Articles by Loup Bernard

Two years after the presentation of the first version of ArkeoGIS during the JIAP meeting, version 2 is now functional. It allows French and German archaeologists working in the Rhine Valley to have an online tool, free, easy to approach and searchable on four levels. ArkeoGIS combines on a single map the available archaeological information on several thousand deposits located on both sides of the river. The chronological range takes into account the sites from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages. The program, which is funded by INTERREG IVa Upper Rhine, is ongoing and provides the archaeological community with the source code of the software, allowing other researchers dealing with the study of border territories to adapt this tool to their needs.

ArkeoGIS is a webGIS developed on free ware basis; its purpose is to link archaeological data from both the French and German sides of the Rhine, for the periods from the Bronze Age to the early medieval period. Though beta version is already functional, further development will integrate geographical data, new tools and layers. The point for both archaeologists and geographers is to be able to access data which may not yet be published, in order to plan new research and have fast access to hard to find available data (Universities, CNRS, culture, local archaeologists, etc.) in both the countries and languages involved. New databases produced by students working on the Rhine valley will help to develop the project.