Internet Archaeology 32

Archaeology is a material, embodied discipline; communicating this experience is critical to student success. In the context of lower-division archaeology courses, the present study examines the efficacy of 3D virtual and 2D archaeological representations of digs. This presentation aims to show a 3D application created to teach the archaeological excavation process to freshmen students. An archaeological environment was virtually re-created in 3D, and inserted in a virtual reality software application that allows users to work with the reconstructed excavation area. The software was tested in class for teaching the basics of archaeological fieldwork. The application interface is user-friendly and especially easy for 21st century students. The study employed a pre-survey, post-test, and post-survey design, used to understand the students' previous familiarity with archaeology, and test their awareness after the use of the application. Their level of knowledge was then compared with that of those students who had accessed written material only. This case-study demonstrates how a digital approach to laboratory work can positively affect student learning. Increased abilities to complete ill-defined problems (characteristic of the high-order thinking in the field), can, in fact, be demonstrated. 3D Virtual reconstruction serves, then, as an important bridge from traditional coursework to fieldwork.

A review of Review of Archaeology 2.0: New Approaches to Communication and Collaboration by Kansa, E., Kansa, S. and Watrall, E.

At the end of March 2012 the annual international Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) conference took place at the University of Southampton. As part of the conference, a team from the University carried out research to test the extent to which social media could be used to support the event. The Social Media in Live Events (SMiLE) project consisted of a team of volunteers, delegates, conference organisers and external interested parties who carried out a series of activities that aimed to encourage, support and analyse the use of social media at the CAA2012.Shortly after the conference, Nicole Beale, a PhD student and SMiLE project organiser, and Jessica Ogden, a commercial archaeologist and conference delegate, embarked on a series of email conversations in which they discussed some of the key points that were raised during the conference and inspired by SMiLE. This review is an edited version of those conversations. All of the opinions expressed in these emails are those of the two individuals and are not meant to be representative of the CAA committee or the CAA2012 organisers or delegates. It is hoped that these notes provide a personal insight into the ways that social media were received at the CAA2012 and an exploration of the potential impact that these tools and platforms could have for the CAA community more generally.

Listoghil, the central monument and focal point of the Carrowmore passage tomb complex close to Sligo in north-west Ireland, has been ruined, excavated and eventually partially restored. However, the chamber is preserved in its original position. I examine the hypothesis that Listoghil was deliberately aligned to mark seasonal transitions equivalent to astronomical cross-quarter days. The methods include a horizon survey, the isolation of directional features in the monument, and computer modelling of the monument and skyscape. Folklore and legends around seasonal transits, locally, in Ireland, and in many and varied (and independently arising) contexts at temperate latitudes of the world, are seen as information sources complementary to data gathering and observation.