New ARIADNE member, Swiss Archaeology, has just launched its new AS Portal: as-portal.ch. CHRONIQUES online contains the annual finds reports of the 26 cantonal offices for archaeology, reporting archaeological investigations from across Switzerland carried out over the last 35 years. More reports will be added to the Portal over the next two years and as new reports become available. By 2026, the earlier data from 1908-1987 will be added to provide an overview of more than one hundred years of Swiss archaeological investigations.
Results listed as thumbnail summaries alongside the map tool
The AS Portal offers free access to over 6,000 online resources which has been made possible through the collaboration of the cantonal offices. The interface is available in four languages – German, French, Italian and English – and end users can search using three different methods: the map, search terms from predefined data fields or full-text search, or the photo gallery. Additional data fields which relate to aspects such as methodology, geographical characteristics and find classifications among others, are available in the advanced search. The search results can be organised according to various criteria. Individual find reports or a series, e.g. as the result of a search query, can be downloaded as a PDF.
The CHRONIQUES online follow the FAIR Standards for scientific data. The data recorded in the AS Portal is almost entirely based on the Art & Architecture Thesaurus of the Getty Research Institute, and partly on the ArkeoGIS Thesaurus. Each individual entry in the CHRONIQUES online has its own ARK, a Persistent Identifier, with which the report can be cited and permanently retrieved online by humans and machines.
By adopting International Standards, the data is highly interoperable and can be easily supplied to other platforms conforming to these standards. Work is in progress to supply the data to the ARIADNE Portal and once the initial mappings have been successfully achieved, updates will happen automatically through the established APIs and SPARQL end points.
Swiss Archaeology is creating new ways of using data from a valuable public cultural asset, Switzerland’s archaeological heritage, and making it available to a wider audience. Combining this data with that from across Europe in the ARIADNE Portal enables end users, whether researchers, cultural heritage professionals or amateur enthusiasts, to extend their enquiries and find data of interest across borders and time periods.