British Academy & Arcadia 'Mapping World Archaeology' Conference

Over the past decade, a number of large-scale projects, primarily led by UK universities and supported by major grants from the Arcadia Fund, have transformed how heritage is surveyed and studied. Developed in close collaboration with partners in the regions under study, these projects have generated heritage data at an unprecedented scale. Originally designed to address the urgent need for heritage records in the face of growing threats from conflict, urban development, and climate change, these projects have also generated important debates. The extensive use of remote sensing and digital tools has raised important questions on issues of data sovereignty, research ethics, and the evolving relationships between international research teams, local professional communities, and the wider public in the countries being studied

The conference will provide a forum to discuss the implications of this new “big data” era and ethics in heritage research.

Conference Convenor

• Dr. Bill Finlayson, Director, Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA)

Conference Co-Convenors

• Dr. Mike Heyworth, Arcadia Fund
• Prof. Paul Lane, Mapping Africa's Endangered Archaeological Sites and Monuments (MEASaM)
• Dr. Marco Nebbia, Senior Research Fellow, (CAAL), UCL Institute of Archaeology
• Prof. Marco Madella, Mapping Pre-Columbian archaeological heritage in South America (MAPHSA)
• Prof. Lucy Blue, Maritime Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (MarEA)
• Dr. Colin Breen, Maritime Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (MarEA)
• Prof. Michael Feener, Maritime Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS)
• Dr. Michael Fisher, Mongolia Heritage Sites Survey (MAPSS)
• Prof. Cameron Petrie, Mapping the Archaeological Heritage of South Asia (MAHSA)
• Prof. Andrew Wilson, Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA)

Conference Notes

Over the past decade, the Arcadia Fund has supported a series of large-scale archaeological projects, represented by the group of convenors, to document heritage around much of the world beyond Western Europe and North America. The programme was initially sparked by the increasing deliberate destruction of cultural heritage as an act of political propaganda by bodies such as the Taliban and ISIS, giving a focus to endangered archaeology. As the programmes developed it became evident that processes such as urban and agricultural development and increasingly climate change were all severely and rapidly damaging archaeological sites and landscapes in countries which often had very incomplete cultural heritage records, limited staff resources in both state and university heritage sectors, and which were going through rapid processes of development.

Working closely with partners across multiple regions, the projects have developed large-scale prospection and documentation methods, including:

• Remote sensing and geospatial recording
• Field documentation
• Photogrammetry, LiDAR visualizations and architectural drawings
• Oral history documentation, manuscript digitization and museum cataloguing

These initiatives have targeted areas previously undocumented by archaeological survey, creating a massive new archive of heritage data. The resulting robust datasets are intended for open-access publication via the respective project databases. The scale and scope of these efforts have raised important questions regarding data sovereignty, sustainability, and the relationships between international researchers, national governments, local professional communities, and wider publics in the countries studied.

The conference will address key issues arising from this new landscape of ‘big data’ in archaeology and the ethical responsibilities of researchers and heritage professionals. This unprecedented transnational data resource not only serves the initial goal of emergency documentation but also presents significant new research opportunities. Key themes and discussion areas are:

1. Global Heritage Management:
Exploring issues of Cultural Resource Management, the role of Official Development Assistance, post-colonial dynamics, and the concept of soft power in heritage practice.

2. Ethics of Remote Sensing in Archaeological Mapping:
Considering the implications of large-scale projects primarily led by senior academics in Western institutions, and reflecting on diversity, equity, and post-colonial relationships in international research collaborations.

3. Creating a Big Data Resource:
Examining whether these remote sensing initiatives constitute a novel form of archaeological “big data,” and how insights from other disciplines can inform its use and management.

4. New Approaches:
Assessing how these datasets enable new comparative research across regions previously constrained by national boundaries or differing survey methodologies.

5. Overcoming Challenges:
Addressing technical difficulties, differing approaches to open access, linking tangible and intangible heritage, and ensuring data sustainability.

6. Futures Roundtable:
We will conclude by discussing the trajectory of local heritage management, research tools, and global resources as Arcadia funding is coming to an end. Participants will include representatives from other funding organizations, several of whom have already supported spin-off projects that build on the datasets, collaborations, and expertise developed through the Arcadia-funded initiatives., as well as officials from the DCMS/British Council Cultural Protection Fund, and senior figures from partner organizations, including four Directors General from national antiquities departments.

Multidisciplinary Approaches:
Although rooted in archaeology, these projects integrate methodologies from multiple disciplines, enriching data collection and analysis. Discussions will encompass international aid, cultural heritage’s role in soft power, postcolonial considerations, and national data sovereignty, emphasizing the broader public and policy significance of these initiatives

Supported by

Conference Programme

Day One: Monday, 7th December

Registration 09:00 -10.00: Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre, Worcester College

10:00 - Session I: Global Heritage Management

This session will discuss issues of international and cross border Cultural Heritage Management, the role of international researchers (how we operate, and how are we perceived), the place of international ODA funding in Cultural Heritage Management, and how these play out in post-colonial relationships, soft-power, and national heritage contexts.

Chair:

Prof. Cameron Petrie & Prof. Andrew Wilson

Speakers:

Dr Lamine Badji, MEASaM, Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN), UCAD Dakar, Senegal

“Under the Decolonial Lens: An Archaeology of Colonial Cartographies in Francophone West Africa.”

Dr Bayarsaikhan Jamsranjav, MAPSS, Institute of Archaeology Mongolia

“Impact of MAPSS workshops and local fieldwork collaborations on both the archaeological

discipline in Mongolia and the preservation of Mongolian archaeological heritage.”

Dr Dmitry Voyakin, CAAL, Kazakhstan

“Legislation, protection and digital inventories – the sustainability of impact.”

Dr Lucy Blue and Dr Colin Breen, MarEA, Southampton University

“Changing Coasts: The protection and management of Marine Cultural Heritage (MCH) in the MENA region.”

Lunch: 13.00

14:00 - Session II: Ethics of Remote Sensing in Archaeological Mapping

The session will be led by speakers from partners and international scholars with a focus on data ownership. We will be discussing the ethics of remote sensing and digital data as part of archaeological mapping activities where remote sensing and trans-national projects are often not part of existing antiquities legislation and permit systems. Are we extracting data from local stakeholders and imposing Western views on Open Data? To what degree are we using methods that are not accessible to local stakeholders to identify what we define as heritage, and then handing over responsibility of management of this resource - thereby abrogating some/all of the responsibility?

Chair:

Prof. Paul Lane & Prof. Ruth Young

Speakers:

Dr Neha Gupta, Assistant Professor in Anthropology, University of British Columbia

“Data governance, cultural rights and the use of AI systems in archaeology.”

HE Prof Fadi Bela'awi, Secretary-General, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Jordan

“Data ownership.”

Dr Mia Bennett, Assistant Professor in Geography, University of Washington

“Pixel politics: Critical remote sensing in the era of New Space and Google Earth.”

Dr Gai Jorayev, Assistant Professor in Cultural Heritage Management, Macao University of Tourism & UCL

“Soviet standardisation, top-down approaches and the ethics of remote sensing in Central Asia.”

Day Two: Tuesday, 8th December