Data matrix codes used to catalogue archaeological heritage

The technology application represents substituting manual registry for digital coding, thus reducing errors to 1 percent

2011-01-20

(Press-News.org) The research team at the Centre for the Studies of Archaeological and Prehistoric Heritage (CEPAP) of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have implemented an innovative system to register archaeological artefacts which eliminates problems in manual markings, such as errors in writing or erosion of data. The system, based on direct labelling using bi-dimensional data matrix (DM) codes, has been used by the CEPAP team during two years, in which numerous artefacts and bone remains from sites in Spain and Africa were registered.

The marking of archaeological material, or coding, is the process in which archaeologists identify each of the artefacts discovered at a site through an identifier code which is currently applied manually to each item and which contains the name of the site, the archaeological level at which it was found and an inventory number. This information is essential because it remits to a complex network of data which contextualises each artefact individually.

Manual coding is a routine process which requires much time and effort, and in which many errors exists - in some cases up to 40%. Moreover, with the pass of time the coding becomes unclear and this often may hinder subsequent studies. For this reason an important part of the work done in museums, especially with important artefacts or collection items, consists in recoding the objects.

The CEPAP team has achieved to reduce coding errors to 1% by applying a new digital cataloguing system used in several dig sites to register all types of collections.

To identify each object DM codes are applied directly to the objects. The codes adapt in proportion to the size of the identified artefact, up to a minimum of 3x3 millimetres. There are many advantages when these codes are compared to bar codes, a registry system which in past years was tested in different archaeological projects. Due to their size, in many cases bar codes cannot be applied directly to the objects and must be adhered to the bag containing the artefact. This however easily can give way to errors during the manipulation of the objects.

DM codes are printed with a program CEPAP designed for the firm IWS (Internet Web Serveis), one of the project collaborators, which makes it possible to introduce alphanumeric sequences, forming series with up to 20 digits to identify each of the objects.

Printed on polypropylene labels, the codes are adhered to the artefacts by first placing them between two layers of Paraloid B72, an acrylic resin widely used in restoration of archaeological material because of its durability and long-term protection of the label. If the label is damaged - up to 30% of the code - the information can be reprinted fully.

Each archaeological object contains an identifier code (site, archaeological unit and sequential name). The information of each code can be read using standard readers, video and photo cameras, mobile phone readers, etc. The data includes georeferenced information of the artefacts found at the sites and which are taken with a laser theodolite, as well as several quantitative or qualitative variables which are stored in electronic notebooks or PDAs. Therefore, every day when data is stored in the computer, archaeologists have access to an exhaustive and updated field inventory which includes all of the most recent findings. The program can design and modify quantitative and qualitative variables according to the precise needs of each research project.

In addition to representing a new technology application, the system offers other important advantages. The pilot project carried out in Spanish sites (Roca dels Bous and Cova Gran de Santa Linya in Lleida) and African sites (Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and Mieso in Ethiopia) was directed by Dr Rafael Mora, director of the Centre and lecturer of Prehistory at UAB; Dr Paloma González and Dr Jorge Martínez Moreno. The new system demonstrates substantial advantages when compared to manual coding in terms of speed and reliability, as well as its easy incorporation into everyday archaeological research tasks.

That is why CEPAP researchers find it important for scientists and heritage managers in Spain to consider the possibility of adapting a unique automated registry and cataloguing system for archaeological material, relatively easy to use and fairly economical, which would allow to unify systems which are currently differentiated. At the same time it would give way to the development of digital applications such as data consultation via internet through databases combining DM code information and visual representations (drawings, photos or 3D scans), and cyberspace access to museum pieces, which would make it easier for both researchers and society in general to have access to cultural heritages.

INFORMATION:

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Challenging the limits of learning

2011-01-20

Tel Aviv -- Although we're convinced that baby is brilliant when she mutters her first words, cognitive scientists have been conducting a decades-long debate about whether or not human beings actually "learn" language. Most theoretical linguists, including the noted researcher Noam Chomsky, argue that people have little more than a "language organ" -- an inherent capacity for language that's activated during early childhood. On the other hand, researchers like Dr. Roni Katzir of Tel Aviv University's Department of Linguistics insist that what humans can actually learn ...

Better learning through handwriting

2011-01-20

Associate professor Anne Mangen at the University of Stavanger's Reading Centre asks if something is lost in switching from book to computer screen, and from pen to keyboard. The process of reading and writing involves a number of senses, she explains. When writing by hand, our brain receives feedback from our motor actions, together with the sensation of touching a pencil and paper. These kinds of feedback is significantly different from those we receive when touching and typing on a keyboard. Learning by doing Together with neurophysiologist Jean-Luc Velay at the ...

Malignant brain tumors: Benefit of PET and PET/CT in the detection of recurrences is not assessable

2011-01-20

Malignant gliomas are fast-growing brain tumours with poor prospects of recovery depending on disease stage. Experts hope that the examination of patients by means of positron emission tomography (PET) is more helpful in the choice of the right treatment than other procedures. In a final report the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now investigated the benefit of PET in the detection of recurrences. According to this report, no robust conclusions are possible on the advantages or disadvantages of PET. Two research questions investigated The ...

Migraines and headaches present no risk to cognitive function

2011-01-20

Recent work, in particular the CAMERA study, has used MRI to study the brains of migraine sufferers and has shown that a higher proportion of these patients exhibit lesions of the brain microvessels than the rest of the population. Lesions of the brain microvessels Lesions of the brain microvessels, visible on cerebral MRI images, can be of various kinds: white-matter hyperintensities and, more rarely, silent infarcts leading to loss of white-matter tissue. They result from a deterioration of the small cerebral arteries that supply blood to the brain's white matter, ...

HIV-positive head and neck cancer patients benefit from radiation therapy

2011-01-20

Fairfax, Va., January 18, 2011 – HIV-positive head and neck cancer patients respond well to radiation therapy treatments and experience similar toxicity rates as non-HIV-positive patients, despite prior reports to the contrary, according to a study in the January issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics, an official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Patients with HIV have a significantly higher risk of developing some types of cancers; however, since the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) began ...

Biological clock ticks slower for female birds who choose good mates

2011-01-20

In birds as in humans, female fertility declines with age. But some female birds can slow the ticking of their biological clocks by choosing the right mates, according to results of a study published online last week in the journal Oikos. Female birds become progressively less fertile as age takes its toll, says biologist Josh Auld of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina, and co-author of the Oikos paper. Older females lay fewer eggs, and they lay them later in the season--at a time when less food is available for their chicks. But ...

Wayne State University study predicts risk of memory loss in healthy, older adults

2011-01-20

DETROIT— The combined results of a genetic blood test and a five-minute functional MRI successfully classified more than three-quarters of healthy older adults, many of whom were destined to develop cognitive decline within 18 months of testing. John Woodard, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University, is lead author of "Predicting Cognitive Decline in Healthy Older Adults Using fMRI" published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (vol. 21, no. 3). "No one had studied ...

MIT scientists discover cancer-fighting role for cells

2011-01-20

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- MIT scientists have discovered that cells lining the blood vessels secrete molecules that suppress tumor growth and keep cancer cells from invading other tissues, a finding that could lead to a new way to treat cancer. Elazer Edelman, professor in the MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), says that implanting such cells adjacent to a patient's tumor could shrink a tumor or prevent it from growing back or spreading further after surgery or chemotherapy. He has already tested such an implant in mice, and MIT has licensed the technology ...

Study finds celiac patients can eat hydrolyzed wheat flour

2011-01-20

Baked goods made from hydrolyzed wheat flour are not toxic to celiac disease patients, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. Celiac disease occurs in the digestive system when people cannot tolerate a protein called gluten, which is found primarily in wheat. "This is the first time that a wheat flour-derived product is shown to not be toxic after being given to celiac patients for 60 days," said Luigi Greco, MD, PhD, of the University of Napes, Italy, ...

A second language gives toddlers an edge

2011-01-20

Montreal, January 19, 2011 – Toddlers who learn a second language from infancy have an edge over their unilingual peers, according to a new study from Concordia University and York University in Canada and the Université de Provence in France. As reported in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, the research team tested the understanding of English and French words among 24-month-olds to see if bilingual toddlers had acquired comparable vocabulary in each language. "By 24 months, we found bilingual children had already acquired a vocabulary in each of their two ...

Data matrix codes used to catalogue archaeological heritage

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: