VAST

When the VAST 2001 event was being planned, the organisers were keen to see an event that encapsulated the breadth of work going on globally in the applications of technology to the recording, reconstruction and dissemination of all aspects of cultural heritage. Papers were sought "which address the applications of technology in the analysis, archiving, publication, dissemination and representation of cultural heritage in its widest sense for applications ranging from archaeological scholarship to tourism and entertainment. Offensive as it may be in some circles, we feel this should include technological applications to potential exploitation of cultural heritage as a source of financial support to the field."This proceedings volume represents the results of that call and of the collective work of a huge number of researchers world-wide. The 80+ attendees from 16 countries, who gathered in Glyfada near Athens, Greece in late November 2001, were the tip of the iceberg for the projects they represented. The 35 fully refereed papers which were accepted for the event were complemented by 3 excellent invited speakers. 10 short presentations were also planned although fewer than that were able to present in the end.The backgrounds of the participants ranged from those whose grounding was in Archaeology, but who had acquired some (sometimes only a little) technical interests, to those whose interests lay in computing science and for whom archaeology represents a source of interesting, complicated and incomplete data sets. On a different axis the breadth extended to cover those whose livelihood depended upon realising the commercial potential of cultural heritage to those whose interests were purely scholarly. This rich diversity coupled with the relaxed atmosphere and social programme led to many discussions lasting into the night. Hopefully these will have resulted in new insights and new collaborations which will influence the directions of future work and the shape of future project consortia.