Current Practice in Digital Imaging in UK Archaeology

Abstract

The field of archaeology relies heavily on photography as a way of recording information about sites and artefacts. It is therefore essential that we can have confidence in the photographic record, as any changes over time can result in information being lost forever. In the past five years digital imaging has become a potential alternative to traditional film photography. However, this has great implications, as both methods have very different advantages and disadvantages. Most notably, if the rise in digital photography in the heritage sector mirrors that of current public trends, there is a danger that digital preservation issues could be neglected. We undertook a survey of photographic practice among archaeologists in the UK in order to gain an insight into the prominence of digital photography for recording our past. This paper presents and analyses our results.