16th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology

79 Zadar, Croatia | 26 September – 1 October 2021 Pat Tanner 3D Scanning Ireland, Ireland The significance of archaeological source data From experience gained on projects such as the Newport Medieval Ship, Bremen Cog re-analysis, Poole Logboat analysis, and the Sutton Hoo digital reconstruc- tion, all archaeology is contingent on the source data and everything stems from that. That source data, by its nature can be difficult to understand, and the study of ship remains often begins with the recording of seemingly trivial details such as the thickness of planks, the number and size of nails, or the direction of an adze stroke. Achieving a detailed understanding of both the object and the processes is predicated on the quality of the underlying source data. Past reconstruction projects may have used the source data, but it is not always possible to understand or interrogate how that source data has been used or interpreted, due to the lack of published paradata. Consequently, the tech- nology used to record site data is not a secondary concern but is central to the activity of site archaeology. We have an obligation to bridge the gap between the exclusive knowledge of the excavator and the published record, a mode of data capture and record that is devoid of interpretation, or where interpretation is inevitable, paradata is used to explain the human processes of understanding and interpretation of the data objects. This presentation examines the development of methods employed in the surveying of an archaeological excavation site, in essence the capture and record- ing of the raw primary data from the site or artefact. Just as a site has stratigraphy, ships also have a stratigraphy in themselves, which must be carefully recorded. The rapid advances in both hardware and post-processing software means it is now possible to easily capture high volume and high-quality 3D data. This form of digital data should go a long way towards bridging the gap between the exclusive knowledge of the excavator and the published record, allowing lots of people to use the data in new and novel ways, and this raises the question: as archaeolo- gists should we all be doing this?