Kiln DataBase (KDB) Project. Creating knowledge on ancient Southwest Asia pottery firing technology: theoretical and methodological problems
- Title
- Kiln DataBase (KDB) Project. Creating knowledge on ancient Southwest Asia pottery firing technology: theoretical and methodological problems
- Creator(s)
- Claire Padovani
- Date
- 2025
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 9-28
- Language
- eng
- Abstract
- In actual archaeological projects, there is a push towards embracing open science principles, which involves the transparent sharing of raw data and research protocols to facilitate knowledge dissemination. This emulation fosters technical innovation in the field of software development applied to archaeology, to diffuse large amount of data. However, implementing open science effectively poses significant theoretical challenges to consider when selecting a technical solution. This paper investigates the historiography of pottery kiln research - a field that remains relatively underdocumented - to identify inherent biases in the construction of knowledge, in order to guide the creation of a sustainable and widely accessible body of knowledge on the subject. It details the systemic conceptual framework, decision-making process, and technical implementation of an open-access database designed to record data on pyrotechnology and related archaeological contexts, thereby facilitating comparative analysis and identification of firing structures on the field. Although the database is currently in an early stage of development, it is essential to critically assess theoretical and methodological project requirements, consider how data structuring shape knowledge, and ensure that the chosen software infrastructure aligns with the FAIR and CARE principles, to achieve in the near future, the creation of a robust and enduring data repository.
- Zotero References Collection
- https://www.zotero.org/groups/5293298/bidiar/collections/GUE99MR7
- Cites
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- Media
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Ackoff’s Pyramid and the archaeological process -
Two firing structure types and example of their shape variation illustrated by archaeological specimens (ph. C. Padovani) -
Kiln recording sheet -
Kiln relational database structure -
The database and website interfaces -
Image of the author with screenshots of Heurist database. -
Field’s metadata in firing structure table
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