Expectations for What We'll Learn

We expect to learn

• the strengths and limitations of neural networks as a lens for studying the trade in human remains - a much finer-grained picture of the scope and size of the trade in human remains
• the identification of flows of visual signifiers of what is for sale, where it comes from, and
• where the tastes in this market are set
• the identification of institutions, collections, cultures, or conflicts from which human skeletal remains actively being circulated are sourced
• how to deploy neural networks in the service of humanistic and social science inquiry

We expect to provide

• high quality training to exceptional students who will use this training to launch their careers
• anonymized and ethical exposure of the trade to both the public and to policy makers

As outputs we will have created

• several articles in scholarly and popular journals
• fully cleaned & anonymized datasets for publication and reuse
• tutorials for use outside our institutions
• seven highly trained personnel
• new course opportunities for undergraduates
• training and research relationships between Carleton University and the University of Stockholm
• a new direction for the study of the trade in illicit and illegal antiquities more generally

At the conclusion of this proposed project, we believe that we will

• be in a position to begin another phase of this research where we will take our results and our method, where digital cultural heritage ethics are foregrounded. We hope to be able to support descendent communities at risk, by providing training and support in computational methods.
• be in a position to influence change at social media companies that currently permit the trade in human remains
• have raised the public consciousness of this trade, including with law-enforcement agencies, policy makers, and the corporations whose platforms currently facilitate the trade