Forgotten and lost?

Historical aerial photographs are an often overlooked source of information for archaeological, historical and landscape research. This monograph provides an overview and introduction to the collections which found their origin in the First World War and which are amongst the earliest systematic aerial collections. Along the Western Front from the end of 1915 onwards, aerial photo-reconnaissance units were sent out to record the outline of the enemy’s defences. The photographs were produced by an almost industrial process, brought together over four years, and survive in large quantities~archival collections are spread out across Europe, the United States and even Australia. The most important and interesting collections are discussed and dealt with, with a focus on their content, quantity, and geographic distribution

Towards an inclusive curation of WWI heritage: integrating historical aerial photographs, digital museum applications and landscape markers in “Flanders Fields” (Belgium)

Purpose: Over a century of state-sponsored construction of monuments, historic mythmaking and nationalist framings of WWI has ensured that it has become notoriously difficult to present the heritage of the Great War in an inclusive and non-selective way. In this paper the authors present a strategy and technology-driven solutions to overcome the selective heritage curation of modern conflict. Design/methodology/approach: Building on a suite of tools, applications and cultural heritage management plans developed by the In Flanders Fields Museum (IFFM), this paper explores the challenges of preserving and curating conflict heritage. The authors investigate the philosophy, cultural heritage management strategies and exhibitions used to curate the heritage of the Ypres Salient (Belgium). Findings: The paper argues that historical aerial photographs integrated in multimedia exhibits present themselves as a fascinating source bringing the landscape within the walls of the museum. Mobile augmented reality (AR) applications developed by the museum go one step beyond and bring museum techniques to the landscape. Research limitations/implications: This paper presents a strategy to present, manage and curate the entirety of conflict heritage from the modern period. Faced with growing politicisation and memorialisation of modern conflict, it is extremely important that inclusive heritage management and curation is insured. The reflections on different curatorial techniques used by the IFFM can contribute globally towards a better heritage engagement. Practical implications: An innovative and meaningful framework enables a more historically nuanced visitor experience to key heritage sites throughout the Ypres Salient. Social implications: Ensuring a non-selective heritage experience is especially pressing today. Over the past century canonised and national narratives have prescribed our understanding of the First World War across Europe and beyond. Originality/value: Adopting a critical stance towards the proliferation in AR apps and applying theories from anthropology and phenomenology has been developed combining AR with arboreal landscape relics. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

Een geschutsbedding uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog in de Hogeweg in Oostduinkerke (Koksijde, W.-Vl.). Eindverslag van een toevalsvondst

Op 13 november 2018 stootte men tijdens wegeniswerken in het tracé van de Hogeweg in Oostduinkerke, deelgemeente van Koksijde, op een bakstenen structuur bestaande uit twee concentrische sokkels. Gemeentelijk archeoloog van Koksijde, Alexander Lehouck, werd door de aannemer onmiddellijk verwittigd en kwam diezelfde dag ter plaatse om de vondst te evalueren. Hij stelde vast dat het om een schietpost ging en meldde daaropvolgend meteen de toevalsvondst via de toevalsvondstapplicatie van het agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed. De volgende dag, op 14 november 2018, kwamen onderzoeker archeologie Sofie Vanhoutte en landmeter-expert Johan Van Laecke van het agentschap ter plaatse en voerden de nodige terreinregistratie uit. De structuur, die een geschutsbedding uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog bleek te zijn, wordt in dit eindverslag vooreerst beschreven en van de nodige documentatie voorzien. Vervolgens wordt de historische context en de interpretatie van de geschutsbedding binnen de ruimere omgeving onder de loep genomen. Hiervoor werd een beroep gedaan op Birger Stichelbaut (Centrum voor Historische en Archeologische Luchtfotografie, Universiteit Gent) die de studie van de historische luchtfotos van deze en andere toevalsvondsten uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog voor zijn rekening nam1, en op Pierre Nowak (Atlantikwall Belgium) die zijn archiefdata ter beschikking stelde. De uitgewerkte resultaten van dit archeologisch onderzoek, de verdere verwerking van de onderzoeksgegevens en de interpretatie van de vindplaats binnen de ruimere historische context vormen dus het onderwerp van dit eindverslag

Analysing imperfect temporal information in GIS using the Triangular Model

Rough set and fuzzy set are two frequently used approaches for modelling and reasoning about imperfect time intervals. In this paper, we focus on imperfect time intervals that can be modelled by rough sets and use an innovative graphic model [i.e. the triangular model (TM)] to represent this kind of imperfect time intervals. This work shows that TM is potentially advantageous in visualizing and querying imperfect time intervals, and its analytical power can be better exploited when it is implemented in a computer application with graphical user interfaces and interactive functions. Moreover, a probabilistic framework is proposed to handle the uncertainty issues in temporal queries. We use a case study to illustrate how the unique insights gained by TM can assist a geographical information system for exploratory spatio-temporal analysis