Deploying an Offline, Multi-User, Mobile System for Digital Recording in the Perachora Peninsula, Greece

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the deployment of mobile data capture software developed by the Field Acquired Information Management Systems project (FAIMS Mobile) to document systematic pedestrian surface survey and legacy feature verification at the Perachora Peninsula Archaeology Project (PPAP), Greece, in 2020. FAIMS Mobile is an open-source platform that generates customized Android applications for data capture during field research. We reused and adapted two existing customizations from the FAIMS library for comprehensive digital recording of two workflows, integrating a collection of structured data, geospatial data, photos, and text. FAIMS Mobile required only modest hardware but supported offline setup, synchronization, and data export, allowing PPAP to deploy it despite unreliable internet access. The system proved successful; it was tailored to our aims and methods, captured consistent and well-described data rapidly, and minimized post-processing. All collected data was available daily for planning, and a comprehensive dataset adhering to Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data standards was ready for analysis with only a few hours of processing after fieldwork.

KEYWORDS:

• mobile GIS
• mobile computing
• archaeological survey
• landscape archaeology
• open research
• FAIR data
• Sanctuary of Hera

Disclosure Statement

Sobotkova, Ross, Hermankova, Nassif-Haynes, and Ballsun-Stanton report that they have managed or been employed by the Field Acquired Information Management Systems (FAIMS) project, a university-based research infrastructure project. FAIMS was primarily grant-funded, but also offered customization and support to users on a fee-for-service basis through a research consultancy arrangement at Macquarie University (no fees arose from this project).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (NeCTAR) under eResearch Tools grant RT043 and User support for Virtual Laboratories and eResearch Tools grant V005; the Australian Research Council (ARC) under Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment, and Facilities (LIEF) grant LE140100151; the New South Wales Department of Industry under a Research Attraction and Acceleration Program (RAAP) award; the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) under the ON technology innovation program; Macquarie University under an internal infrastructure grant scheme; the University of New South Wales under an internal infrastructure grant scheme; and, by Macquarie University’s generous donors.

Notes on contributors

Adela Sobotkova

Adela Sobotkova (Ph.D. 2012, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) is Associate Professor in Digital History at the Department of History and Classical Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark, and a long-time leader of the FAIMS Project. She co-directs field archaeology projects in Bulgaria and Greece investigating the rise and decline of social complexity in the Mediterranean. Her research also explores barriers to large-scale data reuse and synthesis and how digital approaches to data capture and management can help overcome them.

Shawn A. Ross

Shawn Ross (Ph.D. 2001, University of Washington, Seattle) is Director of Digitally Enabled Research and Professor of History and Archaeology at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, as well as Co-Director of the FAIMS Project. His research focuses on landscape archaeology, long-term Mediterranean history, and research applications of information technology.

Petra Hermankova

Petra Hermankova (Ph.D. 2017, Charles University) is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of History and Classical Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark. She explores quantitative digital approaches to Greek and Latin epigraphy with a special focus on Ancient Thrace and neighboring regions. Her interests lie in longue durée history of the Mediterranean and the application of open-science approaches.

Susan Lupack

Susan Lupack (Ph.D. 2002, University of Texas, Austin) holds the position of Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Archaeology at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. She is currently co-directing the Perachora Peninsula Archaeological Project and has also been a senior member of the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project. Her research focuses on Mycenaean religion and society, and she is investigating issues of continuity and change from the Bronze Age into the Early Iron Age and the historical Greek periods.

Christian Nassif-Haynes

Christian Nassif-Haynes (B.S. 2018, Macquarie University, Sydney) is a software engineer at Canva contributing to their developer platform. He has also worked as a developer on the FAIMS Project since 2015.

Brian Ballsun-Stanton

Brian Ballsun-Stanton (Ph.D. 2012, University of New South Wales, Sydney) is Solutions Architect (Digital Humanities) for the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. He is the Technical Director for the FAIMS project and a technologist on three other grants in domains ranging from archaeology to security studies. His research focuses on applications of Digital Humanities techniques to research problems, open research, and the philosophy of science.

Panagiota Kasimi

Panagiota Kasimi (degree in History and Archaeology, 1989, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) has worked as a member of the Greek Archaeological Service for the better part of two decades and currently holds the position of Ephor of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Corinthia, regional service of the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports. She has a second degree in Political Science and International relations (2016, University of Peloponnese) and a Masters in Prehistoric Archaeology. She is Co-Director of the Perachora Peninsula Archaeological Project.