User Manual

1. What is the PCMArch database?

The PCMArch database was created to gather in one place all documentation from the work carried out by the missions/expeditions of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw (PCMA UW). Thanks to the financial support recently provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Republic of Poland, the PCMArch database has been enriched with many new data and made available on the Internet.

2. What does it contain?

The PCMArch database contains records documenting the archaeological and restoration works carried out by the PCMA UW since 1959 in countries on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and in the hinterlands of Asia and Africa. The documents were created in various media formats using various techniques. They are the results of the work of the archaeological community from the University of Warsaw as well as colleagues from other institutions collaborating with the PCMA UW over the years.

Only documentation created up to 1985 can currently be viewed in the PCMArch database. The exceptions are materials from excavation/restoration projects already published in monographs or those from sites severely damaged during the war in Syria in recent years.

3. How is it built?

The language of interface in the PCMArch database is British English. This should be kept in mind, especially when searching for records using keywords (e.g. “theatre”, not “theater”).

The set of metadata for each record consists of the following sections:

Database ID – the number of the record in the PCMArch database.
Site – the name of the excavated/restored site. For the list of sites’ names with difficult spellings, see the PDF file.
Season – archaeological/restoration seasons could have taken place once a year (e.g. 1981), at the turn of two years (e.g. 1981–1982), or twice a year (e.g. 1981.1, 1981.2).
Title and content – the original archival caption/description of the document in Polish, English, or French, followed by an English translation. All information added to the original archival caption/description is placed in square brackets.
Authors – the names of authors not included in the original archival caption/description but obvious for some reason or reconstructed are placed in square brackets.
Date – the date of the document’s creation.
Archival number – the unique record number of the Documentation Archiving Department of the PCMA UW.
Original inventory number – the record number given during excavation/restoration work.
Number of pieces.
Remarks.
Keywords – words in British English in the singular describing the record; usually, ones that do not appear in the “Title and content” section.

Each image is accompanied by information about:

Medium – the type of medium on which the document was recorded. For the list of abbreviations of media and types of recording, see the PDF file.
Size – the size of the document (in centimetres or in standardised formats like A4, A3, etc.).
Digital format – the format in which the digitised version of the document is stored. For the list of abbreviations of media and types of recording, see the PDF file.
Digital size – in megabytes.

4. How to use it?

Steps:

Click the “Database EN” button.
Use the “Field” drop-down menu to select a search category (e.g. “Keywords”).
In the “Search for” dialogue box on the right, enter the word you are looking for (e.g. “Capital”).
Click the “Search” button. A list of records matching your query will appear below.
To see the details, click on the chosen item.

Notes:

You can add up to 10 separate criteria in the search filter to limit your search.
For the list of archaeological sites included in the database, see the PDF file at the end of the manual.
In the detailed view, click on the image to enlarge it.

5. How to get content from the PCMArch database?

The images in the PCMArch database are in lower resolution and basic format (.jpg). Each contains a watermark with the name of the database. High-resolution images in high format (.tif) are available according to the internal regulations of the PCMA UW. The entire database and its contents are protected by copyright.

Those interested in acquiring the high-resolution images should contact the Archiving Documentation Department of the PCMA UW (pcmarch@uw.ed.pl) or reach out directly to the current director of an archaeological and/or restoration expedition of the PCMA UW. For the list of expeditions and current directors, see https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/en/category/field-projects/.

6. Improving the PCMArch database

We welcome comments on the captions/descriptions of the records that would help make them more up-to-date and accurate. Please submit your suggestions by e-mail: pcmarch@uw.ed.pl.