The Alexandria Archive Institute

OPENING THE PAST, INSPIRING THE FUTURE

The Digital Index of North American Archaeology

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The Digital Index of North American Archaeology (DINAA) is an online and open access database of archaeological sites located in the United States. Since its development in 2012, DINAA has worked to link disconnected and incompatible data sources in such a way that the combined data can be more easily accessed, searched, and used by different communities. DINAA serves as an index or finding aid that can be used for research and help users locate publicly available information scattered in many collections, managed by different public-sector and academic institutions. 

DINAA is now maintained by the Alexandria Archive Institute, but it was launched as a result of a two-year, multi-institutional undertaking created to interoperability models for archaeological site databases in the eastern United States. This initial phase of development, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, commenced September 1, 2012. For more information about DINAA’s infrastructure, see the technical proposal here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are DINAA’s data sources?

DINAA compiles pre-existing records from public sector sources into a centralized gazetteer. Several State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs) provided DINAA with data exports. DINAA also compiles records of archaeological sites from published academic literature, listings in museum catalogs, and public announcements from the Federal Register.

Does DINAA seek data from Tribal Nations and communities?

No, DINAA does not collect data from Tribal Nations or communities. Instead, DINAA compiles information that has been published by Federal, state, and academic sources to serve as a finding aid for that information. Open Context and the DINAA team respect Indigenous data sovereignty and welcome collaboration and perspectives about how the data are represented to serve Tribal needs. For opportunities to get involved, see The Future of DINAA section below.

Who can use DINAA data?

Anyone can use DINAA data. DINAA data is open and free to use without a login requirement. Users can search DINAA records through Open Context’s website or download (free-of-charge) DINAA records to use with their own GIS or database.

How does DINAA manage sensitive or protected data?

DINAA manages sensitive or protected data by avoiding sensitive or protected data. The DINAA team redacts data attributes that may put locations and communities at risk. Location information is only stored and available with very low-levels of precision to protect sites from looting and vandalism. Other sensitive information is also deleted. Because DINAA does not store sensitive data, even hacks into the system would not compromise those data.

Can DINAA be used for compliance?

No. DINAA records have low levels of spatial precision and have other sensitive information redacted. In many U.S. states, DINAA records are also incomplete, derived only from secondary academic literature and not from official public-sector inventories. For these reasons, DINAA cannot be used by itself for compliance. Instead, because every record in DINAA contains contact information, it can serve as a tool to better direct questions to the responsible entities (such as THPOs and SHPOs) who manage more complete (but sensitive) information resources.

Who created DINAA?

A small, dedicated team of academic, government, and THPO archaeologists from California, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Indiana initiated the DINAA project and have supported its work since 2012. For more information about DINAA’s development, please visit the posts below from the Heritage Bytes Blog.

The current stage of the project focuses on developing educational resources around DINAA and improving DINAA’s data stewardship to support Tribal needs. This phase is led by members of the AAI team:

Dr. Melissa Cradic, Associate Director of Research and Partnerships: melissa@opencontext.org
Dr. Eric Kansa, Technology Director & Open Context Program Director: eric@opencontext.org
Dr. Sarah Kansa, Executive Director: sarah@opencontext.org
Dr. Leigh Anne Lieberman, Director of Strategic Partnerships: leigh@opencontext.org

Because of DINAA’s emphasis on work with non-sensitive data and improved access to archaeological information, DINAA has been endorsed by the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO), the Society for American Archaeology (SAA), the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA), and the Archaeology Division of American Anthropological Association (AAA). Work on DINAA has also been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

The Future of DINAA

As a group that seeks to emphasize both the public value of archaeological data and self-determination of Tribal communities involved with these data, the DINAA team strives to better our systems and their relationships to these communities.

Moving forward, the DINAA team aims to collaborate with Tribal communities to:

  • deepen partnerships with THPOs to identify strategies that would enable DINAA to better support Tribal initiatives. 
  • improve DINAA’s vocabularies and data documentation to serve Tribal needs.
  • develop resources to support teaching and instructional uses of DINAA for Tribal communities.
  • facilitate data and information exchanges with state offices (SHPOs and natural resource agencies) to better meet Tribal needs.
  • determine how provenience labels and other metadata fields or access controls may better represent Tribal perspectives, worldviews, and Traditional Knowledge.

We are eager to hear feedback from and collaborate with representatives from Tribal communities on this ongoing work, and we hope to launch a DINAA Working Group early in 2026. Participants will be compensated for sharing their time, opinions, and expertise. Interested in participating? To join the DINAA Working Group or for more information about our work, please reach out to Leigh Anne Lieberman (leigh@opencontext.org).