Dear Frank,
From what I know (I'm not a field archaeologist myself but as a PhD
candidate in digital archaeology I'm familiar with the issues), properly
tuned and setup, yes, QGIS can be perfectly appropriate to manage the
whole documentation and data of an archaeological excavation project. I
can confirm for example that the INRAP (French National Institute for
Preventive Archaeological Research) is using QGIS intensively, at every
stage of the archaeological projects, from mapping or GIS tasks to
extensive documentation of the excavation.
The specific resource I'd like to point you to is the BADASS database
plugin from the RAMEN collective (INRAP again):
https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/badass/. Here's a quick translation of
the plugin description:
"This extension allows the creation of a spatial database file in
SpatiaLite format for recording archaeological data (Badass) at Inrap,
accompanied by a pre-configured .QGZ project file."
"This database is based, on the one hand, on the institutional
structuring of the “Six Layers” of spatial data from topographical
surveys and, on the other hand, on a traditional archaeological record
based on stratigraphy. This extension allows two files to be generated:
the spatial database file in SpatiaLite (.sqlite) format, including
tables, views, and database triggers; and the QGIS project (.qgz), which
integrates tables, relationships, and styles that enable the use of
attribute data entry interfaces in the form of forms. Within the
database, several tables allow the recording of information related to
photogrammetry. Two extensions are currently under development but are
not yet active: Badass of the Dead: allows the addition of tables,
thesauri, and a mannequin for entering and studying anthropological
data; House of Badass: allows the addition of tables and thesauri for
entering and studying archaeological data on buildings."
I guess I don't need to mention the quality of the naming within the
project, which is a good enough reason to test it, if you ask me :)
Hope this helps. Best regards,
Jeremy
Le 08/01/2026 à 12:28, John Layt via QGIS-User a écrit :
Hi Frank,
Apologies for the late reply, only just catching up on some mailing lists.
QGIS is used extensively in UK commercial archaeology, thanks to ESRIs
high prices and our low profits. Unfortunately most commercial units are
quite secretive about their use and there's not a lot of collaboration
or knowledge sharing going on.
At my previous employer, L-P Archaeology, we used QGIS extensively
within the full recording process. I built a set of open source plugins
that integrated into our field recording and post-ex analysis processes,
linking out to our ARK recording database. We used it on some very large
projects including a section of HS2. We were planning to migrate it to
using GeoPackages and Mergin with sync to Postgres, but sadly we were
taken over by another company who run ESRI so it was shut down. I
suspect if we had continued, we might have switched to use QField due to
their addition of plugin support which would have allowed us to write a
fully custom frontend as well.
Currently I know of at least 2 other companies who use it for at least
part of their daily field recording process using Mergin. One I believe
has a full trench recording process for field staff that then syncs back
to their central database, and the other seems to be using it for things
like context sheets etc.
Sorry I can't give too much more details, but hopefully it shows that
QGIS is up to the task.
John.
John Layt (He/Him) | Head of Digital Innovation | 07355 093513
<tel:07355%20093513> | [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) | 46 Eagle Wharf Road | London |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* QGIS-User <[email protected]> on behalf of
Herrmann, Frank via QGIS-User <[email protected]>
*Sent:* 28 November 2025 13:37
*To:* '[email protected]' <[email protected]>
*Subject:* [Qgis-user] Question: Using QGIS for archaeological
documentation workflows
This Message originated outside your organisation.
Dear all,
I hope you are doing well.
My name is Frank Herrmann and I work in the archaeological documentation
unit of a German heritage institution (LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen).
We are currently evaluating to what extent QGIS can be used not only for
GIS mapping, but also in workflows that involve structured excavation
and find data.
Before making internal decisions, we would like to learn from the
experience of the QGIS community, especially from people who have used
QGIS in archaeological or heritage-related projects.
I would be very grateful for any insights on the following questions:
Do you use QGIS only as a GIS client, or have you also used it for
documentation/database-like workflows in archaeology or cultural heritage?
Are there known limitations when using QGIS for long-term excavation
documentation, metadata management or multi-user environments?
Do you have recommendations for combining QGIS with external databases
(e.g., PostgreSQL/PostGIS, SQLite/Geopackage)?
Are there examples of archaeological projects where QGIS has been used
successfully for both spatial and non-spatial documentation?
Any short response, experience, or recommendation would be extremely
helpful for us.
Thank you very much in advance for your time - I truly appreciate your
support.
Best regards,
Frank Herrmann
LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen
Germany
LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen
Referat Mittelalter
An den Speichern 7
48157 Münster
Telefon: 0251 591-8950
eMail: [email protected]
Besuchen Sie uns im Internet:
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Der Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) arbeitet als
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Aufgaben im sozialen Bereich, in der Behinderten- und Jugendhilfe, in
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wahrgenommen werden. Ebenso engagiert er sich für eine inklusive
Gesellschaft in allen Lebensbereichen. Die neun kreisfreien Städte und
18 Kreise in Westfalen-Lippe sind die Mitglieder des LWL. Sie tragen und
finanzieren den Landschaftsverband, dessen Aufgaben ein Parlament mit
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Der LWL auf Facebook:
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