[Qgis-user] Question: Using QGIS for archaeological documentation workflows

Fri Jan 9 05:29:47 PST 2026

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>	 | 	jlayt at mola.org.uk <mailto:jlayt at mola.org.uk>	
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> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* QGIS-User <qgis-user-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> on behalf of 
> Herrmann, Frank via QGIS-User <qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org>
> *Sent:* 28 November 2025 13:37
> *To:* 'qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org' <qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org>
> *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
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> eMail: Frank.Herrmann at lwl.org
> 
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> 
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