University of Southampton OCS (beta), CAA 2012

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The Web as a Space for Interpretation of the Real in Archaeology
Nicole Beale

Last modified: 2011-12-13

Abstract


The Web as a Space for Interpretation of the Real in Archaeology

 

The Web has been well supported as a platform for the dissemination of data relating to Archaeology.   The Web has been adopted by many within the archaeology sector as a method for presenting narratives and as a place for the display of media-rich information.

Increasingly, there is real potential for the Web to facilitate interpretation of archaeological data.  In particular, developments in social web tools and platforms have led to the provision of spaces for truly democratic sharing and deliberative reading and presenting of information.  

This contribution offers to the round-table session the inclusion of the Web as a space for real interpretation of archaeological data.  Offering the social web as a phenomenon that allows for polyvocal remediation of individual perspectives on narratives, this paper argues that recent developments on the Web allow for the decentralisation of archaeological discourse, with potential for meaningful multivocal events, resulting in peripatetic narratives which constantly evolve. 

This paper will explore the extent to which the Web is still regarded with the original conception of hypertext as a platform for narrative, and argues that a more participatory Web, in line with current web trends for curation and storytelling using collaborative platforms can contribute to enhanced interpretation of archaeological records.  


Keywords


hypertext; web; realism; interpretation; multivocality; narrative