Heritage Reconstructed

Our Data

Virtual Reality (VR) methods have been used for almost three decades in the field of cultural heritage, specifically, for the reconstruction, visualization, and interpretation of archaeological sites. The Virtual Reconstruction database is organized following two selection criteria: first, we focus on archaeological sites that, unlike natural sites, require human intervention and creation, and may include cultural artifacts, architecture, art, religious buildings and objects. Second, we focus on archaeological sites in peril due to poaching, armed conflict, terrorism, war, and environmental damages such as natural disasters and pollution.

We selected the VRs following a snowball technique. First, we explored the UNESCO World Heritage in Danger list. The list includes 53 sites in danger and includes cultural (archaeological) sites and natural sites. We focused solely on the archaeological sites. We searched for any VRs accessible online, country by country, using different keywords as the search parameters. The UNESCO list allowed us to find some start-ups, artists, and scholars that are also working on virtual reconstructions of archaeological sites in peril and have created VRs on the topic.

Having completed the search following UNESCO's list, we identified three patterns: one, there are not many VRs for the sites that UNESCO considers in peril. Second, the VRs available are of archaeological sites from countries that come from the same geographical region and, mostly are in peril or were destroyed by war and terrorist groups (e.g., Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan). Third, the VRs available are available for countries and archaeological sites that are very well known (e.g. Italy and Greece).

Website and Database Creation

When thinking about how we would display our data, the main focus was on the database. We decided to use Omeka, which "provides open-source web publishing platforms for sharing digital collections and creating media-rich online exhibits" (Omeka.org). Omeka is used by thousands of institutions and organizations across the US and all over the globe. The Berlin theme is a simple layout that is one of two that are preloaded and makes the content easily accessible. The database focuses on the use of items which are then described by using the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. Omeka.net has a Trial plan that allows the use of one site with 500MB of storage space that we believe to be sufficient space for the start of our database. Although we are working with images and videos of digital reconstructions, in addition to digital reconstruction themselves, we have been able to showcase all these different types of formats.

Despite Omeka's "Simple Pages", which allows for the creation of static pages within the Omeka website, the feature did not allow for much freedom in terms of web design or embedding. This is what led us to creating static pages using HTML/CSS and hosting the pages for free on GitHub Pages. This allowed us to have an area that we can remain engaged with our community (with the embedded Twitter feed on the side), as well as having an area separate from the database to explain our project.

Mapping the Database

In addition to our database, we created a map in Tableau to represent the sites we have included in our Omeka database. Tableau Software is a data visualization software company specializing in graphs and charts. However, another important aspect of Tableau is their mapping feature, which helps to inform with the use of tooltips. The tooltips for our sites include country, name of site and URL. To navigate to a specific item in our database from within the embedded map below, simply click the desired point of interest. Also, the map can be visited here.