On-site digital heritage inventory development at Bat, Oman

Abstract

This paper reports on the on-site development of a local-scale digital heritage inventory (DHI) of the Bronze Age site at Bat in the interior of Oman. The goal of this inventory project was to share geospatial and archaeological information of tombs and other built structures with researchers and government agents to conduct cultural heritage management, scientific research, outreach, and education. To this end, the Bat Digital Heritage Inventory (BatDHI) was compiled at the local office by incorporating previous survey records, which were concurrently crosschecked and updated by ground-truth surveys. The current version of the BatDHI was implemented using a combination of a network-access-ready database application, open source geographical information system, and web-based map engine. This system assisted both fieldwork and management works including decision making and planning. This inventory project exemplified a transdisciplinary research, in which researchers and societal stakeholders collaborated for co-design of research agendas, co-production of knowledge, and co-dissemination of outcomes.