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Numerous presentations and posters informed, among others, about the latest state of the lead isotope method and new approaches on statistical methods and how to combine it with other analytical methods to increase its discriminatory power. The TerraLID team presented the scope and plans for TerraLID as a poster. The conference offered plenty of opportunities to make TerraLID more widely known in the community and to discuss its aims and strategies on how to move forward. Once more, it became clear that an infrastructure for easy access to and standardised documentation of lead isotope data and their context are urgently needed and that the community is full with anticipation for TerraLID.

The excellent side programme provided ample opportunities to continue these discussions in a more informal atmosphere and to get acquainted with the rich mining history and beautiful landscape of Dalarnas region. The size and number of slag heaps amidst beautiful forests and lakes around Falun are outstanding and still could give only a glimpse in how profoundly mining impacted the region in the past. After the tours, the white nights and nice bars set the perfect atmosphere to catch-up with friends and colleagues until the early mornings.

We were very happy to be part of this well-organised conference and to see that the interest and enthusiasm for TerraLID remained unchanged on a high level. See you next time, 2027 in Granada!

On 14 May, our kick-off meeting took place online to present the progress and the name change from GlobaLID to TerraLID to the community. The offer to participate and exchange ideas was very well received by the up to 40 participants. The aim was to involve the community in the development of TerraLID and to find out what requirements the community has for TerraLID to be able to respond to them specifically in the further development. Thomas Rose presented the TerraLID roadmap in a very vivid presentation and then demonstrated the web app in a simulation. Last but not least, the individual regional editors presented themselves and their work.

The meeting was a complete success and there was a lot of positive feedback. It was nice to see how much interest there is in TerraLID from the community.

If you missed the kick-off meeting but would have liked to attend, the recording will become available here soon.

If you have any questions and/or comments, please send us an e-mail… we look forward to hearing from you.

The kick-off event showcases the current features of GlobaLID with a small sample dataset. Subsequently, we will present the vision and planned features of TerraLID and how you can shape its development. Moreover, our regional editors will share some impressions from their work on the data infrastructure. There will be ample time for questions and discussions.

Our aim is to develop TerraLID as close to the needs of the community as possible. Therefore, this event will be the first in a series of virtual open events, where we will ask for your feedback on crucial parts in the design of TerraLID. We will announce them here and through the usual channels in due time – stay tuned!

This version contains the 2255 new data points added since the publication of version 1.0 and extends the metadata included in the database. Most importantly, the analytical uncertainties of the Pb isotope ratios can now be included, as well as the mineralisation style and whether the Pb isotope datum was measured on a sample from a deposit relevant for archaeological research.

See a full list of the changes in the changelog of the version 1.1 data description.

The public kick-off will take place on 14 May at 15:00 GMT via Zoom. You are cordially invited to join!

More data is currently reviewed and prepared – stay tuned!

We are delighted to announce the launch of its first version: https://archmetaldbm.github.io/GlobaLID-Edu/

This initial version was supported through an NFDI4Earth Educational Pilot.

Admittedly, it is still in the very early stages with only a couple of chapters available but we already wanted to give you an idea about our approach. More chapters will become available in the next months.

We are looking forward to your feedback! And please get in touch if you are interested in contributing or writing a chapter – we are happy to collaborate!

Beyond the usual introductions and reconnections, day 1 of the conference was focused on the research of conference participants in order to better understand the variety of ways in which current projects interact with lead isotopic data and databases. These talks seeded an already fertile soil for discussions on how users would interact with the GlobaLID database, how we would approach the issue of standardization, and integrate with the legacy of database creation for archaeologists applying lead isotopic analysis.

With the stage set, day 2 of the conference was divided into thematic presentations, focusing on the structure of the database, how to create a standardized platform, and the metadata which should be included. Important to this discussion was an overview of other, already existing, regional databases. GlobaLID’s vision is to create a link which would bind these databases together, integrating the nuance of regional specificity with the broad applicability and reach that a global database affords. Another seminal part of the discussion surrounded the issue of credit and how to ensure that researchers submitting data to GlobaLID would receive recognition for their efforts (and citations in future studies!). As a possible solution to this issue, Kirsten Elger gave an overview of data journals, which can host previously unpublished lead isotopic data with a report of the methods with which they were collected. Publication in these data journals allows the data to be fully citable and will generate a DOI. This ensures that any researcher submitting unpublished data would receive two benefits: 1) a publication that they could list on their CV, and 2) citations of this publication for any study making use of their data. Day 2 also included presentations from Patrick Degryse, Tzilla Eshel, Naama Yahalom-Mack, and Daniel Finn, who collectively summarized the statistical and visualization techniques that scholars routinely employ when evaluating the lead isotopic signature for archaeological artifacts. These presentations served both to discuss current approaches for this practice, as well as select methods that researchers would like to see as available tools on the front-end of the GlobaLID platform.

Unlike days 1 and 2, day 3 was structured with multiple sessions operating in parallel, to discuss specific topics of interest to participants and establish the overall framework for GlobaLID in component parts. Thematic focus groups included: metadata, standardization, visualization and statistical tools (full programme of the workshop). For these break-out groups, participants outlined important components that should be instituted in each of these thematic topics before re-aggregating for the final discussion. One of the most important developments from these break-out groups was the creation of “regional editors” which are the focus of another blog post.

We are two of the regional editors for GlobaLID, and for us, this conference was a great opportunity to meet and interact with colleagues applying lead isotopic analysis to various parts of the global archaeological record. It was also an important moment to set a benchmark for where we, as a community, see lead isotopic analysis going in the future. GlobaLID reflects this vision: it is compatible with the present, but forward looking. The team at GlobaLID is currently implementing points raised during this conference, and hopes to run a follow-up conference in 2025.

• An online database that stores lead isotope data in accordance with the FAIR principles, enhanced by workflows for the publication and curation of the data
• A metadata scheme to provide sufficient context to the lead isotope data in a well-structured way
• A web application to access and work with the database and to carry out common tasks when working with lead isotope data
• An interactive textbook as a collection of open educational resources about all aspects of the lead isotope method
• Bringing the lead isotope community closer together and providing training through workshops

More information will become available in early 2024 – stay tuned!

One of the prepositions jointly worked out in the discussions was to establish Regional Editors, who will curate the data for specific geographical regions. In practice, they will use their expertise when quality-checking data and metadata from (local) publications concerning the regions they are responsible for, and, with support from contributors, they will add data from their regions to GlobaLID’s database. The Core Team will carry out the final checks of the enriched data before they will become publicly available.

So far, six colleagues already joined the GlobaLID Team as Regional Editors:

• Southeast Asia: T. O. Pryce (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 7065 Institut de Recherche sur les ArchéoMATériaux, Université Paris-Saclay & CEA/CNRS UMR 3685 NIMBE, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France)
• Iran: Nima Nezafati (Forschungsbereich Archäometallurgie, Leibniz-Forschungsmuseum für Georessourcen/Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, Bochum, Germany)
• Africa: Jay Stephens (School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; Archaeometry Laboratory, Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA)
• North America:
  • Virginie Renson (Archaeometry Laboratory, Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA)
  • David Killick (School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA)
• South America: María Florencia Becerra (Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Arqueología, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Forschungsbereich Archäometallurgie, Leibniz-Forschungsmuseum für Georessourcen/Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, Bochum, Germany)

The first contribution from Jay Stephens on sub-Saharan Africa with 468 entries is already available online. María Florencia Becerra and Virginie Renson currently work on data from Southern and Northern America, respectively, which will successively be added to the publicly accessible revised database.

GlobaLID is a community-driven and peer-curated project. Get in touch and join the team to contribute to GlobaLID and to help unleashing the power of FAIR data!

I was able to attend the first summer school in July 2023 at the Badè Museum of Archaeology on the campus of Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA (USA). It was a very welcomed opportunity to meet the other participants in person after seeing them via Zoom and to get to know each other in real life. After short presentations of the current state of the participants’ projects, the summer school programme focused on data management plans and linked data.

In preparation for the summer school, each project drafted a data management plan (if not already existing) which was then discussed in small groups. This allowed us to get deeper insights into some of the projects and especially how data are handled by them. The feedback provided a lot of helpful suggestions for the revision of the data management plan but also for the project itself.

Linked data were only briefly touched upon in one of the online workshops and were now discussed in detail: How do they work? What are the benefits? But also, what are the challenges and risks of linked data? Inspiring presentations by the experts and brainstorming sessions on different aspects of linked data led to a much better understanding, many new ideas for the projects and an annotated collection of resources on this topic.

Although everyone was happily busy working on the topics for the workshop, the programme left enough room to get to know each other, discuss our projects in more depth, and get a better understanding of current debates about the handling and preservation of cultural heritage and data gathered from and about it. A tasting of local wines organised by the staff of the Archaeological Research Facility of the University of California Berkeley, a walking tour of the architecture of North Berkeley’s “Holy Hill” neighbourhood, and a great selection of dinner places allowed getting a good impression of Berkeley and its surroundings.