Page 31 - TVH 2000 Anniversary Shipwreck Project

All the paper records were scanned and turned into text documents using an OCR program. Each page was manually tidied and corrected and then imported into Microsoft Excel. Within Excel the data from each page was merged onto a single spreadsheet, formatted and additional fields added such as the site code. The spreadsheet could then be imported straight into the artefact table within the database. The 647 finds groups raised during the 1990’s were therefore archived into these records. We did not have a complete list of finds from all previous work on site, and acquiring this list and incorporating it is currently being planned. Text Documents One of the main aims of the recording system was to ensure all information was recorded in digital form. To do this, a number of text documents were created using Microsoft Word. Daily logbooks for archaeology and survey were kept, these contained detailed accounts of the day’s activities and provided some background to the raw data that was generated. The site report was written as work progressed. This was very efficient, and only lagged when the finds were so prevalent that there wasn’t the time to register finds and write the report. A user guide was written for the finds handling system. Hardware The recording and mapping system was run on four personal computers distributed around the ship but networked together using standard 10 base T Ethernet. One small room was dedicated for survey and archaeological recording. A desktop computer (Research Machines PC6750-128) was dedicated to survey and a laptop (Compaq Armada V300) for general archaeological reports and the registration of finds. A desktop computer running the Sonardyne Pharos APS (P5 166) was installed in the Dive Control area and another Pentium desktop running Pharos was installed on the bridge during the magnetometer search operations. The main finds database was kept on the Archaeology laptop. The other machines could access this database remotely, and at the same time, so some of the team could be updating dive logs while the others added or updated finds records. The survey computer was connected to the printer, scanner, CD writer and digital camera via a USB hub. When charts and hull plans were being digitised the Summagraphics digitising tablet was connected to this computer as well via a serial port. The survey machine also had the video capture card fitted and it could therefore grab helmet camera images during diving operations. The finds database was archived to the survey computer each day and then archived to CD along with all the other data. Approximately 600 MB of raw data and images were collected during the operation. The Sonardyne Pharos computer in Dive Control was connected to the Fugro differential GPS receiver and the Sonardyne acoustic transceiver. This machine was used to track a diver or ROV and to fix the position of artefacts as they were found. When the tracking system was not being used for a dive this computer would be used as an expensive dive timer and clock. The Site Plan A digital site plan was maintained throughout the operation so that the archaeologists and divers had up to date information about the site. Autodesk AutoCAD R14 was used for this task, as it was already available to the team. The site plans from previous years were digitised and added to the main working plan. The positions of hull structure and artefacts could then be plotted along with the position of finds from previous work on site, all within the original site grid and the outline of previous trenches. Layers and colours were used to separate the information types, if the site plan was too crowded some of the layers were turned off. Once the Sonardyne Pharos APS was set up, the position and orientation of the site was established so the main site plan could be drawn in real-world co-ordinates. The original site plan was shifted and plotted on to the new co-ordinates. - 29 -