Open history map - a new approach to open access for archaeology and cultural heritage

Abstract: Open Access is a growing idea in many fields. Archaeology is at the moment a bit behind. The reasons can be found in many aspects: First of all, archaeological data is not easy to monetize, and it is not easy to standardize, and this has pushed the creation of many “archaeologies”, and that is visible from the data gathered during expeditions. There are many fragmented webgis experiences targeted at very specific projects, but there is no tool that enables a more broad overview of both researches and studies. For these reasons, in order to create an Open Access platform, one of the most important aspects is the creation of tools that can facilitate both the sharing of archaeological information as well as the reuse of the generated data. Open History Map targets the technological approach, creating a tool that is both a map of the archaeological world as well as a repository for the connected data within structured research papers. Additionally, the platform tries to be as easy to use and integrate with as possible in order to enable anybody, even not specialized people, to have a glimpse at the past.