Publications by Year: 2017

2017
The Harvard Yard Archaeology Project Experienced in Augmented Reality
Emanuel, J. P., Hartford, A., Bentley, B., & Hollis, L. (2017). The Harvard Yard Archaeology Project Experienced in Augmented Reality. In HUBweek 2017 . Cambridge, MA, Oct. 11.
Integrating IIIF and Mirador at Harvard
Steward, J., Singhal, R., Stern, R., Emanuel, J. P., & Harward, J. V. (2017). Integrating IIIF and Mirador at Harvard. In Visual Resources Association (VRA) 34th Annual Conference: Unbridled Opportunities . Louisville, KY, March 9-April 1.
One Framework to Rule Them All: The Unifying Impact of IIIF on Teaching, Research, Museums, and Libraries at Harvard
Emanuel, J. P., Barrett, A., Steward, J., & Stern, R. (2017). One Framework to Rule Them All: The Unifying Impact of IIIF on Teaching, Research, Museums, and Libraries at Harvard. In New Media Consortium (NMC) Summer Conference 2017 . Boston, MA, June 12-15. Click Here to DownloadAbstract
The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) is a set of common APIs developed to provide access to digital visual material from libraries, museums, and other repositories without the all-too-frequent need for a common viewing application. In this session, discover how Harvard has leveraged the promise of IIIF across multiple functional areas, supporting the adoption of a new Harvard Library Viewer, walls of images in the Harvard Art Museums, and image collections embedded in Canvas and in MOOCs from HarvardX — all in high resolution and with unprecedented interactivity.
Archaeology In and Out of the Classroom: Digital Approaches to Archaeological Instruction
Emanuel, J. P. (2017). Archaeology In and Out of the Classroom: Digital Approaches to Archaeological Instruction. [Session Organizer and Chair] . 'Digital Archaeologies, Material Worlds (Past and Present),' the 45th Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Conference (CAA 2017), Georgia State University, March 14-16.Abstract

The continuous development and adoption digital methods, tools, and technologies is having an impact on virtually every field. In archaeology, these developments affect the way we carry out excavations, conservation, publication, and all of the steps in between. Similarly, technology has become such an ingrained part of teaching and learning that what used to be referred to separately as “teaching with technology” has now simply become a part of teaching writ large.

The convergence between technologically-informed teaching and the practice of archaeology takes place on multiple levels, from introductory instruction to higher-order skills needed for fieldwork and data analysis. Similarly, it is realized through multiple modalities, including in person – in the field and in the classroom – and online, as well as in a hybrid form consisting of classroom/field and classroom/online combinations.

The goal of this session is to convene practitioners in a dialogue that is focused on examples of digitally-informed approaches to archaeological instruction in any setting, from seminars to massive open online courses (MOOCs) to field workshops, etc. To that end, we invite contributions that speak to the application of digital methods to the teaching of archaeology as a subject and as a practice. These contributions can consist of successful approaches to integrating digital methods into the instruction of archaeology and cultural heritage, either in the classroom, online, or via hybrid methods, as well as lessons learned from less successful approaches.

We envision this as an interactive session: paper presentations may be supplemented by demonstrations of digital tools and approaches, and projects that are in the planning or pilot stage, or that are in need of reworking to improve results, can be discussed or ‘workshopped’ by session participants, with the ultimate goal of gaining a better understanding of, and becoming better equipped to intelligently apply, digital methods and tools to the teaching of archaeology.

From Physical to Digital, from Interactive to Immersive: Uses of Three-Dimensional Representation, Mixed Reality, and More in the Sharing and Exploration of Archaeological Data
Emanuel, J. P. (2017). From Physical to Digital, from Interactive to Immersive: Uses of Three-Dimensional Representation, Mixed Reality, and More in the Sharing and Exploration of Archaeological Data. [Session Organizer and Chair] . 'Digital Archaeologies, Material Worlds (Past and Present),' the 45th Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Conference (CAA 2017), Georgia State University, March 14-16.Abstract

Innovations in digital recording have caused the amount of data collected during modern archaeological excavations to dwarf that collected only a few years ago – let alone in the excavations of the previous century. The thoughtful integration of digital methods into the process (from excavation to publication) can assist in more complete recording and, just as importantly, meaningful presentation and dissemination of these data. The integration into the digital picture of data from prior excavations and campaign seasons, which may have been recorded in different formats and following different methodologies, is also important.

Digital publications, geospatial datasets, and 3D printed objects are examples of interactive approaches to this problem. This is can be taken a step further with immersion, as modern approaches like Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality allow us to create truly immersive experiences around the reconstruction, visualization, and presentation of data.

In archaeology, interaction and immersion can serve at least two purposes: (1) exhibition and display, which can include the digital supplements to publications and exhibits, physical reconstruction and replication, and virtual reconstruction of sites and artifacts, including those that no longer physically exist; and (2) the close examination of live datasets, which can run the gamut from database queries to the 3D rendering of archaeological data in situ for the purpose of discovery, analysis, and information sharing. Archaeological data in particular are well–suited to Augmented and Virtual Reality for both presentation and dataset exploration, as GIS points and associated finds, which are inherently three–dimensional, connote possible shapes, models, and textures.

This session is intended to foster discussion about the uses of interactive and immersive technologies both in the field, and in the presentation and analysis of objects and datasets. Its format will be a combination of interactive presentation and discussion, with a specific emphasis on demonstrations of 3D reconstruction, Virtual/Augmented and Mixed Reality experiences, online presentation, and other interactive and immersive approaches to excavation, recording, and dissemination. Our goal is to cultivate the community of practice and shared knowledge around these techniques and approaches, while working together to support the highest quality of research and dissemination of archaeological data in this digital age.

Black Ships and Sea Raiders: The Late Bronze–Early Iron Age Context of Odysseus' Second Cretan Lie
Emanuel, J. P. (2017). Black Ships and Sea Raiders: The Late Bronze–Early Iron Age Context of Odysseus' Second Cretan Lie . Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches. Lexington Books. Link to publisherAbstract

The Late Bronze Age ended with a bang in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean: palaces and empires collapsed, from Greece to Egypt; coastal territories were beset by pirates and marauders; migratory peoples were on the move across land and sea; and geopolitical lines were permanently redrawn – conditions reflected, in many ways, by the world portrayed in Homer’s Odyssey. The notorious ‘Sea Peoples,’ mysterious groups of warriors who were credited by the pharaoh Ramesses III with destroying empires across the Near East at this time, fit into this puzzle in some way, although their exact role continues to be hotly debated. In the Odyssey’s various subplots, Odysseus himself carries out activities that are that highly reminiscent of the Sea Peoples, as he engages in raids and skirmishes while circuitously making his way back from Troy. Though it is presented as a falsehood within Homer’s master narrative, one such subplot, the “Second Cretan Lie” (Odyssey xiv 191–359) is striking in its similarity to the experience of one specific Sea Peoples group, whom Egyptian pharaohs referred to as the ‘Sherden of the Sea’, and whose seaborne attacks they claimed that “none could withstand.”

This book marshals documentary, pictorial, and material evidence to examine Odysseus’ Second Cretan Lie in the context of the Late Bronze–Iron Age transition, with particular emphasis on changes in the iconography of warriors and warfare, social and economic upheaval, and remarkable innovation in maritime technology and tactics. Particular focus is given the hero’s description of his frequent raiding activities, including an ill–fated attempt on the Nile Delta, and on his description of seven subsequent years spent in the land of the pharaohs, during which he claims to have gathered great wealth. Setting the evidence for the Sherden of the Sea against this Homeric narrative demonstrates not only that Odysseus’ Second Cretan Lie fits into the temporal framework of the Late Bronze–Early Iron Age transition, but that there were historical people who actually lived that which Odysseus falsely claims as his own experience. 

Emanuel, Jeffrey P. 2017. Black Ships and Sea Raiders: The Late Bronze–Early Iron Age Context of Odysseus' Second Cretan Lie (monograph). Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

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Americas to 1500 CE
Emanuel, J. P. (2017). Americas to 1500 CE. S. K. Stein (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of the Sea in World History: Exploration, Travel, Trade . Santa Barbara: ABC–CLIO. Click Here to DownloadAbstract
The Americas feature perhaps the richest range of prehistoric craft to have survived through history, with adapted versions of some aboriginal vessels remaining in use to this day, particularly off the coasts of Peru, Brazil, and Chile in South America. Because of the longevity of many American watercraft, the primary source of information on pre-Columbian seafaring, the corpus of drawings and descriptions provided by Europeans (primarily in the 18th and 19th centuries CE), is remarkably informative about prehistoric vessel types and their uses.
Homer
Emanuel, J. P. (2017). Homer. S. K. Stein (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of the Sea in World History: Exploration, Travel, Trade . Santa Barbara, ABC–CLIO. Click Here to DownloadAbstract
Homer is the name given to a Greek figure credited with composing the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey – monumental works that ancient Greeks viewed as cornerstones of their civilization. The identity, date, and very existence of an individual named Homer are no more clearly understood or agreed upon by modem scholars than they were by the ancients. Homeric poetry or Homeric epic is a product of lengthy oral tradition, and elements of the epics variously reflect periods from the Bronze Age to the Archaic period of ancient Greece-a span of several centuries between the 13th century and the eighth century BCE.
Sea Peoples
Emanuel, J. P. (2017). Sea Peoples. S. K. Stein (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of the Sea in World History: Exploration, Travel, Trade . Santa Barbara: ABC–CLIO. Click Here to DownloadAbstract
The "Sea Peoples" are best known from Egyptian records of the 13th and 12th centuries BCE, where they are portrayed as foreign invaders who laid waste to empires across the Near East in the years surrounding the tumultuous transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The groups who collectively comprise the Sea Peoples, rendered in Egyptian as "Denyen," "Ekwesh," "Lukka," "Peleset" (the biblical Philistines), "Shekelesh," "Sherden," "Sikils" ( or "Tjekker"), " Teresh," and "Weshesh," primarily appear individually and in various combinations in the records of the pharaohs Ramesses II (ruled 1279-1213 BCE), Memeptah (1213- 1203 BCE), and Ramesses III (1183-1153 BCE), as well as in multiple texts from the Syrian trading emporium of Ugarit.
Open, Online, and Blended: Transactional Interactions with MOOC Content by Learners in Three Different Course Formats
Emanuel, J. P., & Lamb, A. (2017). Open, Online, and Blended: Transactional Interactions with MOOC Content by Learners in Three Different Course Formats. Online Learning , 21 (2), 1-25. Click Here to DownloadAbstract

During the 2013-14 academic year, Harvard University piloted the use of MOOCs as tools for blended learning in select undergraduate and graduate residential and online courses. One of these courses, The Ancient Greek Hero, combined for–credit (Harvard College and Harvard Extension School) and open online (HarvardX) groups into a single online unit, marking the first time the same instance of a MOOC was used simultaneously by both tuition–paying, credit–seeking students and non–paying, non–credit students enrolled exclusively online. In this article, we analyze and compare the online behavior of students and participants in the three groups that simultaneously participated in The Ancient Greek Hero via the edX platform. We find that, in similar fashion to a traditional learning setting, students enrolled in all three versions of the course engaged the online content in a transactional way, spending their time and effort on activities and exercises in ways that would optimize their desired outcomes. While user behavior was diverse, HarvardX participant engagement tended to be either very deep or virtually nonexistent, while College and Extension School students displayed relatively homogenous patterns of participation, viewing most of the content but interacting mostly with that which affected their overall course grades. Ultimately, we conclude that educators who intend to utilize MOOC content in an effort to apply blended learning techniques to their classrooms should carefully consider how best to incorporate each online element into their overall pedagogical strategy, including how to incentivize interaction with those elements. Further, for MOOCs to have maximum impact, they must address multiple learner motivations and provide participants with multiple modes of interaction with the content and with their peers.

Balsa
Emanuel, J. P. (2017). Balsa. S. K. Stein (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of the Sea in World History: Exploration, Travel, Trade . Santa Barbara, ABC–CLIO. Click Here to DownloadAbstract

The term "balsa" (Spanish for "raft") encompasses a range of watercraft employed in modern Ecuador, Peru, and Chile from Pre-Columbian times to the present.