Arch-I-Scan: Automated recording and machine learning for collating Roman ceramic tablewares and investigating eating and drinking practices

Lead Research Organisation: University of Leicester
Department Name: Sch of Archaeology and Ancient History

Abstract

Global challenge. The value of our social and cultural heritage cannot be overestimated as it affects the direction of our development as humans. How to understand and preserve it is a fundamental question in modern science. Centuries of archaeological investigation has produced millions of artefacts that are part of this heritage and are classified and analysed by human experts, presenting a huge challenge to process and interpret all these remains. We aim to meet this challenge using artificial intelligence to create an unprecedented system for automated artefact classification and collation which can be used by non-specialists, allowing experts to focus on analysing these artefacts for greater understandings of the past.

Specific challenge. The Roman period is exceptionally rich archaeologically. The millions of artefacts from across the Roman world are infinitely more informative about people's lives than iconic monuments. However, these artefacts are currently under-utilised in studies of social practices - particularly the wealth of ceramic tablewares used by almost everyone from senator to slave. This under-utilisation is largely due to these artefacts' extensiveness and inherent difficulties in recording them all. For decades ceramics have been recorded and analysed selectively (e.g. only diagnostic sherds of specific vessel types) for chronological sequencing of individual excavations, or for investigating trade patterns between regions, rather than to answer socio-cultural questions, e.g. how were particular vessels used and in what circumstances. More comprehensive recording can facilitate consumption-oriented analyses for new levels of understanding of varying social practices among the diverse communities that made up the Roman world.

This project develops a state-of-the art image-recognition and machine-learning service, Arch-I-Scan, a proof-of-concept experiment of which was successfully carried out for the AHRC network, 'Big Data on the Roman Table'. We will train this service and develop its machine-learning capacity on 100,000s of Roman tableware remains in extensive collections from different social and regional contexts in Roman Britain - London, Colchester and its environs, Vindolanda (on Hadrian's Wall), and Leicestershire. Machine training will move from recording complete/near complete vessels to more fragmentary remains. Used on handheld devices (e.g. mobile phones) by non-specialists and specialists, Arch-I-Scan will automatically recognise and record details of pottery remains and digitally collate and store large quantities of data. Roman tableware remains, often from large-scale production centres (e.g. samian ware from South Gaul), constitute some of the most easily recognisable and extensive bodies of archaeological data with high levels of similarity, in ranges of forms and fabric types, across a wide geographical area. Thus, besides being crucial evidence for Roman food- and drink-consumption practices in different social contexts in Britain, the selected material comprises an excellent body of artefacts to ensure wider application of Arch-I-Scan at other Roman sites, in Britain and beyond. Once Arch-I-Scan is sufficiently trained and has recorded and 'learned' to classify the artefacts from these collections, the resulting datasets will be made freely available for other archaeologists to use as comparanda in their own analyses. This can lead to more comprehensive analyses across Roman archaeology for more socially-oriented questions. Arch-I-Scan can continue to 'learn' from these and other types of pottery as well as other archaeological artefacts. Greater knowledge of how the micro-histories of objects - and the 'human-thing entanglements' of their micro-archaeological contexts - play important roles in our understandings of socio-cultural practice in the context of Roman history can also transform material-cultural approaches to social practice in global history.

Planned Impact

With dwindling public funds, government, charitable and professional cultural heritage and archaeological organisations have inadequate resources for detailed, comprehensive classification, and digital collation, management, and analyses of the full artefact datasets in their care. This project sets agendas for more comprehensive, accurate, and cost-effective artefact collation (from past, recent and future excavations) to build more robust, analysable datasets that can be more easily digitally recorded, managed and disseminated for more effective interpretation. It can influence the practices of a range of commercial and government archaeologists, heritage managers, and museum professionals. Enthusiasm for Arch-I-Scan's proof-of-concept experiment from museum professionals and archaeologists working in developer-funded archaeology across the world who participated in the AHRC-funded network, 'Big Data on the Roman Table' (BDRT), and requests by some for involvement in this current project, signify its potential impact among these sectors.
This project has the potential to influence heritage management policies. By facilitating more comprehensive artefact recording and data sharing cultural-heritage organisations will be able to improve on guidelines for effective collation and management of artefactual data.
The custodians of artefact collections used as case studies - the Univ. of Leicester Archaeology Service and the partner organisations Museum of London, Museum of London Archaeology, The Vindolanda Trust, the Colchester and Ipswich Museums; - will benefit from Arch-I-Scan's machine-learning expertise in recording Roman tablewares in their collections and from the resulting annotated datasets. The project outputs will also be useful for other professional archaeology and heritage organisations, providing an AI service for efficient, accurate and automated recording of, and comparanda for, Roman ceramics in their collections.
The possibilities Arch-I-Scan provides for greater non-specialist involvement in artefact recording will also be of economic benefit, particularly in developer-funded archaeology, freeing up specialists' time to focus on more comprehensive analyses and interpretation of their respective organisations' datasets, and facilitating the sharing of information among these organisations. Roman pottery specialists are more usually employed in museum and professional archaeology organisations rather than HEI organisations.
The project can benefit community groups and members of the public interested in archaeology and museum collections. Museum volunteers, community archaeology groups, and students involved in the recording processes can engage first-hand with digital, state-of-the-art archaeological recording processes and develop skills in this area. More comprehensive analyses of such large datasets of Roman tablewares also means they can be used more effectively, both by HEI and non-HEI archaeologists and museum specialists, for interpreting Roman ways of life and particularly differing eating and drinking practices in the various parts of the Roman world. Such interpretations can enhance museum display, improve visitor experience, and provide better understandings of the role material culture can play in informing on Roman foodways.
Government and professional organisations are also responsible for the excavation and management of extensive datasets of other types of pottery, beyond Roman tablewares, and other types of artefacts. Arch-I-Scan can potentially provide a service to record other types and fabrics of pottery (e.g. other Roman wares, Medieval and post-Medieval) to further facilitate more effective, comprehensive and consistent digital collation and management of many of their datasets.
The system also opens avenues for the AI technology in other areas where AI's mistakes can be rectified immediately once detected, e.g. health sciences and high-security applications.
 
Description Because we were not able to collect adequate images of real pottery we have developed a process for simulating the pottery. This has worked well for whole vessels, with high levels of accuracy, and we have also applied these simulation procedures to the more usual fragmentary archaeological material to train and test the AI system. While this is much more complicated because of the multitude of ways in which vessels can fracture but we are getting very positive and significant results. We are also developing processes for automatically measuring the sizes of vessels from rim sherds which needs a different approach to photographing the sherds that requires more accurate distance between the camera and the sherd.
Exploitation Route The project held a colloquium and workshop in April 2023 to discuss ways of taking the project forward with stakeholders. Paper from this colloquium and on the processes and results of the project are currently being prepared for publication as a dedicated volume of the journal 'Internet Archaeology@
Sectors Creative Economy

Education

Culture

Heritage

Museums and Collections

 
Description AUTOMated enriched digitisation of Archaeological liThics and cerAmics
Amount € 488,794,021 (EUR)
Funding ID 101158046 
Organisation European Commission H2020 
Sector Public
Country Belgium
Start 08/2024 
End 03/2029
 
Description Arch-I-Scan: Automated recording and machine learning for collating Roman ceramic tablewares and investigating eating and drinking practices
Amount £811,815 (GBP)
Funding ID AH/T001003/1 
Organisation Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2019 
End 08/2022
 
Title Núñez Jareño, S. J.; van Helden, D. P.; Mirkes, E. M.; Tyukin, I. Y.; Allison, P. Arch-I-Scan data repository 
Description This repository includes datasets of images of Samian pottery from Museum of London Collection and of images of simulated Samian vessels. It also contains information on the models trained during experiments with Computational Neural Networks. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Unknown 
URL https://github.com/ArchiScn
 
Description Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service 
Organisation Colchester + Ipswich Museums
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution We are developing digital data of their collection of Samian pottery
Collaborator Contribution They are providing materials and volunteers to collect digital data for training our AI service
Impact This collaboration involves a museum partner whose collection we are using to produce digital data to train our AI service. It is our aim that, at the end of the project, these digital data will be stored by the Museum and archived and disseminated by the Archaeological Data Service
Start Year 2019
 
Description MOLA 
Organisation Museum of London Archaeology
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution We are collecting data from their collection to train our Arch-I-Scan device towards providing them with an automated recording system for Roman pottery
Collaborator Contribution This partner has provided their collection of Roman pottery for our use, except ceramic specialist to assist and help with identifications of the pottery, and space in which to carry out our scanning programme
Impact None as yet. This partnership is multi-disciplinary involving a museum, archaeologists and mathematicians
Start Year 2020
 
Description Museum of London 
Organisation Museum of London
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution We have collected data from their collection to train our Arch-I-Scan device towards providing them with an automated recording system for Roman pottery
Collaborator Contribution This partner has provided their collection of Roman pottery for our use, curatorial assistance, and space in which to carry out our scanning programme
Impact None as yet. This partnership is multi-disciplinary involving a museum, archaeologists and mathematicians
Start Year 2019
 
Description Vindolanda Trust 
Organisation Vindolanda Trust
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution We are collecting data from their collection to train our Arch-I-Scan device towards providing them with an automated recording system for Roman pottery
Collaborator Contribution This partner has provided their collection of Roman pottery for our use, curatorial assistance, space in which to carry out our scanning programme, and accommodation for the research team
Impact None as yet. This partnership is multi-disciplinary involving a heritage organisation charity, archaeologists and mathematicians
Start Year 2020
 
Description Arch-I-Scan Blog (2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This blog is on both our Wordpress news site and the University staff blog platform where members of the research team post their news, thoughts and ideas. Five new blog posts were added in 2022 which covered an end-of-year round up for 2021 and project achievements and appointments for 2022. Through this media platform, the project was able to share informal, more detailed glimpses into project activities during the year. Impacts not possible to assess due to lack of comments and restrictions of site manager (no visitor metrics could be tracked).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://archiscannews.com/arch-i-scan-blog/
 
Description Arch-I-Scan Colloquium and Workshop - Artificial Intelligence and Pottery Identification and Analyses, College Court, Leicester (20th-21st April 2023) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This blog reported on the project's colloquium and workshop which involved members of the research team, other researchers and professional practitioners who presented papers and contributed to discussions. The colloquium was both in person and online and and also discussed plans for future follow-on projects involving professional practitioners and researchers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://archiscannews.com/2023/05/03/arch-i-scan-colloquium-and-workshop-artificial-intelligence-and...
 
Description Arch-I-Scan Facebook (2021) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A social media channel which shares updates of project activities, and advertises project talks, public events, and opportunities to get involved. This channel has allowed our project to share the research with a much wider range of people than we would be able to without a social media presence. Increases in followers (a 72% increase from 2020), 'Likes' and 'Shares' indicate audiences have an interest in the topic and wish to learn more. Volunteers in our scanning programmes have also reported that they've found out about the project through Facebook, and this led to their interest in getting involved. Other specialists have also reached out via Facebook about possible future collaborations. Comments: 'Hello, The AI I'm working on still has some progress to make but if you want to discuss it it would be a pleasure', 'Looking forward to hearing from you. Your project is great'
There were 4,324 hits in 2021.
Facebook: @archiscanproject
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.facebook.com/archiscanproject
 
Description Arch-I-Scan Facebook (2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A social media channel which shares updates of project activities, and advertises project talks, public events, and opportunities to get involved. This channel has allowed our project to share the research with a much wider range of people than we would be able to without a social media presence. Increases in followers (a 9% increase from 2021), 'Likes' and 'Shares' indicate audiences have an interest in the topic and wish to learn more. Volunteers in our scanning programmes have also reported that they've found out about the project through Facebook, and this led to their interest in getting involved. Other specialists have also reached out via Facebook about possible future collaborations. Comments: include site visitors tagging friends in the comments section of the Study Group for Roman Pottery talk post, and 'And a big thank you to Fiona Seeley without whom we could not have done this.'
There were 645 hits in 2022.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Arch-I-Scan News Website (2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This Wordpress site is the main website for the project to allow for more timely updates and edits to a project website. The site is the central project site where members of the public internationally view project background, our events, news items (with links to URLs to videos etc. for public events), blog posts, publications and resources, and opportunities to get involved including participation in project scanning programmes.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://archiscannews.com/
 
Description Arch-I-Scan News website (2021) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This Wordpress site is the main website for the project which was given University approval to host an external news website to allow for more timely updates and edits to a project website (while the University webpages were low to edit due to administrative restrictions). The site was ultimately launched in the summer as a central site where members of the public internationally could view project background, our events, news items (with links to URLs to videos etc. for public events), blog posts, publications and resources, and opportunities to get involved including participation in project scanning programmes.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://archiscannews.com/
 
Description Arch-I-Scan School of Archaeology and Ancient History webpage (2021) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact These webpages are managed by University of Leicester professional services staff and web team, as part of the School of Archaeology and Ancient History webpages. They advertise project background, aims and rationale to an international audience, as well as share team member bios, given their roles as University of Leicester staff members. Weblinks direct site visitors to the projects Wordpress news website and blog.
In 2021, these webpages had 842 unique page views for Sitecore, 43 unique page views for Plone = at most 885 people.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://le.ac.uk/archaeology/research/new-approaches-to-the-material-world/arch-i-scan
 
Description Arch-I-Scan School of Archaeology and Ancient History webpage (2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact These webpages are managed by University of Leicester professional services staff and web team, as part of the School of Archaeology and Ancient History webpages. They advertise project background, aims and rationale to an international audience, as well as share team member bios, given their roles as University of Leicester staff members. Weblinks direct site visitors to the projects Wordpress news website and blog.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://le.ac.uk/archaeology/research/new-approaches-to-the-material-world/arch-i-scan
 
Description Arch-I-Scan School of Archaeology and Ancient History webpage (2023) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact In 2023 there were 588 views of this page by 238 active users and the engagement rate was 66.01%. These views were from United Kingdom (375), Spain (43), Germany (21), United States (20), Turkey (17), Australia (14), Italy (14), North Macedonia (9), China (8), Canada (7), Sweden (6), Netherlands (5), Poland (5), Switzerland (5), France (4), Greece (4), Egypt (3), Philippines (3), Uganda (3), Finland (2), Ireland (2), Pakistan (2), Saudia Arabia (2), Austria (1), Columbia (1), Israel (1), New Zealand (1), Nigeria 1, Slovakia (1), South Korea (1). It is not possible to tell who these viewers were but some of them have visited our 'how to get involved' page and we have had requests in this regard, despite having finished our volunteer programme which has included members of the general public, undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://le.ac.uk/archaeology/research/new-approaches-to-the-material-world/arch-i-scan
 
Description Arch-I-Scan Twitter (2020) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A Twitter account is linked to our project's website, Facebook pages, and Instagram site and provides information on any updates of the project. There are 10-20 likes and some of these items have been retweeted.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://twitter.com/arch_i_scan
 
Description Arch-I-Scan Twitter (2021) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A social media channel which shares updates of project activities, and advertises project talks, public events, and opportunities to get involved. This channel has allowed our project to share the research with a much wider range of people than we would be able to without a social media presence. Increases in followers (a 262% increase from 2020), 'Likes' and 'Shares' indicate audiences have an interest in the topic and wish to learn more. [no comments however]
Estimated between 8,000-10,000 interacting with the Arch-I-Scan through Twitter, although unable to determine precise number, just reach per post (which may have overlap if audiences see multiple posts). Requests for further information' are evident as there was a high number of visitors to our news site in 2021 which came from people who started on our Twitter page.
Our Twitter handle is @Arch_I_Scan
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Arch-I-Scan University blog 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This blog is on the University of staff blog platform where members of the research team post their news, thoughts and ideas. Four new blog posts were added in 2021 which covered a roundup of end-of-the-year project achievements for 2020, a description of progress despite another national lockdown in spring 2021, an introduction to new Arch-I-Scan team member Shuihua (Sharon) Wang, and a guest blog post by our summer intern, Aysha. Through this media platform, the project was able to share informal, more detailed glimpses into project activities during the year. Impacts not possible to assess due to lack of comments and restrictions of site manager (no visitor metrics could be tracked).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/archiscan/
 
Description Arch-I-Scan on Facebook (2023) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A social media channel which shares updates of project activities, and advertises project talks, public events, and opportunities to get involved. As the research of this project is nearing completion, since Nov 2023 there are no longer any opportunities to get involved or any further public events. This channel has allowed our project to share the research with a much wider range of people than we would be able to without a social media presence. There were c. 26 hits/month in 2023 and evidence for increased engagement
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Arch-I-Scan on Instagram (2021) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A social media channel which shares updates of project activities, and advertises project talks, public events, and opportunities to get involved. This channel has allowed our project to share the research with a much wider range of people than we would be able to without a social media presence. Increases in followers (a 165% increase from 2020), 'Likes' and 'Shares' indicate audiences have an interest in the topic and wish to learn more. Comments: 'Que maniero' ('So cool')
This channel led to requests for further information' as there were visitors to our news site in 2021 which came from people who started on our Instagram page
The project's Instagram had 1,331 hits in 2021
Instagram (2021): @archiscanproject
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Arch-I-Scan on Instagram (2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A social media channel which shares updates of project activities, and advertises project talks, public events, and opportunities to get involved. This channel has allowed our project to share the research with a much wider range of people than we would be able to without a social media presence. Increases in followers (a 10% increase from 2020), 'Likes' and 'Shares' indicate audiences have an interest in the topic and wish to learn more.
This channel led to requests for further information as there were visitors to our news site in 2022 which came from people who started on our Instagram page
The project's Instagram had 566 followers as of 13/02/2023 and reached 1169 people, but no comments to the account.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.instagram.com/archiscanproject/
 
Description Arch-I-Scan on Twitter 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A social media channel which shares updates of project activities, and advertises project talks, public events, and opportunities to get involved. This channel has allowed our project to share the research with a much wider range of people than we would be able to without a social media presence. Increases in followers (a 81% increase from 2021), 'Likes' and 'Shares' indicate audiences have an interest in the topic and wish to learn more. Estimated between 15,000 persons interacting with the Arch-I-Scan through Twitter, although unable to determine precise number, just reach per post (which may have overlap if audiences see multiple posts). 'Requests for further information' are evident as there was a high number of visitors to our news site in 2022 which came from people who started on our Twitter page, as well as questions asked through comments on this SM channel.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://twitter.com/Arch_I_Scan
 
Description Arch-I-Scan volunteer programme - Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service (2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 26 people took part in our scanning programmes at the CIMS Museums Resource Centre in 2022. As the volunteers aided the project in collecting image data, they were offered practical experience in handling pottery as well as insight into the archaeological material (pottery), current research and digital applications in archaeology.

All participants who responded to a feedback survey (14 people) reported that, to varying degrees, their understanding of Roman pottery and understanding of digital applications in archaeology had improved, and the majority also responded that their skills in artefact handling, understanding of archaeological cataloguing processes, and interest in Roman pottery had improved as the result of the experience. All respondents rated the overall experience as either 'positive' or 'very positive' and all indicated they would recommend the experience to a friend or colleague. One respondent said they were likely to use the technology in their own work or research. All who had personal goals for participating in the scanning reported that these goals were, at least to some extent, achieved.

Some participants provided further feedback: 'It has reinforced the fact that artefacts need to be week recorded but new information can be obtain by looking at them again'; 'This has made me interested in the pottery and its history - it has made me wish I had found the right path as a student so I could have pursued my interest'; 'although this is a laborious process it was good to be able to handle the pottery and learn more - also the enthusiasm and knowledge of David made it an interesting and valued experience'; 'It was nice to work in a small group in the presence of field experts as I felt I learned a lot and was able to ask questions which also aided my learning of Roman life and pottery alike. This is definitely something I would like to continue with in my education and career'; 'I volunteer in Colchester Castle, now I will look more closely at the exhibits'; 'The process was well-organised and the organisers were well-prepared, patient and friendly. I should be happy to remain involved in future'; 'I feel as though I have now had my first experience working in archaeology which was my aim'; 'I really enjoyed getting to handle the pottery and will definitely add this to my university application'; in response to being asked their favourite part of the experience, 'Actually having hands on experience with shards that needed recording.'
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Arch-I-Scan volunteer programme - MoLA (autumn 2021) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact 23 persons including London-based students from Birkbeck College, UCL and King's College, as well as other local volunteers took part in our scanning programme at MoLA. As the volunteers aided the project in collecting image data, they gained useful practical experience in handling pottery as well as insight into the archaeological material, current research and digital methods.
All participants who responded to a feedback survey (13) reported that, to varying degrees, their understanding of and interest in Roman pottery, and skills in artefact handling had improved, and the majority also responded that their understanding of digital applications in archaeology and archaeological cataloguing processes had improved as the result of the experience. One volunteer was a research fellow at UCL in astrophysics but familiarity/background in machine learning
All respondents rated the overall experience positively or very positively and all indicated they would recommend the experience to a friend of colleague. Five out of 13 respondents said they were likely to use the technology in their work or research, with the remaining eight respondents indicating this was a possibility. All reported that their personal goals were achieved, with some providing further feedback: 'I really enjoyed my time and learned a lot about the pottery forms'; 'Within the first two days, I had already learnt a tremendous amount of Roman Pottery thanks to the wonderful team that were supervising me and the other volunteers'; 'for the first time I had direct contact with artefacts from Roman London'; 'I got valuable information which is only gained with practical work. Fiona is a phenomenal supervisor and mentor who patiently helped me understand various aspects of pottery and the overall project'; 'learned so much about Terra sigillata from Fiona Seeley who led our group and I learned about the digital and tech side of things from Dan Van Helden. I learned how to use the phone cameras to take scale shots of the pottery and how to identify certain types and patterns and even evidence of use'; 'Did a bit of background reading stimulated by the project which threw up some interesting new info for me'; 'I appreciated learning more about what archaeological "raw data" actually looks like.'
Most respondents cited their favourite part of the experience as gaining new skills as the result of practical handling alongside professional archaeologists.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Arch-I-Scan volunteer programme - Museum of London Archaeology (2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 20 people took part in our scanning programme at MOLA in 2022. Only a few of these people had previously volunteered in 2021. As the volunteers aided the project in collecting image data, they were offered practical experience in handling pottery as well as insight into the archaeological material (pottery), current research and digital applications in archaeology.

All participants who responded to a feedback survey (nine people) reported that, to varying degrees, their understanding of Roman pottery and understanding of digital applications in archaeology had improved, and the majority also responded that their skills in artefact handling and understanding of archaeological cataloguing processes had improved as the result of the experience. All respondents rated the overall experience as either 'positive' or 'very positive' and all indicated they would recommend the experience to a friend or colleague. One respondent said they were likely to use the technology in their own work or research. All who had personal goals for participating in the scanning reported that these goals were achieved.

Some participants provided further feedback: in response to being asked their favourite part of the experience, 'First-hand experience of well-preserved Samian' and 'Gaining a better understanding of Roman pottery'; one person's achieved goal was 'I used to be a pottery specialist and both want to find a way back to it, and also to learn more about how new technologies are being applied'
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Arch-I-Scan volunteer programme - University of Leicester (2021) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Nine persons including students from the University of Leicester and museum volunteers from local fieldwork groups took part in our scanning programme at the University. As the volunteers aided the project in collecting image data, they gained useful practical experience in handling pottery as well as insight into the archaeological material, current research and digital methods.
All participants who responded to a feedback survey (eight) reported that, to varying degrees, their understanding of Roman pottery had improved, and the majority also responded that their interest in Roman pottery, understanding of archaeological cataloguing processes and digital applications in archaeology, and skills in artefact handling had improved as the result of the experience.
All respondents rated the overall experience positively or very positively and all indicated they would recommend the experience to a friend of colleague. Three out of eight respondents said they were likely to use the technology in their work or research, with the remaining five respondents indicating this was a possibility. All reported that their personal goals were achieved, with some providing further feedback: 'I was able to do extensive object handling which will be helpful for my future MA in Museum Studies'; 'it was a very engageable experience, allowing me to be fully immersed in pottery'; 'it was an interesting insight into new developments in the field and how we can use technology to further our understanding and use out in the field.'
This activity provided a successful learning opportunity for students and local history enthusiasts during a break in pandemic restrictions. Many indicated in their feedback forms that their favourite part of the experience was not only improved pottery skills, but gaining this practical experience through object handling and lively in-person discussion to make up for lost opportunities to do so during the pandemic
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Arch-I-Scan volunteer programme - University of Leicester Archaeology Service (2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact 11 people took part in our scanning programme at the University of Leicester in 2022, including members of the Oadby and Wigston Fieldwork group. Only a few of these people had previously volunteered in 2021. As the volunteers aided the project in collecting image data, they were offered practical experience in handling pottery as well as insight into the archaeological material (pottery), current research and digital applications in archaeology.

All participants who responded to a feedback survey (three people) reported that, to varying degrees, their understanding of Roman pottery, skills in artefact handling, understanding of digital applications in archaeology, and understanding of archaeological cataloguing processes had improved, and the majority also responded that their interest in Roman pottery had improved as the result of the experience. All respondents rated the overall experience as 'very positive' and all indicated they would recommend the experience to a friend or colleague. All who had personal goals for participating in the scanning reported that these goals were achieved.

Some participants provided further feedback: 'In the sessions possible to me, I handled a variety of sherds and was developing ability to scan. It was a fascinating environment and I'm sure if other opportunities arise, this would be very valuable'; 'I learned more about pottery and how sherds are catalogued'; in response to being asked their favourite part of the experience, 'The interesting and motivating environment of the lab - the opportunity to see university personnel's expertise and experience the training that was given.'
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Arch-I-Scan volunteer programme - Vindolanda Charitable Trust (2021) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Six local volunteers took place in our scanning programme at the Roman Vindolanda Fort and Museum. As the volunteers aided the project in collecting image data, they gained useful practical experience in handling pottery as well as insight into the archaeological material, current research and digital methods.
All participants who responded to a feedback survey (five) reported that, to varying degrees, their understanding of Roman pottery and digital applications in archaeology had improved, and the majority also responded that their interest in Roman pottery, understanding of archaeological cataloguing processes and skills in artefact handling had improved as the result of the experience.
All respondents rated the overall experience very positively and all indicated they would recommend the experience to a friend of colleague. One out of five respondents said they were likely to use the technology in their own work or research. All reported that their personal goals were achieved, with some providing further feedback: 'It has been a priviledge to handle so much Samian ware and to be able to ask David Griffiths questions about the sherds we were photgraphing'; 'Yes, the goals were achieved. Being with a Roman pottery expert who was able to answer pottery related questions and working with other volunteer colleagues was enjoyable. Helping produce 100s if not 1000s of images was challenging in terms of concentration but it allowed you to see how all of this information might be taken and used to identify single sherds'; 'The pottery experts working with us were very helpful and always willing to answer questions about the pottery and about research'; 'Fabulous to handle so many different types of sherd and especially to become aware of the rich variety of fabrics'; 'I saw a lot of decoration on the Samian ware some of which was outstanding. I learnt quite a lot about different types of Samian ware, and would like to know more'; 'There is a lot to learn about pottery and in this context Samian ware. I will continue to seek opportunities to increase knowledge and identification skills through more formal learning and teaching'; 'Found the project aims really exciting with potential wide application. Great opportunity to handle a more diverse range of Vindolanda sherds than is normally possible.'
Volunteers were grateful that their goal of an improved knowledge of Samian pottery as met, and many indicated the experience inspired them to pursue further formal and informal learning in this specialist field (Roman pottery), for which there is a current shortage.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Arch-I-Scan volunteer programme - Vindolanda Charitable Trust (2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Eight people took part in our scanning programmes at the Roman Vindolanda Fort and Museum in 2022. Many of these people had previously volunteered in 2021. As the volunteers aided the project in collecting image data, they were offered practical experience in handling pottery as well as insight into the archaeological material (pottery), current research and digital applications in archaeology.

All participants who responded to a feedback survey (three people) reported that their understanding of Roman pottery had improved, and the majority also responded that their understanding of digital applications in archaeology had improved as the result of the experience. All respondents rated the overall experience as 'positive', and all indicated they would recommend the experience to a friend or colleague. Two out of three persons who had personal goals for participating in the scanning reported that these goals were achieved.

Some participants provided further feedback: 'I can see this technology being applicable and extremely useful in commercial archaeology. Amazing that it hasn't been done before. I look forward to using it when fully developed'; 'Reinforced my interests. Meeting the specialists and other volunteers also expanded my knowledge of the subject'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Arch-I-Scan volunteer programme - Vindolanda Charitable Trust (2023) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Seven volunteers from the general public worked with the research team to photograph pottery sherds. They also experimented with a new approach to photographing rim sherd diameters through an see-through table. This programme also acted as the training session for a professional practitioner who has recently graduated with a PhD
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Arch-I-Scan website (2020) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact The project's website has a 'New and Events and Social Media' pages that links to any Media reports for the project as well as the project's facebook, instagram and twitter accounts.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020,2021
URL https://le.ac.uk/archaeology/research/new-approaches-to-the-material-world/arch-i-scan/news
 
Description Arch-I-Scan: Roman pottery and machine learning by Sara Colley 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact YouTube video including description of the project aims, members of the project and the project activities
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isA-APZGTG0
 
Description Arch-I-Scan: We get by with a little help from our friends. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Paper presented online by Dr Daan van Helden to the Citizens of Archaeology, Citizen Archaeology, Sustainable Heritage for Living Towns conference in Soriano nel Cimino (Italy). This was presented online on the 14th of October. According to the organisers, "The conference was mainly attended by academics and archaeologists from public institutions, but also by professionals. For the institutions, there were various levels of representation, from the Lazio Region to the Ministry of Culture, .... [with a dense programme of speeches. The conference was open to the public, and there was also an amateur audience."
In addition to the in-person audience, the conference was also broadcast on Youtube, and the videos were viewed between 100 and 220 times. So the conference was well attended.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Arch-I-Scan: hoe we met AI vorm proberen te geven aan aardewerkonderzoek 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This was a paper presented at the 24e dag van het Romeins Aardewerk in Nijmegen by Dr Daan van Helden. This was presented on the 9th of June to an audience of ca. 200 people. These consisted of commercial archaeologists, municipal and other governmental archaeologists, museum professionals, interested members of the public or amateur archaeologists, and a few academics. Most are from the Netherlands, but Belgium and Germany were also represented. Plans for future related activity involved talks with future volunteers and collection managers about practical aspect of any future Arch-I-Scan like data gathering in the Netherlands. Audience reported increased insight in the utility and practical considerations of AI in archaeology.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Arch-i-Scan Facebook (2020) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact The project has been running a facebook page showing the project activities, particularly the scanning programmes in March and Nov. 2020 involving students and volunteers working on collections from the excavations of the Museum of London Archaeology and the Vindolanda Trust. The reach on these pages have been particularly high during these scanning programmes - 2.2k on 5/2/2020 and 1.9k on 13/3/2020 with c. 30 reactions and up to 8 comments.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019,2020
URL https://www.facebook.com/archiscanproject/
 
Description Arch-i-Scan on Instagram (2020) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact An Instagram account is linked to the project's website and Facebook page and has 198 followers. The followers like to see the photographs displayed here and to follow the progress of the project - each photograph has up to 20 likes
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019,2020
URL https://www.picuki.com/profile/archiscanproject
 
Description Artificial Intelligence and the Roman Table (Society for Promotion of Roman Studies) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Penelope Allison gave one of three talks on 'Domesticity and Domestic Life' for the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (March 2021) - permanently available on YouTube
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jKVlQttouk
 
Description Being Human Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact As part in the national 'Being Human Festival' in November 2021, the UK's national festival of the humanities, members of the Arch-I-Scan research team ran with two hands-on free public events - one at the University of Leicester (19th Nov.) and one in the New Walk Museum, Leicester (20th Nov.) - for which members of the public registered to photograph Roman pottery, supervised by the team members

In these sessions, the Arch-I-Scan team shared clips of the project video (by Dr. Sarah Colley), led a hands-on sherd photography activity which replicated our own research process, and engaged in Q&A. These events provided for an opportunity for the general public to get involved with publicly-funded higher-ed research projects, and learn something new in an accessible and fun way. Participants who filled in a feedback questionnaire reported that they felt the following impacts: seven persons said, 'I learnt more about research into the subject/topic', six persons said the event 'Increased my understanding of the subject's/topic's relevance to everyday life', five persons said the event 'Inspired me to find out more about the subject/ topic', three persons said the event 'Sparked an interest in university research about the subject/topic', 2 persons said the event 'Sparked an interest in university research about the humanities in general' and one person wrote that the event led them to form new thoughts about classifying local archaeological finds and helping them in their own work.

Participants reported a greater understanding of the subject's/topic's relevance to everyday life, which is sometimes a difficult connection to be made with ancient ceramic remains. The events allowed people from all walks of life to connect with their shared cultural heritage.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://beinghumanfestival.org/news/being-human-2021-highlights
 
Description City of London Guide Lecturers Association magazine article 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Third sector organisations
Results and Impact The City of London Guide Lecturers magazine article by Tina Baxter, MOLA scanning volunteer, on her experience with the Arch-I-Scan project: a small subscription-based magazine, which is being produced for the members of the City of London Guide Association.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Decisions, decisions... Development of new technology for archaeology 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Paper presented online by Daan van Helden to the Roman Finds Group's 'Zoom in on Roman Finds' seminar series. Audience reported increased insight in the utility and practical considerations of AI in archaeology. Contact with the evening's other speaker, Mark McKerracher, who is working on an AI powered visual identification aid for archaeological (small) finds. He was keen to follow Arch-I-Scan research off the back of this as he found it interesting for his work (which if it is up and running would help the Portable Antiquities Scheme quite a bit).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Digital Past 2021 - Sarah Colley's presentation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dr. Sarah Colley, participant in the Arch-I-Scan Project, presented a paper 'Truth, Ethics and Expressive Techniques: Making Digital Videos to Record and Interpret Archaeology and Cultural Heritage' at the Digital Past Conference held by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (8-12 Feb 2021). Dr Colley's paper included discussion on the videos she is making of the work of the Arch-I-Scan project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://rcahmw.gov.uk/about-us/digital-past-conference/programme-outline/.
 
Description Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford 2020-21 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Penelope Allison, project PI, was invited to be Distinguished Lecturer at the Stanford Archaeology Center, California during the academic year 2020-2021. This was a public, by registration, online lecture and involved discussion and questions. The lecture is now publicly available
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://archaeology.stanford.edu/events/distinguished-lecture-series
 
Description Good luck, Victoria! It won't be the samian without you 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Blog by Victoria Szafara, who coordinated Arch-I-Scan's outreach activities and volunteer programmes for 3 and a half years, describing her activities on the project before leaving to take up a new post as the Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer in May 2023
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://archiscannews.com/2023/06/05/good-luck-victoria-it-wont-be-the-samian-without-you/
 
Description ITV news report 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A report on the ITV news channel after the award had been granted and before the project actually started.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Images of Research competition 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Submission of a photography of our scanning at the Museum of London, by a member of the project team, Victoria Szafara ,for the University of Leicesters' Doctoral College 'Images of Research' Competition. Victoria's photograph was a joint winner for the Leicester Institute of Advanced Studies Interdisciplinary Prize
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Oadby and Wigston Fieldworking Group 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact [chk with Victoria]
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Photographing for Future Technology: The development of the Arch-I-Scan data gathering procedure 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This paper was presented online by Dr Daan van Helden to the Recording Roman Culture: Paradigms of recording, curating and interpreting archaeological artefacts and heritage frameworks workshop in Durham. As it was presented this online, it is difficult judge the audience size or make-up, but a sizeable chunk of the speakers were (museum) professionals. The aims of the conference were explicitly to talk about practical ways of engaging with this topic, and to give visiting Turkish scholar(s?) practical as well as theoretical examples. Van Helden talked with Gemma Lewis, from Durham museums, and she mentioned that they have some 5000 pieces of terra sigillata which form part of the reference collection that Stanfied and Simpson used for Central Gaulish Potters. So there is opportunities for future work, funds depending.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/archaeology/events/recording-roman-culture-workshop-de...
 
Description Researching Pompeii (St. Columba Anglican School) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact C. 30 Ancient History and History secondary school children (at St Columba Anglican School, NSW, Australia) in their final and penultimate years of school, attended talk on my research, including the Arch-I-Scan Project
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Scanning Samian pottery during lockdown 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Victoria Szfara (Arch-I_Scan research assistant) was asked to write a guest blog for the Vindolanda Charitable Trust
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.vindolanda.com/Blog/scanning-samian-pottery-during-lockdown
 
Description School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester - research seminar series 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Hybrid seminar presented to School of Archaeology and Ancient History staff and students in the School's lecture series -
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOc2dCrnjRY
 
Description The Arch-I-Scan Project (Council of British Archaeology - London Archaeology Forum) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Penelope Allison gave one of four talks in the Museum of London (Nov. 2021) to local archaeological society members, archaeologists in contracting units, specialists in museums, academics and interested individuals in London.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.mola.org.uk/london-archaeology-forum
 
Description The Arch-I-Scan Project (Manchester Centre for Archaeology and Egyptology (MCAE)) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Penelope Allison gave a talk to members of the Manchester Centre for Archaeology and Ancient History, comprising museums, professional practitioners in archaeology and museums and interested members of the public
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description The development of AI to identify Samian ware. Paper presented at the Roman Finds Group Conference in Nottingham 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Paper presented by Dr Daan van Helden at the Roman Finds Group Conference in Nottingham. This was on the 22nd of April, with an estimated in-person audience of about 30-50 and an unknown number of listeners online. From the audience van Helden received ideas and potential access to rubbings of decorated forms of terra sigillata, which might be used in exploring a different angle for training computer vision for archaeology (though this is very different to what is current practice, The audience also reported increased insight in the utility and practical considerations of AI in archaeology.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://romanfindsgroup.org.uk/event/2023-rfg-spring-meeting/
 
Description University of Leicester staff blog 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Research team members write a monthly blog about the project's research programme
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020,2021
URL https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/archiscan/
 
Description Vindolanda Charitable Trust Open Days 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 141 members of the public joined us over two research open days and those who filled out feedback forms reported that 'I learnt more about current research into the subject', 'inspired me to find out more about the subject', 'Sparked an interest related to my university and/or professional research', and 'Increased my understanding of the subject's relevance to everyday life'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Volunteers for scanning programmes (2020) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Students from Birkbeck College and other museum volunteers took part in our scanning programmes in MOLA. None of this involvement was to fulfil academic requirements. Excerpts from feedback from a survey (unfortunately only 3 responded):
'If you are a fan of archaeology or just history (which I am) then yea its for you .I have been loving it the people and the project. Everyone has been friendly and professional and made me feel at home.'

Reasons for taking part:
'This was a perfect opportunity for me as an undergraduate student to get some experience. Plus it was quite an exciting opportunity and I still am looking forward to working with the team.'
'It sounded very interesting to be able to handle the material and look closely at it as well as to help with the AI aim.'

Goals achieved:
'I have achieved more than what I thought. In my mind I thought I would just be around some professionals helping out. I in fact was allowed to get stuck in and help out with an exciting project, an immense honor and experience. This has been a great step towards an archaeology based life for me.'
'I really enjoyed it and handling objects in the round improves knowledge.'

All participants responded, to varying degrees, that their understanding of and interest in Roman pottery, their understandings of archaeological cataloguing processes and digital applications in archaeology and, skills in artefact handling, had improved, that they understood the project aims and were likely to use the technology in their work and study. They also all gave the atmosphere of the working environment and overall experience the highest rating. They all responded that they would take part if work began again after Covid and would recommend the experience to a friend or colleague.

Favourite aspects:
'Just being in the work environment, as in the people the actual working with pottery. For someone who wants to peruse this in the future it has all been very exciting.'
'Being able to participate in a project that will enhance future learning and museum experience is important to me.'

Other comments
'I thought I'd just say that I have loved this work and thank you all, so much for the great experience. I look forward to hopefully working with you all again after covid.'
'It was a great working group and I was made to feel very welcome. It was very well organised'
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020