Data Recording and Storage
The Umm el-Jimal Project’s many field seasons of excavation, survey, and documentation data are stored in electronic form via relational databases, which also record metadata about each item. The UJ database serves as the primary digital interface for the project, with records organized by a unique key containing the season and precise location of the item. The current UJ database now contains the project’s 40 year record of text-based data for animal bones, burials, pottery, objects, and general stratigraphy and locus information. This data is available for researchers and the public to query as part of the Electronic Tools and Ancient Near Eastern Archive’s Digital Library (ETANA-DL) a collaborative, multi-institution effort to preserve and make public archaeological research data about the ancient Near East.
The project’s relational databases are complemented by a continuously growing archive of digitized images that include field and aerial photography; drawings such as object sketches, structure plans, and wall elevations; and publications. A major long-term goal now underway is to combine the project’s data into an integrated geographic information system (GIS) archive that will be available to the public via this website. For more information about these efforts, see the GIS page.
