January Arrivals at SA

Happy new year to our blog readers! We've had a busy January so far, welcoming two new arrivals to the facility: our (much anticipated!) 3D printer, and our new artifact cabinets. 

 

The 3D printer is a 3D Systems ProJet 660Pro from vendor Progressive Educational Systems Inc. The ProJet 660 uses a composite powder rather than plastic for its build material, and has the capability to create replication-quality pieces in full colour. Stay tuned for our inaugural "first print" post!

Interior view of the printer

In addition to the printer we received our Delta and Rousseau cabinets from Spacesaver Solutions Inc. The cabinets will be used to house special or fragile artifacts.

Happy Holidays from Sustainable Archaeology

 

Happy holidays to all of our blog readers! Another busy and productive year is drawing to  a close, and we would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has expressed interest in and support for Sustainable Archaeology throughout the year. We look forward to sharing more stories and events with you through the blog in 2014. Highlights that we are already looking forward to include the delivery of our 3D printer sometime early in the new year, as well as events hosted at the facility during the 2014 Canadian Archaeological Association conference, to be held in London, Ontario this coming May.

From all of us at Sustainable Archaeology, best wishes for the new year!

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.