.

Commercial organisations come to the site for information on hiring the society's rooms (soon to emerge fresh from a major refurbishment), and picture researchers use it for our illustrated catalogue of paintings and drawings. The online shop lets you book and pay for lecture tickets, and the publications section lets you see abstracts of papers in the Antiquaries Journal, the society's peer-reviewed annual publication, or link to distributors of the society's books.

The public side of the website has an up to date list of all fellows. There is also a password-protected area where fellows can check out each others' contact details, and propose and elect new fellows.

You cannot simply apply to join the Society of Antiquaries. Instead, you have to be sponsored by at least six existing fellows, and be put to a ballot. Fellows can still vote by placing cork balls inside an 18th century mahogany ballot box divided into "Yea" and "No" – or they can simply log on to the website. "We are", says David Gaimster, "the only learned society, as far as I know, to go for 21st century digital technology so wholeheartedly and in so many different ways".

Christopher Catling is the Society of Antiquaries of London website manager.

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