Digital Archaeological Archiving in Sweden: the Swedish National Data Service perspective

Abstract

In the past, data from archaeological investigations, as well as research projects led by universities have not been archived or made publicly accessible. Synthetic publications such as papers, reports and articles have been available, but not the underlying data files containing the original data to be reused or combined with new/other datasets for further research. Archaeological investigations are regulated within Sweden, but it has only recently been possible for that data to be preserved and disseminated in a more streamlined way. The mandatory requirement to archive research data at universities is often not enforced, resulting in a loss of data that is very problematic. This is now slowly changing owing to requirements from both governmental bodies and funding agencies, and therefore the future of archaeological data in Sweden looks a bit brighter.

Keywords

• archaeology
• legislation
• cultural heritage
• national heritage board
• county administrative board
• data preservation
• gis
• research data
• archaeological investigations
• sweden