Open Archaeological Site Atlas
Database of worldwide archaeological sites
The ArchAtlas 'Open' Archaeological Site Atlas is a growing database of important archaeological sites from around the world. The purpose of this database is to provide a reference file of large and well-protected archaeological sites, especially those which are visible on the now widely available high resolution satellite imagery (as seen in Virtual Globes such as Google Earth), and for which there is paper or electronic publications widely available. In particular it includes sites mentioned on the ArchAtlas website.
At present, the database only includes site positions, but we hope future editions of the database include more detailed data. We hope to add to this database on a regular basis, and also that others will contribute information on accurate site positions, alternative names and spellings, bibliographies and web links. We are keen to receive feedback from specialists on official websites and scholarly publications. If you have a large database of sites you would like to contribute, please e-mail archatlas@archatlas.org.
This database includes only those sites which are large enough to be self-evident in the landscape anyway, well-known to the public, or with sufficient local protection from authorities. To find co-ordinates for smaller sites, use the 'Search for Sites' tool which lists co-ordinates from a variety of sources.
Seeing the sites
The best way to use the Open Archaeological Atlas is to download a Virtual Globe extension which plots the position of these sites using this icon 
. If you use the current Google Earth or WorldWind plugin, the database is automatically updated each time you load the program.
You can also use the OAA interactive map which plots the sites on the Google Maps database of satellite imagery.
Accuracy and precision
Considerable effort has been spent to ensure the accuracy of these site co-ordinates. Sites whose positions have been not been definitely verified are labelled as such in WorldWind or Google Earth (a greyed out icon indicates unverified co-ordinates 
). Please take care, however, that given the limited availability of precise locational information in archaeological literature, co-ordinate precision currently may vary from a few metres to within 0.5 degrees of latitude or longitude. As more information becomes available, co-ordinates will be updated on our database, and reflected automatically in the virtual globe extensions and the interactive map.