Why QR Codes Are Used in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Preservation
Artifact Management at Excavation Sites - Recording the "Address" of Each Find
In archaeological excavations, the "find location" of an artifact accounts for most of its value as information. Even for the same pottery fragment, estimates of its age and its cultural interpretation change depending on which layer it came from, at which coordinates, and in which orientation it was found. Recording this location information accurately and managing it linked to the artifact is the foundation of excavation work.
Traditionally, the common method was to assign handwritten numbers to finds and record their locations in paper registers. However, large excavation sites can yield several hundred artifacts in a single day, and handwritten records are prone to transcription errors and mistaken links.
In an artifact management system using QR codes, a QR code label is attached the moment a find is lifted, and GPS coordinates, layer information, and photos are linked and recorded with a smartphone or tablet. Scanning the QR code on the label lets you check later how that artifact was found. The British archaeological firm Wessex Archaeology is one example of adopting this method and improving the accuracy of records and the efficiency of work.
Museum Collection Management - "Invisible" Collections of Over 1 Million Items
The number of items held by the world's major museums is dozens of times the number on display. In the case of the British Museum, only a tiny fraction of its collection is on permanent display. Most of the rest is kept in storage, and only researchers and conservators have access to it.
One way to manage such vast collections is to use QR codes. A QR code is assigned to each item, and scanning it displays the storage location, condition records, restoration history, exhibition history, and links to related academic papers. When items are lent out (for special exhibitions at other museums, for example), the loan records can also be updated by scanning the QR code.
The collections of Japan's major museums are also enormous in scale. QR code management linked to the Agency for Cultural Affairs' "Database of National Cultural Properties" could serve as a means of making it more efficient to confirm the whereabouts of cultural properties and monitor their condition.
Restoration Histories of Cultural Properties - QR Codes as "Medical Charts"
Restoring a cultural property has aspects similar to medical treatment. Records of the condition before restoration, the materials and techniques used, the names of the restorers, and follow-up observation after restoration. Systematically recording this information so that it can be consulted at the next restoration is essential for the long-term preservation of cultural properties.
QR codes work as a way to access these "restoration charts." A QR code is placed in an inconspicuous spot, such as the back of a cultural property or its pedestal, and scanning it displays the record of its restoration history. Unlike paper charts, it can be linked to large amounts of data including photos and videos, so you can visually compare the condition before and after restoration.
The restoration institute in Florence, Italy (Opificio delle Pietre Dure) has introduced a digital record system for restoring Renaissance paintings and sculptures, and QR codes are used as a means of calling up those records. Works of art made hundreds of years ago and 21st-century digital technology are connected through the act of restoration.
AR Reconstruction Guides at Archaeological Sites
For tourists visiting an archaeological site, it is difficult to imagine what the buildings that once stood there looked like from the stone foundations and crumbling walls in front of them alone. Reconstruction guides that combine QR codes and AR (augmented reality) help close this gap in imagination.
QR codes are installed at points throughout the site, and when scanned, the former buildings appear as 3D models overlaid on the real scenery through the smartphone camera. At the ruins of Pompeii, there is an initiative that uses this technology to reconstruct the streets of ancient Rome. Visitors can walk while comparing the ruins in front of them with the magnificent architecture of 2,000 years ago recreated on their smartphones.
In Japan as well, AR reconstruction guides starting from QR codes are offered at the Heijo Palace Site in Nara and the Naniwa Palace Site in Osaka. "Japan Heritage," certified by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, aims to revitalize regions by promoting them not only in Japan but also overseas, and multilingual guidance through QR codes can be used to provide information to inbound tourists.
Underwater Archaeology and the Challenge for QR Codes
Underwater archaeology is carried out in an environment fundamentally different from excavations on land. Visibility is limited, working time is constrained by how long divers can stay down, and paper and pens for recording cannot be used. In this harsh environment, waterproof QR code plates are used to record the positions of artifacts.
At shipwreck excavation sites, a grid of reference lines is stretched across the seabed, and a QR code plate is fixed at each intersection. When divers photograph a QR code and an artifact together with an underwater camera, the artifact's position can be recorded from the photo. Work that used to be recorded by hand on underwater slates (waterproof writing boards) has become more efficient with the introduction of QR codes.
UNESCO's "Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage" requires States Parties to record and preserve underwater sites. There are examples of QR codes being used as a tool to support this recording work in underwater archaeology surveys in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.