Technology is increasingly important in studying humanities topics such as archaeology. For examples, when we study the materials left behind by the past societies, such as their architecture, pottery or animal bones from meals, the complex data are digitalized to capture information about the space, shape, decoration and materials to facilitate our study of the human past.

HKU helps lead a collaborative fieldwork project in Armenia every summer where we are excavating a fortress from 3,000 years ago. This field project is a laboratory for experimenting with various technologies including drone-based Lidar, 3D scanning of spaces and objects, computer vision, machine learning, databases and many other technologies, in the hot and dusty field conditions.

In this workshop, we will introduce some of the past engineering experiments and their technological difficulties. All participants can join us in developing new technological solutions that can facilitate our field works in the future. Participating students may also get a chance to join us in Armenia next summer!

Date: September 22, 2022 (Thursday) 

Time: 3:00pm – 4:00pm

Venue: Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing, HKU

Format: Face-to-face

Eligibility: All Engineering academic staff, students and InnoHub members are welcome to join. 

Speaker: Dr Peter Cobb, Assistant Professor, School of Humanities, HKU 

About the speaker:

Dr Cobb teaches courses on archaeological methods and theories and the archaeology of the ancient world, including experiential learning classes abroad. He has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Laos, Armenia, and Turkey, and is currently the director of the Ararat Plain Southeast Archaeological Project (APSAP) in collaboration with the Armenian Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography. His research focuses on the Late Bronze and Iron Ages (ca 1600-100 BCE) of the Eastern Mediterranean and ancient Southwest Asia (aka the Ancient Near East). Dr Cobb is a specialist in the analysis of ancient ceramics and in digital humanities (DH).  He holds a joint appointment with the Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences academic unit of the Faculty of Education.