Book – Visualising Archaeology

The publication "Visualising Archaeology" is the result of Fabienne Kilchör's doctoral thesis as part of an SNSF research project at the Institute of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bern. At the centre of the practice-based research is Diglû with over 800 pictograms embedded in a font. The book shows the development of this method of representation and the use of pictograms in maps, tables, schemata and graphics. It presents principles of representation, measures from the field of visual communication and methods of information design. The aim of the work was an improved, more direct transfer of knowledge and data analysis of cultural material.

Background:
Tangible and intangible cultural assets are no longer regarded as mere testimonies of past cultures, but are examined in their context for social and economic aspects of former societies. From this perspective, the visualization of the connections between objects and architecture and the communication of new findings plays a central role. Corresponding methods of representation - moving away from the observation of individual things to the exploration of cultural contexts - are lagging behind, however. With Diglû font, the scientifically based, practice-oriented work presents an alternative to the transfer of knowledge in archaeology.