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This piece should be filed under “Never Satisfied.” For some time I have been clamoring for final reports, the official and complete account of an archaeological excavation. The failure to publish final reports is a major stain on the archaeological record. So, now a number of final reports are being published. And, wouldn’t you know it, I’m still not happy.
The reason I’m not satisfied is that the recently published final reports are to a great extent unusable. No one can read them, let alone use them. This is not because they are shoddy, incompetent or incomplete. On the contrary, they are scientific, detailed and complete. But that’s the problem. They often consist mainly of meticulous catalogues with minute descriptions of hundreds of artifacts or details about these artifacts. The human mind is simply incapable of absorbing this much detail.
Yet all this detail is important—not for anyone to read but for another excavator or analyst to use, perhaps 10 to 20 years hence. But the details cannot be manipulated in this form—on the printed page. In short, the day of the complete published report on the printed page is over! It is as obsolete as the quill pen. The only question is how soon the profession will realize that the details, the catalogues and the immense charts must be in electronic form, so they can be manipulated by other researchers to produce meaningful patterns and new hypotheses and explanations.
The published report on the printed page should consist mainly of the excavator’s own summary and interpretation. It should be something that scholars will want to read and absorb in order to keep up with the latest developments in the field.
Software is already being developed—indeed, it is in an advanced stage—for computerizing final reports. This software will not only make the details usable but also bring a certain standardization, which should enable archaeologists to compare one site with another more easily. The profession should promptly vet this software and publicize its availability.
One other suggestion: The Shelby White-Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications has recently awarded grants to publish final reports on 13 excavations—four in Israel, two in the West Bank and the Golan Heights, two in Jordan and five in Greece and the Aegean. All the recipients of these grants have a common problem: What should their final reports consist of, and how should the material be presented and published? The recipients of these generous grants should get together immediately to discuss this. They should then tell us what they decide. They may or may not all do the same thing. They may agree on some things but not on others. But they all face common problems. How they face these problems should illuminate what the possibilities are, lighting the way to the future for all of us.
This piece should be filed under “Never Satisfied.” For some time I have been clamoring for final reports, the official and complete account of an archaeological excavation. The failure to publish final reports is a major stain on the archaeological record.a So, now a number of final reports are being published. And, wouldn’t you know it, I’m still not happy. The reason I’m not satisfied is that the recently published final reports are to a great extent unusable. No one can read them, let alone use them. This is not because they are shoddy, incompetent or incomplete. On the […]
