Environmental Scan: Doing my research

Hello all! Welcome back.

This week I will be talking more about my project and how it fits within other digital history projects, but also creates its own sort of niche.

Let’s rewind a bit. The last couple weeks I have been discussing my project through Bill Ferster’s ASSERT model. I will not repeat all of that, but I do want to restate what my project is so that way you (the reader) can see how it fits within the realm of digital history projects I list below.

My question I plan to investigate is What were the likely routes that migrants used to travel to this location before they died. Some historical context is needed. For my Master’s degree, I investigated where the potential founders of Berlin migrated from. So, for this project, I will utilize the maps that I created in GIS that show potential region of origin of these settlers based upon their oxygen and strontium isotope values. (I use words like potential, because we cannot be 100% certain that people came from an exact location, but used together, multiple isotopes can narrow down to different regions that would have the same isotopic signatures). Anyhow, for this project I will add a layer in GIS to include a Medieval trade route map. I hypothesize that migrants would have been more likely to travel along known routes to get to what would become Berlin, rather than creating a whole new path. I envision using ArcGIS’s least-cost analysis to determine which route would have been most likely. I plan to represent this (if possible) by illustrating the individuals as dots/or other icon beginning in their region of origin and following their most likely path. I will include the little information I have about the individuals to tell something of their story.   

Before I can start working on this, I need to create what digital historians call an Environmental Scan. This is similar to a literature review, except instead of finding articles on similar research, relevant digital projects need to be found. While this exercise only required three, I have included five that are worth mentioning.

1.      https://www.isoarch.eu/ IsoArcH: An open access and collaborative isotope database for bioarchaeological samples, is a digital project in progress. I have previously reached out to the project director, Dr. Kevin Salesse, for information on how to download their datasets into GIS. This site is a wonderful concept and I really hope it continues to grow in the future.  While this project isn’t so much a digital history project, it does lay the foundations for combining isotope analysis with GIS methodologies. Their work will prove to be valuable for me (and I’m sure many others as their database grows) as I progress through my doctoral dissertation.

  

2.      http://migrationmapping.org/  Migration Mapping and the M2Lab:

This project was created by Dr. Sumita Chakravarty with support from The New School. This project focuses on tying together media (in a number of formats) and migration. The M2Lab is an artistic take on migrant storytelling. Their dataset page brings the viewer to different media representations of migrants and clicking on the links will direct you to an external website. The M2Lab is a more appropriate comparison, if you will, to my own research; however, the M2Lab is more modern with stories being told by the migrants themselves or their immediate family.

  

3.      https://www.englandsimmigrants.com/ Englands immigrants from 1350-1550

This website is a really interesting project. It provides information of actual people who migrated to England between 1350-1550. Demographic information is provided as well as any documents about them (example: letters of protection for John Boyter, 1335). While I don’t have this sort of specific information about the settlers of Berlin, it is interesting that someone was able to create this sort of database and make it an interesting and useful project for anyone who is searching for migrants that from specific regions outside of England to their final resting place (place of residence in England is also identified).

4.      http://internationalschooltoulouse.net/vs/pilgrims/index.htm  Medieval Pilgrimage IST

This site isn’t exactly useful for mapping “my” migrants, but it does illustrate mapping of Pilgrimage routes (something that is useful for my dissertation research). This site is also more of an educational overview than it is a digital history project per se, but I think that it is still relevant in the grander scheme of things, as it is historical, addresses hypothetical routes traveled, and provides additional sources of information that help trace and understand mobility in the past.

5.      https://sarahemilybond.com/2017/02/02/the-itinerarium-egeriae-mapping-egerias-pilgrimage-on-candlemas/ 

      This site is a blog created by Dr. Sarah Bond who is in progress of creating geospatial relationships of women in ancient history with historical documents. While this project focuses on women and ancient texts, it is a great visual representation of another example of what can be mapped utilizing GIS historically.

      

      These projects are both similar to and different from my project. I have highlighted a project that has focused on each component of my research, isotope data through IsoArcH.eu, migrant storytelling through the M2Lab, migrant mapping and storytelling though Englands Immigrants, mapping pilgrimage routes from Medieval Pilgrimage IST, and the GIS mapping of historical texts. I believe that my digital history project fits neatly within this group, combining the different methodologies into one project.

      Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed your visit.

       -          The Migrant Isotopist