The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota is very pleased to announce the open-access, peer-reviewed publication of Erin Walcek Averett, Jody Michael Gordon, and Derek B. Counts, Mobilizing the Past for a Digital Future: The Potential of Digital Archaeology. Grand Forks, ND: The Digital Press at the University of North Dak...

It's an exciting way for our little press to celebrate Open Access Week!

The book can be downloaded for free from The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota’s website or from Digital Commons at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Here's a brief summary of the over 550 pages of open access, digital archaeology goodness!

The study of the ancient world requires the most modern tools. In the 21st century, archaeology is no longer the domain of picks, pith helmets, and sharpened trowels, but a high tech enterprise. Archaeologists now take high-powered laptop computers, tablets, drones, and sophisticated software and workflows in the field with them. In Mobilizing the Past for a Digital Future: The Potential of Digital Archaeology, Erin Walcek Averett (Creighton University), Jody Michael Gordon (Wentworth Institute of Technology), and Derek B. Counts (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) brings together 17 papers authored by the most creative thinkers on technology and archaeological field practice. Introduced by a sweeping survey of the intellectual and practical issues surrounding digital practices in archaeology and anchored by two critical reflections, the volume is more than merely a survey of new technology, but stands as an enduring monument for a discipline undergoing rapid and dramatic changes.

Mobilizing the Past for a Digital Future emerged from a workshop (funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities) held in 2015 at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston that convened many of the leading practitioners of digital archaeology in the U.S. for a weekend of dialogue. The papers and conversations from this workshop formed the basis for the case studies presented in this volume and demonstrate the tremendous diversity in the digital tools used in archaeological field practice. From drones in the Andes to iPads at Pompeii, digital workflows in the American Southwest, and examples of bespoke, DIY, and commercial software, technology now provides solutions and crafts novel challenges for field archaeologists.