A Swedish National Infrastructure for Interdisciplinary Environmental Research Integrating Archaeological and Quaternary Geological Data

The Newly formed Swedish National Infrastructure for Digital Archaeology (SweDigArch) and the Strategic Environmental Archaeology Database (SEAD) are positioned at the intersection of environmental research, data science and humanities. They represent a considerable upscaling of archaeological and Quaternary geological databases, combining meticulous data management, collaborative stewardship, advanced online interfaces, and visualization.

SweDigArch seeks to enhance the open accessibility of archaeological data from Swedish institutions, unlocking the knowledge embedded in cultural heritage and environmental repositories to facilitate interdisciplinary and international research. At its core, SweDigArch aims to enable data-driven analyses across diverse archaeological, palaeoecological, and related materials, including links to biodiversity and other external data sources. This initiative advances research on the intricate relationships between human societies and their environments over long timescales, empowering scholars to formulate inquiries that contribute not only to historical comprehension but also hold contemporary relevance and prospective implications.

In the pursuit of data-driven analyses, SweDigArch focuses on facilitating research which examines past human-environment interactions. Through the analysis of archaeological and recent geological datasets, the project endeavors to stimulate research providing insights into the functioning of socio-ecological systems, identifying historical vulnerabilities and resilience-building factors. This knowledge, in turn, will inform contemporary design, planning, and policy frameworks across various institutional and infrastructural domains, from environmental and cultural impact assessments to assessing risks from future climate change.

SweDigArch aims to optimize the utility of Swedish archaeological and palaeoecological data through linked data, open formats, shared vocabularies, and the semantic web. This approach enriches national and international research initiatives and facilitates cross-cultural comparative research, contributing to a broader understanding of global human history.

Integral to the collaborative framework is SEAD, an Open Access repository for proxy environmental data, including various archaeological and palaeoecological datasets. Incorporating datasets such as BugsCEP fossil insect data and Swedish data on plant macrofossils, pollen, dendrochronology, geochemistry, and ceramic thin sections, SEAD's evolving functionality now extends to accommodate osteological and isotope analyses, underscoring its role as a dynamic platform for data visualization and semantic networking.

Together, SweDigArch and SEAD aim to bridge the divide between academic and contract archaeology, offering a pivotal resource for cultural and environmental historical research, urban planning, and sustainability analyses. These initiatives aspire to become the standard primary data infrastructure for all users of Swedish archaeological information, transcending scholarly circles to encompass fields such as cultural heritage preservation and urban planning. This collaborative endeavor invites active engagement from a diverse user base, fostering a scholarly ethos of openness, data-driven inquiry, and interdisciplinary collaboration to deepen our comprehension of the past and contribute to the sustainable shaping of the future.

This presentation will describe the infrastructure and provide examples of its use in the analysis and visualization of interdisciplinary data, including fossil insects, past climate change and human impact on biodiversity and the environment.