Improving the visualisation of petrographic data in SEAD

Sammanfattning

SEAD (Strategic Environmental Archaeology Database) is an open access relational database intendedto be used as a research infrastructure. It contains data for different archaeological research proxies,including ceramic materials. The inclusion of ceramic data is still at a relatively early stage, meaning thatmostly petrographic data are currently available, and the presentation of those on the SEAD browserfollows very simplistic principles. This non-tailored visualisation means that the database does notpresent the data in a manner that is intuitive and useful for a ceramic or petrographic specialist. Thisthesis seeks to improve the visualisation of the ceramic data, taking into account specialist feedbackand integrating widely accepted standards and principles both for the presentation of petrographicdata and the visualisation of information. In addition to the improvement of the visual presentation ofpetrographic data, this thesis explores the potential for the addition of other forms of data for ceramics inSEAD, focusing mainly on the inclusion of microphotographs. After an overview of existing databasescontaining petrographic data, the improvement of the SEAD ceramics interface is deemed necessary tocover a gap that has been created by the disappearance of some databases and the niche nature of others.New visualisations are proposed, including the more intuitive presentation of semi-quantitative dataas a spectrum. Additionally, a new collaboration is set to lead to the integration of STON (Software forPetrographic Visualisation) in SEAD, a crucial step towards making the SEAD browser a useful resourcefor ceramics specialists.