Archaeology on Furlough: Rapid Review of Digital Tablets for Use in Archaeological Fieldwork

Abstract

Over the last twenty years, digital technology has made great inroads into archaeological work in the UK. The last major part of archaeology which remains largely paper-based is fieldwork. This project reviewed 35 digital tablets which might be suitable for recording archaeological data in the field. This report is a non-technical review. It makes no recommendations about tablets suitable for use in UK archaeology. Rather, it outlines factors archaeological units need to consider when adopting tablets, along with the information systems they need to work in, if tablets are to be effective and efficient tools. Attached to the report is a spreadsheet with details of the 35 tablets reviewed by the project team.