Reframing Digital Archaeological Infrastructures

In his extremely thorough keynote, Jeremy Huggett discusses the development of digital infrastructures in archaeology over the past 30 years and highlights the need for a broader understanding of their impact.These infrastructures, ranging from data collection systems to national archives, have become central to archaeological practice, but their political, cultural and social dimensions are often overlooked.The keynote emphasizes the importance of critical reflection to avoid unforeseen consequences, biases, and the promotion of specific conventions.It calls for a more comprehensive debate on their implementation, opportunities, constraints and perspectives.Central to the keynote is the exploration of the concept of 'infrastructures', which Huggett describes as complex sociotechnical systems.The definition and usage of infrastructures in archaeology vary, but they are seen as essential for the discipline's development, enabling new methods and knowledge creation while also limiting certain practices.Huggett argues for a shift in focus from specific tools and components to a more holistic analysis of digital archaeological infrastructures, treating them as emergent rather than static phenomena.He therefore underscores the requirement to consider infrastructures as ongoing processes, subject to change and adaptation over time, and highlights their situated nature within cultural,