Workshop: From the field to the database – Bring your data (and problems) and workflows

The workshop is aimed at colleagues who deal with the digital documentation of archaeological fieldwork in their day-to-day work – from excavation documentation, surveying and GIS processing, through data preparation and quality assurance, to the preparation of data for analysis and further use. It is aimed at colleagues from university research projects, heritage conservation, specialist archaeological firms and other areas of archaeological practice.

Digital excavation documentation data is generated through various work stages and systems. In practice, this often results in gaps between object, geo and image data, analysis formats and long-term reuse. The workshop addresses these transitions.

The focus is on real-world data examples, workflows and questions raised by the participants. Using their own excavation, survey and attribute data or specific process examples, participants will test exemplary workflows: from structuring and processing, through the linking of attribute and geodata, to issues of exchange formats, quality assurance and further processing. The workshop will present services and tools developed and deployed as part of NFDI4Objects, including iDAI.field, Survey2GIS and Archaeonotes. Using the data and workflow examples provided, participants will discuss how such services can be integrated into specific work processes, linked via interfaces, and adapted to meet the diverse requirements of field research.

The aim of the workshop is to highlight typical requirements, bottlenecks and handover points in digital excavation documentation and to derive requirements for robust, practical and reusable reference workflows. The programme combines brief subject-specific and technical introductions, short presentations of case studies and supervised working sessions on the data and workflows provided.

Data and practical contributions

For the workshop, we are seeking contributions from ongoing or completed archaeological field projects. We particularly welcome case studies that highlight specific issues relating to digital primary documentation, data preparation, linking, quality assurance or system handover.

The following are particularly welcome:

• Bring your own data: a representative data sample that can be meaningfully processed or discussed during a working session of approximately two hours;
• Bring your own workflow: an existing, planned or problematic workflow for digital excavation documentation, data preparation
• Practical issues: questions regarding data structures, formats, interfaces, GIS integration, quality assurance or re-use, which are to be discussed collectively.

Suitable data types include excavation and object data, surveying and geodata, and image data. Possible formats include TIFF, JPEG, Shapefile, GeoTIFF, GeoJSON, CSV or XSLX.

To submit a proposal, please send a short abstract of no more than 300 words to fabian.riebschlaeger@dainst.de by 17 August 2026.

The abstract should include:

• Project or excavation context
• Type of contribution: data example, workflow or specific question
• Objectives for the collaborative work in the workshop
• Systems, tools and formats used
• Specific problem area, breakpoint or handover point to be discussed
• Any restrictions on data use

Selected contributors will briefly present their case study during the workshop. If you intend to work with your own data, this must be provided at least three weeks before the workshop so that the working sessions can be prepared both technically and in terms of subject matter.

In the selection process, we aim for as broad a mix as possible of data types, working contexts, workflows and research questions.

The workshop takes place as part of the NFDI4Objects-TRAIL on reference workflows for digital field research.

Please note: Travel and accommodation costs cannot be covered. Participants must organise their own travel and accommodation.

Date: 03 - 04 December 2026
Registration deadline: 17 August 2026
Chairs: Fabian Riebschläger, Marc Rappe,Jonas Abele, Benjamin Höke, Steffen Berger, Julian Hollaender, Sarah Nöcker
Max. number of participants: 15
Contact: fabian.riebschlaeger@dainst.de