WebDig, the new web application housing all excavation data associated with the Molyvoti, Thrace, Archaeological Project (MTAP), is now live! 

Under the direction of Professor Nathan Arrington with Greek codirectors Domna Terzopoulou and Marina Tasaklaki, MTAP is a synergasia, or collaboration, of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Rhodope and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, represented by Princeton University.  The MTAP project has prioritized optimizing excavation data access since it began in 2013. Technology has progressively bolstered that effort, culminating in this open-source online database, which not only allows seamless collaboration among the excavation team, but invites scholars at large, teachers and their students, or anyone with an interest in the site to learn about MTAP’s findings.

“For many years, we used paper, and then entered it into a computer. Then we used iPads, but I acted as the central computer. I kept all the data on one synced iPad and communicated with all team members. Then we created this database.” 

—Nathan Arrington

“For many years, we used paper, and then entered it into a computer. Then we used iPads, but I acted as the central computer,” Arrington explained. “I kept all the data on one synced iPad and communicated with all team members.” While that facilitated far more collaboration, there was an inherent delay in updating the data, and the volume of data outgrew the iPads capabilities.  “Then we created this database,” he said, finding the ultimate digital remedy.

The MTAP team worked with Dimitris Baloukidis to develop WebDig.  “As a software developer, it was a challenge to manage the large amount of archaeological data and still provide a seamless user interaction,” said Baloukidis, who relied heavily on Arrington’s pivotal role defining the application requirements and “orchestrating the whole enterprise,” since data was generated by various sources for scholars of various specialties. Beginning in fall 2024, Mattia D’Acri joined the team as a post-doctoral researcher working with Arrington on data management in Princeton. “My role is to manage the database, double-checking that everything is in order and fixing any mistakes,” said d’Acri. “ At the end of an excavation, you have thousands and thousands of pieces of data, objects, layers, and you have to manage them, but also the correlation with each other. If you find an object—a pot, for example— it belongs to a certain layer. So, you have to see if in the database all these connections are made properly and test whether it is easy to navigate for a public audience.” “This is one of the best projects that I've worked on because the lab and the storage room in Greece are very well organized,” he added. 

For codirector Tasaklaki, MTAP exemplifies the evolution from traditional to modern technological methodologies in archaeology. “Managing the extensive and diverse material collected over years of traditional excavation methods is an immensely challenging and time-consuming endeavor,” she said. “Enter WebDig, a tool designed to streamline our scholarly work.”

WebDig evolved from iDig, the team’s initial endeavor to move away from hand-written documentation in the excavation's second phase in 2019. Originally created by Bruce Hartzler for the Athenian Agora, iDig enabled excavation team members to instantly record on an iPad every artifact, architectural element, sketch, photograph, 3-D rendering, soil description, or other observation, plotting them on an aerial view of the excavation, or orthomosaic, which served as a dashboard to the site. The dashboard allowed the team — including the archaeobotanist, zooarchaeologist and numismatist, who are not as frequently present on the dig — to collaboratively interpret the data efficiently, informing the myriad decisions that steer an excavation. Since digging concluded in 2023, the team has focused on interpreting the data, making this new web-based iteration all the more crucial. A decade’s worth of data points can now be accessed, updated, edited by team members and studied by anyone with internet access, free of charge. Hartzler is pleased with MTAP’s new tool, adding “I’m looking forward to playing with it.”

“Managing the extensive and diverse material collected over years of traditional excavation methods is an immensely challenging and time-consuming endeavor. Enter WebDig, a tool designed to streamline our scholarly work.” 

—Marina Tasaklaki

The user experience largely mirrors that of iDig.  Interactive orthomosaics map all of the data, making navigation of the finds intuitive. The user can explore the site, search for data, focus on a specific structure, view cross sections and dimensions of the excavation loci, and obtain citation links for each item referenced. Registered users can edit data, export it in plain text or doc format, track changes, and assign new find numbers, with iterations of the full database backed up for 400 days.  The web application is developed in JavaScript, HTML, CSS at the web browser side and PHP at the server side, while the database is stored in JSON format. It requires neither compilation nor installation, only copying the source code and data files to a web server.

Arrington sees WebDig delivering two game-changing benefits to scholarship: it promises data to be both current and comprehensive.  “We wanted a platform on which scholars could work on their materials and have immediate up-to-date information from other scholars,” he explained. “So if a coin identification changes the date of a context, the person studying the amphoras from that same context will be informed, rather than working in isolation.” Arrington also sees the database functioning as its own form of publication. “The database offers a level of comprehensiveness and contextual detail that no print publication can provide,” he said. “Every sherd and every find has a photograph. In addition, people can see where the material comes from and what artifacts were associated with each other. So they can recreate the ancient contexts.”

Using this multimedia approach to publishing, the team plans to publish four volumes on the MTAP project complemented by WebDig. The first volume is due to be released in early 2025, with the second volume currently underway.

Tasaklaki estimated that WebDig has reduced her workload as the excavation’s numismatist to a third of what it was. After the excavation supervisor enters a coin’s initial details like inventory number, fabric, and find coordinates, Tasaklaki would later add details like the issuing authority, description of the coin’s type and characteristics, and issue date. Using WebDig, Tasaklaki is able to sort and filter coins by any of their attributes. “This collaborative process allows researchers to quickly access critical data about coins and cross-reference these findings with related materials such as fine pottery, lamps, amphorae, and loom weights,” she explained. “Together, these artifacts create a comprehensive picture of specific loci or selected areas.” 

“Every sherd and every find has a photograph…. people can see where the material comes from and what artifacts were associated with each other. So they can recreate the ancient contexts.” 

—Nathan Arrington

Along with aiding scholars, Tasaklaki explained, “WebDig can be a valuable tool for educational purposes. For example, it can serve as the foundation for projects aimed at engaging high school students or university archaeology students,” she said. “In these projects, students can take on roles as amateur archaeologists, analyzing specific areas such as a house or a room like the andron and compiling their own reports or artifact collections. Archaeology students can also use the database as a resource for their academic papers and research.”

“One of the most amusing moments of the software creation was when I was programming the map interaction,” Baloukidis recalled. “Looking at the positions of the findings and navigating between the loci felt like being inside the excavation area and provoked me to imagine living inside the ‘House of Hermes’ during its ancient times,” he said, adding “I am sure it will be amusing to the users, as well.” 

The application at this stage is a work-in-progress, with modifications and improvements anticipated as scholars, students, and the public provide feedback. Since the software is open source, the team hopes other archaeological projects will make use of it. “Anyone using iDig should be able to also convert to a web app,” Arrington said.