Artifact Photography Stations

Our artifact photography stations are taking shape. Purchased from Vistek, we have two stationary work spaces and one flexible kit for large-scale or on-site photography. Each stationary station consists of a Nikon D5200 DSLR camera with 18-50mm lens, a Manfrotto tripod, a Lastolite Cubelite, Lastolite lamps, and Westcott Apollo reflectors with Nikon SB700 speedlights. 

Our floating camera station is outfitted with both an 18-200mm telephoto and 60mm macro lens and a 6' Cubelite for optimal versatility in field and lab, with large artifacts and small. Nikon Camera Capture Pro2 software will be used to take the photographs directly from the tethered laptop at each station. 

In addition to the Cubelites, which serve to diffuse light from every direction, we have several different sized reflectors and diffusers, which can be used to manage glare, reflection, and shadow when photographing and 3D scanning artifacts. Every artifact record in the database will include a photo to aid in identification, and to provide remote users with the means to view an artifact online without traveling to the facility.

Sustainable Archaeology at the OAS Symposium

This past weekend staff from both Sustainable Archaeology Western and McMaster attended the annual Ontario Archaeology Society Symposium in Niagara Falls.

View of both the American and Canadian falls from the conference venue

In addition to our workshop at the end of the day, we were in the book room for the day Saturday, and were able to have some great conversations with a number of professional archaeologists, students, and representatives of other organizations such as the Canadian Conservation Institute and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. 

Book room table setup

We received some great feedback on our use of digital tools and inventory management logic  for labeling and cataloguing of artifacts at Sustainable Archaeology, and enjoyed introducing people to the "immersive archaeological experience" using the Oculus Rift - a virtual reality headset that is designed for the gaming industry. The Oculus at  SA is used to immerse users in a reconstruction of the Lawson village site (located next door to SA: Western at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology) created in summer 2012 by the Sustainable Archaeology Animation Unit internship, using the Unreal game engine. 

Trying out the Oculus

We look forward to continuing conversations from the weekend, and continue to welcome feedback on our draft Procedures and Practices document, available on our website. Thanks to the OAS for a great weekend!

"As it Happens": database development using Neo4J

Database development at Sustainable Archaeology "as it happens": the database team works with Neo4J .

Neo4j is used to power metadata queries, such as searches across attributes recorded for each artifact entered into the database.

Screenshot of Neo4J

This visualization of related nodes will be integrated into each element's record in the database, allowing a user to explore connections between different elements. For example, if the element of interest is an artifact, the user is able to explore the connections between that artifact and other related elements, such as the artifact's unit, and site of origin.

October at Sustainable Archaeology

Work study student Branwen applying labels

October has arrived with a flurry of activity, the shipment of several skids of our green artifact storage boxes, and some beautiful colours out back of the facility in the Medway Valley. This month we welcomed two new faces to the facility: Western work study students Ilsa and Branwen. Together they have been helping us to advance over one of the bigger hurdles we have here at the facility - the application of over 27,000 labels to the shelves of the mobile shelving units. Each individual box in the facility will be stored at a unique shelf address, which will be recorded in the database via the DM code barcoding system. Each label stores the information for two shelf locations, the "front" box, and the "back" box behind it.

Throughout the remainder of the month we will be preparing to host a workshop at the Ontario Archaeological Society Symposium in Niagara Falls on Saturday October 26th. Hope to see you there!

Sustainable Archaeology: Western is interested in purchasing a 3D printer to use in association with our 3D scanners and microCT to replicate archaeological artifacts. A request for quotation (RFQ) has been published on the Canadian Public Tenders website, MERX. The deadline for submissions is Friday, October 4th.

Notes from the SA: Fall/Winter 2013

The Fall/Winter 2013 edition of the SA newsletter Notes from the SA is out! Click through the pages below to view online, or download directly from Issuu.

Flotation Machine in Action

Featured in a previous post, Sustainable Archaeology's soil flotation machine from R. J. Dausman Technical Services, Inc. was put through its paces today. A team from New Directions Archaeology Ltd. was on site to un-crate and set up the machine, running the first tests out in the Lawson village at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology, next door. They will be floating dry sediment samples over the next few days that they have collected from some recent excavations the company has been working on.

The machine requires access to running water for its initial fill, as well as access to a source of electricity for circulating the water in the tank. After its initial fill, the machine recycles water within itself to allow for light-fraction flotation, and heavy-fraction rinsing with an attached spray-hose. The material captured in the screens is then allowed to dry on newspaper before it is packaged, and later analyzed. The fine mesh, as seen in the images below, allows for the capture of tiny floating artifacts, such as tobacco seeds. A courser mesh filters the heavier fraction of sediment, which can include artifacts such as shell, bone and pieces of flaked stone tool.