Medieval metal: research into material material culture in Flemish cities, 1000-1600 AD

"Medieval Metal" concerns a find category that, due to its diverse and (compared to other categories and at site level) sometimes relatively rare character, has so far received little attention in scientific research, and for which there is no uniform frame of reference (see "Baseline"). The project thus fills a clear gap in the Flemish archaeological field by scientifically analyzing this underexposed find category, and making the results applicable and useful not only to scientists, but also to archaeologists to perform. Moreover, it creates a clearly demonstrable added value for the archaeological interested public, and thus contributes to the support for archaeological research in Flanders.
The digital component of this project may seem disproportionate to the space devoted to it in this application. Nevertheless, it is a logical, indispensable and efficient way to achieve the scientific and other objectives of the research project, for the following reasons:
- The online platform realizes a great added value that is difficult to achieve through traditional media. It will be an important tool for the target audience (archaeologists and scientists), but is difficult to publish in book form. Moreover, it makes it possible to appeal to a wider audience than with scientific publications or a typological overview.
- Central functionalities of the platform can only be realized digitally, such as the faceted search of the inventory and the synergy with MEDEA. The PAN / RCE reference types database is pre-eminently an online tool. Optimal use of this requires a semantic link with the digital discovery inventory.
- It is cost-efficient with regard to the added value created. Data collection and processing is of course done by means of digital resources. The online accessibility of this dataset is then a relatively small extra step, thanks to the existing digital infrastructure that is being built on further.