'Boundary Objects' in Archaeological Finds and Environmental Research: Using Bowker and Star's Concept of the 'Boundary Object' to Analyse and Interpret Disparate Archaeological Legacy Data

Abstract

Recently the concept of big data has been employed in archaeology to push forward research on very large-scale legacy datasets, often with a developer-funded component; however, relatively little of this effort has focused on artefact and ecofact data. This paper explores the possibility of using Bowker and Star’s concept of the boundary object to manage the issues caused by data scale, complexity, diversity, and variable information standards when attempting to carry out large-scale research on artefacts and ecofacts. The critique of archaeological data standards as it impacts research into artefacts and ecofacts is reviewed. A methodology for the construction and use of a large database of legacy data is described, and a case study on the regional histories of food production/consumption in southern Britain, using datasets derived from the author’s PhD as part of the English Landscapes and Identities (EngLaId) Project (Gosden et al. 2021) at Oxford University is presented.