Inventory and global management in archaeology
Marie-Odile Vaudou · 2022
The growth of archaeological and archival documentation produced by systematic excavations, as well as the diversity of jointly conducted studies, has required the management of an increasingly voluminous and varied mass of information. In view of the absence of centralized power in Switzerland, disparities result between the various cantonal archaeological services, according to the region of the country, the type of find, and the importance of deposits. Since the 1970s, different systems of recording data, aimed at developing a concise, shared descriptive language, have been experimented with on the D-Base system for lacustrine excavations. The mass and diversity of material facilitated the creation of a single computerized index. In order to facilitate input and increase efficiency, the form for recording objects is intentionally very structured and straightforward. The optimal ulterior exploitation of data is the result of careful and efficient recording.