About Midden

Midden

Midden is an archaeologically-oriented collaborative digital data repository.

The aim of Midden is to provide a set of digital tools to facilitate the production, analysis and dissemination of archaeological data and analysis which encourage openness, transparency, reproducibility and re-usability.

Why the shells?

Middens are time-structured deposits of human detritus which provide various information about the human communities which created them. Very often archaeological excavated middens include dense accumulations of shells, bones and other zooarchaeological remains which are part of the food waste of particular groups (‘kitchen middens’), but of course artefacts can be deposited in much the same way. But shells are prettier than sherds :-).

Shell fish also provide an additional metaphorical to the aims of this digital project. In life young shellfish contribute to larger colonies by attaching themselves to larger established shells. In the same way, we hope that Midden will contribute to a more cumulative approach to archaeological knowledge: encouraging collaboration and re-use of older datasets in new analyses through open standards and documentation.

Technical basis

The current Midden repository interface relies on a widespread open-source distributed version control system (DVCS) called Git, originally designed to manage the design of computer software. Data, code and analysis are stored in standard Git repositories on the server. On top of this, a free and open-source server software, called Gitlab CE, provides a more accessible human interface to the management of the repositories and access to the server.

How do I use it?

At the moment use of this service is by invitation only.