“Peering Through the Sands of Time” The Tablet Revolution in Public Outreach in Archeology… (?) Mason D. Miller, M.A.; AmaTerra Environmental, Inc. Presented at the 2016 TxDOT Transportation Planning Conference Houston - June 16, 2016
“Peering Through the Sands of Time” The Tablet Revolution in Public Outreach in Archeology…(?) Mason D. Miller, M.A.; AmaTerra Environmental, Inc.
Presented at the 2016 TxDOT Transportation Planning Conference Houston - June 16, 2016
Some perspective...
The Kitchen Branch Site (41CP220) Camp County, Texas
● Multi-Component (Paleoindian-Historic) Site on Banks of Kitchen Branch of Prairie Creek
● Testing and Data Recovery Excavations sponsored by TxDOT in association with FM 557 Bridge Expansion Project ○ 2004-2005 Testing, 2006-2007 Data Recovery,
2010-2014 Analysis and Reporting ○ Coastal Environments, Hicks & Company,
Archeological and Environmental Consultants, and AmaTerra Environmental
● Data Recovery Focused on Late Caddo Titus Phase A.D. 1430-1680 Single-Family Occupation Site
● 167 Test Units Excavated and 23 Gradall Trenches ● 236 Features, ~20,000 Artifacts Recovered
(including botanicals and bone) ● HUGE Final Report
Peering Through the Sands of Time Public Outreach from the Kitchen Branch Site Excavations
All digital electronic publication intended for quick access and entertainment-oriented consumption (versus deep, technical discussion).
Intentional heavy focus on images and pleasing graphic-heavy layout to catch a reader’s eye and interest.
Use of interactivity to provide lasting impression of reading and topics discussed.
3d MODELS!!!! Text written specifically for general public interest
with goals of access in schools. Illustrated glossary included with in-text
references.
And Now… A Demonstration
How did I make it? iBooks Author
● Free iBook Authoring Program
● Drag and Drop Layout
● Lovely Pre-Made Templates
● Pre-Made Interactive Widgets
● HTML, CSS, and Javascript Widgets (for embedded web content)
● 3d Model Import in Collada .dae format
Some of the Reactions...
The 2015 Council of Texas Archeologists’ E. Mott Davis Award Winner
Not Pictured: Dr. Robert “Zac” Selden, Steven F. Austin University; Dr. Timothy K. Perttula, Archeological and Environmental Consultants, Inc.
Some BIG Strengths to the Platform… beyond
the cool 3d stuff...
1- Actual quantif ication of outreach and
immediate worldwide distribution. Country
iTunes Downloads
Google Downloads* Total
United States 300 199 499
United Kingdom 56 10 66
Canada 6 12 18
Australia 3 6 9
Italy 1 2 3
South Korea 3 3
Belgium 2 2
Brazil 2 2
India 2 2
New Zealand 1 1 2
Czech Republic 1 1
Finland 1 1
France 1 1
Germany 1 1
Indonesia 1 1
Japan 1 1
Mexico 1 1
Netherlands 1 1
Norway 1 1
Peru 1 1
Slovakia 1 1
South Africa 1 1
Sweden 1 1
Switzerland 1 1
Thailand 1 1
Total Countries: 25 375 246 621
2 - Updatability!!!!
3 - All the tools are free
iBooks Author $0 123d Catch (3d Model Generation) $0(?) Meshlab (3d Model Optimization) $0 iTunes Bookstore Listing in 51 Stores Worldwide/Download Access $0 Google Play Store Book Listing in 65 Countries/Download Access $0
4 - It is n’t as tough as it looks ...
Actual Labor to Design and Produce It
● 164 Person-Hours Budgeted
● Costs per person directly engaged are going down every day
Some… hiccups along the way...
1. Way too many types of devices out there. a. As of May 2015, accessible by
iPhones. 2. Non-Proprietary Access? 3. How do you easily get the word out?
a. Google Play Store has 5 million titles.
4. How do you get some reviews?
Thank You! Contact me, Mason Miller, at mmiller (at) amaterra.com
or 512-329-0031 This will also be available online. Copy down
this URL: https:/ /goo.gl/ lXIEw0.
Thank You!