The PASH Data Collection is comprised of Five data “realms”: 1) Survey and site data, 2) Settlement excavations, 3) Tumulus (burial mound) survey and excavations, 4) Artifact analysis, and 5) Geological data. All databases, drawings, photographs, photo descriptions, radiocarbon dates, and analytical data related to artifacts, ecofacts, and human remains have been made available in PASH Deep Blue Data Realm 4.
Each artifact dataset will include all or some of the following:
- Database files: CSV, Excel, PDF, Word;
- Photos: Jpeg;
- Drawings: PDF
Total size of all files: approximately 10 gigabytes. See individual records or readme for linked chapters. and All artifacts found in the course of survey and excavation were brought to a museum facility in Shkodër (at the Hotel Meteor, on the Shkodër-Koplik road). They were cleaned, labeled, drawn, photographed, and described. Artifact descriptions were entered into one of three databases: pottery, chipped stone, and small finds. Each artifact was assigned a unique identifying number containing locational information. Pottery numbers typically begin with a tract or other collection unit (e.g., grid square in a site-surface collection) identifier, followed by a sequence number if more than one potsherd or ceramic was located in a tract or unit. Lithics and other small finds were assigned a GT number (GT-001, GT-002, etc.; GT being the Albanian acronym for Small Find). During a study season held in December 2014, artifacts were analyzed in more detail by specialists, each of whom produced a lengthier description of pottery, chipped stone, or small finds. A subset of ceramic and groundstone samples was retained for petrographic and chemical analysis. Finally, all seeds and wood charcoal recovered through flotation and all animal bones were analyzed. Human remains from Tumulus 99 were subjected to Strontium-isotope and aDNA analysis.
The PASH Data Collection is comprised of Five data “realms”: 1) Survey and site data, 2) Settlement excavations, 3) Tumulus (burial mound) survey and excavations, 4) Artifact analysis, and 5) Geological data. All databases, field notebooks, paper maps, GIS files, photographs, and photo descriptions related to the intensive survey, of tracts and tumuli, and the collection of sites have been made available in PASH Deep Blue Data Realm 1 (this sub-collection)., Over the course of five years, 11 field teams (Teams A–K) surveyed 2530 tracts in Shkrel and Shtoj, covering 16.1 km2. Survey data were eventually collapsed into six geographic zones (1–6). All tracts were surveyed using standard Mediterranean survey methods. For each tract (recorded consecutively by team letter and a number, e.g. A-001, A-002, etc.), surveyors walked at 15-m intervals and counted all tile/brick, ceramic fragments, and small finds. We conducted a full-coverage survey, meaning that all land forms—including fields, hills, and terraces—in each survey zone were surveyed, unless the landowner objected or the vegetation was so dense as to render survey impossible. Each tract was photographed and a GPS point at the center of the tract was obtained. Photos and photo descriptions were maintained in separate databases by each team. Information about tracts was recorded by hand in notebooks by team leaders. This included data about a tract’s soil, geology, ground cover (plants growing in the tract, crops planted in the field), associated structures, associated archaeological features (including tumuli), informant testimony, visibility, and, most critically, artifact counts. , and Realm 1 is divided into two sub-collections: Survey Data and Site Data. Both sub-collections are organized by data type. Survey data includes Tract photos and Photologs, Survey maps, Spatial data files, and a Collection Unit (CU) survey database. Site Data includes the Site database, Site documentation, Site photos and Photologs, and Spatial data files.
The PASH Data Collection is comprised of Five data “realms”: 1) Survey and site data, 2) Settlement excavations, 3) Tumulus (burial mound) survey and excavations, 4) Artifact analysis, and 5) Geological data. All of the geological data from cores and auger holes have been made available in PASH Deep Blue Data Realm 5. , Much of the work conducted by PASH took place on a geomorphic feature we call the Shtoj alluvial fan. Geological research was done along the distal margins of the Shtoj alluvial fan in the fringing freshwater wetlands of Shkodër Lake. Field reconnaissance in 2010 consisted of drilling twelve 5-cm diameter auger holes across the fan to a maximum depth of 4.8 m. A composite sediment sample was collected every 0.3 m during drilling. Between 2012 and 2014, sediment cores were taken at four wetland locations on the southeastern shore of Shkodër Lake. North-south trending core locations were selected following results of samples collected during the 2010 reconnaissance and are 1 km east of the Shkodër Lake shoreline. Twenty-two cores, ranging in length from 0.24 m to 0.87 m, were taken from four sites using a 6.3-cm diameter polycarbonate piston corer. , and (See readme in Geological Data record for full documentation; Chapter linked to: Chapter Two).
A folder with photos taken of each site. These are JPEGS. Some photographs (e.g., S004) are labelled with site number, date taken, and an appended ID number in consecutive order (e.g., S001-060610-001 = Site 001, June 6, 2010, Photo 001 from Kratul i Madh). Others are labeled generically. ID numbers were repeated at each subsequent site surveyed, beginning again with 001. Some site photos are accompanied by a photolog, while others are not. The photolog typically lists each photo taken of a site in order by photo number, with a description.
PDF of scans of the original tract maps drawn in the field by each team leader. These were digitized each night to create shape files for each tract in the PASH Geographic Information System (GIS).
PDFs of scans of miscellaneous documents related to a particular excavation, including, e.g., excavation forms, maps of units, and drawings of units and unit profiles.
This collection includes all of the data from auger holes and cores drilled by PASH in the vicinity of Lake Shkodra. These data are stored as comma-separated text files (.CSV). They are organized into eight different worksheets, titled: 1) Auger Hole Summary; 2) Auger Hole Sample Data; 3) Core 4 Data; 4) Core 5 Data; 5) Core 6 Data; 6) Core 8 Data; 7) Core 9 Data; and 8) PASH geological data ALL (Excel)., See readme for full description., and Chapter linked to: Chapter Two
PDFs of Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy (AMS) radiocarbon reports, including calibration curves. Reports include sample type (e.g., charcoal, bone, sediment), date, date calibrated, standard deviation, etc.
PDFs of scans of miscellaneous documents related to a particular excavation, including, e.g., excavation forms, maps of units, and drawings of units and unit profiles.
The database for each site includes level and feature forms for each excavated unit. These forms describe each level or feature in detail, including soil color and texture, soil inclusions, artifact density, disturbances, pertinent measurements, etc.
