ArchField in Jordan: Real-Time GIS Data Recording for Archaeological Excavations

In this paper, we present ArchField, a GIS data recording solution that has the potential to enable any archaeological project to inexpensively adopt realtime 3D digital recording techniques. The software addresses one of the fundamental bottlenecks in archaeology: the curation and analysis of massive datasets recorded over multiple seasons of excavations. ArchField records sub-centimeter accurate 3D coordinates from total stations and RTK GPS units and links them to artifacts and loci metadata as they are recorded in the field. A key feature is the auto-generation of GIS top plans while in the field. The processing pipeline enables the generation of publishable online maps from the first day of excavation to the last. The software builds upon a decade of previous methods of digital field recording (Levy and Smith 2007) and has undergone several major revisions over the past three years as it has been thoroughly field tested in Southern Jordan.