Standardization of Digital Site Plans in Poland
Standardization of Digital Site Plans in Poland

Summary/Abstract: At the turn of the analogue and digital era in archaeology, in Poland, the earlier forms are still dominant. The National Institute of Cultural Heritage (NID in Polish) sets out the general rules for the development of site plans, which are the part of the archaeological field work documentation. However, NID does not define standards for the development of plans with the use of geoinformation technology. The paper presents some aspects of a digital site plan elaboration. The goal is also to demonstrate how to implement the solution in a Geographical Information System (GIS) application, using the example of QGIS software. On one hand, the solution proposed in this study is in line with the Polish archaeological nomenclature and gives the possibility to take into account data dependencies between sites located in different parts of the country. On the other hand, the proposed system of raw material and found codes may also be used to analyze concepts and phenomena covering an area beyond current national borders (e.g. the Amber Route based on fossil resin from the Baltic region). The description of the proposed archaeological site data model in Unified Modelling Language notation creates great implementation capabilities in any GIS and Database Management System environments. Standardization in the area of digital archaeological documentation and the use of common data structures may extend the possibilities of analysis and interpretation of research results both in the micro (e.g., urban) and macro scale (e.g., international).

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