Documentation

From Timna Valley Database

Documenting Sites in the Field

Visiting a site

Field work includes surveys designed to discover new sites, and repeated visits to known sites to add more data and improve documentation. Each visit should include the following documentation activities:

  • For new sites, assign a field name that is easy to remember and associate with the site (e.g., "Erez's leopard trap"). This name will be replaced with a proper site number later on (see "Numbering System" below)
  • Record the following information:
    • Survey license
    • Team members
    • Date and time
    • Coordinates of the center of the site
      • Recording instrument (cellphone GPS, handheld GPS, dGPS)
      • For known sites: Check if the coordinates in the database need any correction
    • Polygon: define the boundaries of the site and mark it (using dGPS, aerial photographs, etc.)
  • Digital documentation:
    • The more, the better (remember, there is no such thing as "too much documentation").
    • Photos (with and without a scale, with and without people, different angles)
    • Videos (one with an explanation on the site and what is being filmed beginning with the site name, date, team members present and relative location, as well as one without; 1-2min in length each. Two smaller videos of the same type are better than one long one)
    • Drone photos and stills
    • 3D (various software, e.g., Polycam, etc.)
  • Survey for artifacts
    • Collect artifacts of interest (pottery, flint, ore, ground stones etc.), or note the absence of any
    • Photograph selected artifacts
  • Describe the site:
    • Site's location (geographical, geological)
    • Site's scale, number of features
    • Site's general function (e.g., mining, burial, unknown)
    • Other issues (modern disruptions, ancient/recent robbery, etc.)
    • Detailed description (i.e., structure measurements, number of courses, orientation)

Numbering system

Archaeological sites are based on running numbers starting with 002.

  • 002-400s: Sites documented by Beno Rothenberg and the Aravah Expedition
  • 600s: Sites documented by Eli Cohen-Sasson, renamed by the Central Timna Valley Project
  • 700s and up: Sites documented by Erez Ben-Yosef and the Central Timna Valley Project

Prominent features within a site (or a 'child' site) were given a letter by Rothenberg (e.g., 30A, 34H, etc.).

Prominent features within a site (or a 'child' site) in the current system uses running numbers (e.g., 737-001). Documenting features within a site that was first recorded by Rothenberg will get a running number (e.g., 24-001). In certain cases (usually mining fields) there was a need to define a new site that included features recorded by Rothenberg (e.g., 878-S10).

Geological sites are based on running numbers with the prefix "G", starting with G100.

Ecological sites are based on running numbers with the prefix "E", starting with E100.

Modern sites are based on running numbers with the prefix "M", starting with M100.

Naming folders and files

The following is an example of a site that has one prominent feature ('child site') and main types of digital documentation:

  • Folder: Timna_737
    • Folder: Timna_737_Artifact-Photos
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2017-09-17_Gichon_Artifact-Photo_001_Selected
    • Folder: Timna_737_Drone-Orthophotos
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2017-09-17_Ben-Yosef_Drone-Orthophoto_001
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2017-09-17_Ben-Yosef_Drone-Orthophoto_002_Selected
    • Folder: Timna_737_Drone-Photos
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2017-09-17_Ben-Yosef_Drone-Photo_001
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2017-09-17_Yagel_Drone-Photo_002_Selected
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2017-09-17_Yagel_Drone-Photo_003
    • Folder: Timna_737_Drone-Videos
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2017-09-17_Ben-Yosef_Drone-Video_001_Selected
    • Folder: Timna_737_Photos
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2022-01-21_Ben-Yosef_Photo_001
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2022-01-21_Ben-Yosef_Photo_002_Selected
    • Folder: Timna_737_Videos
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2022-01-21_Ben-Yosef_Video_001_Selected
    • Folder: Timna_737_3D
      • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737_2022-01-21_Yagel_3D_001_Selected
    • Folder: Timna_737-001
      • Folder: Timna_737-001_Drone-Orthophotos
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Ben-Yosef_Drone-Orthophoto_001_Selected
      • Folder: Timna_737-001_Drone-Photos
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Yagel_Drone-Photo_001
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Yagel_Drone-Photo_002_Selected
      • Folder: Timna_737-001_Drone-Videos
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Yagel_Drone-Video_001_Selected
      • Folder: Timna_737-001_Photos
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Yagel_Photo_001
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Yagel_Photo_002
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Yagel_Photo_003_Selected
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Yagel_Photo_004
      • Folder: Timna_737-001_Videos
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Yagel_Video_001_Selected
      • Folder: Timna_737-001_3D
        • File: TVDB1861_Timna_737-001_2017-09-17_Yagel_3D_001_Selected

Notes:

  • Basic file names: TVDB1861_Timna_[Site Name = Name_Key]_[Date in yyyy-mm-dd]_[Creator's surname]_[media type]_[running number (across years)]_[Selected (optional)]
  • All files start with the prefix "TVDB1861", which stands for "Timna Valley Database, 1861. The year 1861 is the first publication to mention Timna Valley (Petherick, 1861). It is used to represents our vision to include in this database all data from the earliest exploration, through the ongoing project and into future research.
  • For each type of media files, one or two representative photos should be selected and labeled by adding "_Selected" to the file name.

Documenting Sites in the Wikibase

  • Notable sites: Site 002 serves as a model to all sites' statements.

[Detailed instructions for updating items of archaeological sites and more will be provided here soon]

General pending tasks

  • For the next field season (Winter 2025-26):
    • Create cradles to enter data on new sites and new people
    • Divide the valley into survey sectors
    • Purchase 3D modelling app for the lab's iPad
    • Create a prioritized list of sites with missing data (based on the project's Google Sheet)
    • Georeference aerial photos and Rothenberg's maps (as GIS layers); try to get more old aerial photos
    • In the field: improve Z and polygons
  • Finalize items of archaeological sites:
    • Polygons (consider a "light" version based on squares [following the IAA]), consider a link to a folder with the most updated file of all polygons [in .shp, .kml, and .json/.geojson formats], consider mass (or manual) upload to Wiki Commons, consider Well Known Text (WKT) format and working internally in Wikibase)
    • Bibliography_List (consider providing full references in a standard format [in addition to the Wiki Data link])
  • Finalize all other items (update the list of statement for each):
    • Making sure all items have "instance of" up until the item "Item"
    • For items of humans, consider merging "instance of" with "member of"; under Research Project, include all seasons (we should decide if a 'role' is applicable to all season or not); query CTV_2025 as an example; import all volunteers from Google Sheets;
    • For 14C items, check compatibility with the rest of the database
  • Fix all old sites on Wikibase, including deleting/adding statements, renaming sites etc.
  • Consider mass upload of all new sites (CTV2025)
  • Mass upload to Wiki Commons of notable photos (with project's logo, after finishing standardized Heb/Eng captions)
  • Mass upload to Wiki Data all Timna bibliography (making sure to avoid duplication with existing entries) (after finishing updating the Google Sheet; possibly also creating Zotero and Endnote libraries)
  • Finalize descriptions (basic/detailed) for all sites
  • Finalize bibliography list for all sites
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