Considerable new reservoirs of historical and archaeological data have been developed Finland and in other European countries in the recent years. This cultural heritage 'big data', however, has been under-exploited in research and there remains considerable scope for deploying quantitative and other Digital Humanities Methods in its study. In particular, owing to its time-depth, the archaeological record offers exemplary and unique opportunities for studying the effects of long-term processes on societies - many of which continue to inform modern demographic patterns.
In Finland, the body of digitized archaeological material that is well-suited to such analyses includes the Finnish Heritage Agency’s (FHA) database of archaeological sites and monuments, but significantly also a growing body of metal-detected artefact finds recovered by members of the public and recorded by the FHA. This latter represents in the Finnish context a completely new body of material that has not been properly examined through Digital Humanities and Data Sciences methods. This is also true for many other European countries where metal-detecting is legal (within restrictions) and where similar database are developed, and there is therefore considerable scope for advancing cultural heritage research on this field on a transnational scale. Furthermore, there are considerable issues related to opening this data through the Finnish national data services. DeepFIN proposes to tackle this topic, producing both research on how this material may shed new light into the past, but equally engage in the conversations on how to develop new digital digital heritage infrastructure for enhancing its availability to everyone as shared cultural reservoir.
The goal of this MSCA research programme is to analyse Finnish archaeological and historical data through spatial analysis and other Digital Humanities methodologies, in order to reassess its scientific and cultural potential, and to create new understandings for archaeological landscapes, historical settlement and material culture development during the Finnish Iron Age and Middle Ages (500 BC - AD 1520). This project will consider long-term and large-scale patterns related to human activity and material culture as they emerge from the research data, how they relate to the environment, and how they change across time. The project will equally deploy other European archaeological archaeological and historical datasets comparable to those being developed in Finland (e.g. public artefact finds material, archaeological sites, travel infrastructure and settlement data) in order to develop both qualitative and quantitative Data Sciences methods for the study cultural heritage 'big data', and advance methodological developments for the study of the past. By employing significantly under-used existing database resources, DeepFIN will seek to create ground-breaking new information on Finnish and European archaeology and history without recourse to new excavations and data collection.
