Digital Archive Network for Anthropology and World Heritage (DANA-WH)

DANA-WH is a distributed database network, comprised of multiple constituent data sets controlled by separate Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMSs) running on independent computer systems, housed at different institutions, and connected to the network. It is designed to function as a federation of distributed, interoperable databases, each with specific content of value to the study and preservation of human cultural and biological heritage.

DANA-WH contains an array of textual, metric, and visual information about human heritage objects. In addition to textual descriptions and metric and non-metric attribute information about each object, the system displays two-dimensional (2D) images of artifacts and fossils, as well as accurate, three-dimensional (3D) models of the artifacts. The 3D models are digital surrogates of actual specimens that can be manipulated and viewed from all angles, and are sufficiently precise to allow for a wide range of detailed measurements and analyses.

Content for DANA-WH comes from the academic discipline of anthropology (archaeology, biological anthropology, ethnography, and linguistics) along with the fields of biology, classical studies, history, art history, geology, geography, architecture, and other fields of relevance to human heritage.

Still in the early stages of development, the Archive is presently limited to archaeological collections from NDSU (Samoan stone, shell, and coral artifacts; Fijian stone tools and ceramics; Native American (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Tribes) stone, shell, ceramic, bone, and antler artifacts and Euro-American Fur Trade Era trade goods; the University of Minnesota at Moorhead (Archaic Projectile Points from North Dakota); HNB Garwahl University, Srinagar-Garwahl, Uttaranchal, India (Indian Pottery).

A Biological Anthropology Collection (BAC) is in initial development, with proposed content to include osteological resource information and multimedia for anatomically modern Homo sapiens, ancestral human (e.g., Homo erectus, Homo habilis, etc.) hominid forebears (e.g., Australopithecines), and other living and extinct primate specimens (e.g., gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gibbons, etc.). Collections for ethnography and linguistics have not yet been implemented, but are planned for the future.

Discussion of DANA-WH Operating Structure
Download instructions: software for viewing the 3D models
Tutorial on using DANA-WH