The Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Micropasts project
Last week’s staff breakfast gave us an introduction to the various externally funded projects currently being undertaken by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS).
We were introduced to a project funded by CreativeWorks (AHRC), and developed by PAS to visually map coin finds in the UK recorded by the scheme. This includes mapping coin finds and linking them to their mints and the heat-mapping of coin finds to illustrate geographical concentrations. Both will shortly be available online, and the technology is both open source and optimised for mobile devises.
External funding has also allowed the scheme’s finds.org.uk page to be updated with a new forum which aims to crowdsource knowledge and information on archaeological finds in the UK.
The AHRC funded Micropasts project, is an 18 month collaborative project between the BM, University College London and PAS, which aims to develop a web platform where academics and members of the public can collaborate, to produce innovative open datasets, develop new research projects, and hopefully source funding to allow the projects to be sustainable. Engaging with both established communities and a wider crowd of contributors afforded by the web, crowdsourcing knowledge helps to enrich the existing projects, and can be used to tag photographs, transcribe and digitise index cards and develop 3D modelling.
Please see the links below to find out more about these projects:
