Digital space: archaeological reflections on the myELeusis project

Abstract

Space, objects and time are the pillars of archaeological discourse. However, during the last three decades, classical archaeologists have enriched their analytical toolbox with the terms ‘space’ and ‘landscape’, instead of the more traditional ‘topography’. The myELeusis project (https://myELeusis.com/) aims to initiate visitors into ancient Eleusis and its Mysteries, before, during and after their visit to the site. It does this through enhanced, interactive, personalised experiences. The two applications of the project chosen to be presented here – myELeusis.PS (Personalised Storytelling) and myELeusis.SG (Serious Game) – address a major challenge of our digitised world. Namely, the creation of digital space dedicated to interpreting antiquity. On the one hand, myELeusis.PS adopts a story-centred approach to the archaeological site. This is achieved through personalised interactive digital storytelling experiences, revolving around a common mystery story plot. On the other hand, myELeusis.SG provides a gamified educational approach based on serious games technologies. In this experience, the player follows the story of Persephone’s abduction, which is the foundational myth of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The combination of these two applications introduces us to the central theme discussed in this paper: the creation of digital space shares many features, as well as identical problems, with the organisation and promotion of conventional archaeological sites. Major archaeological sites of classical antiquity are more or less the result of modern cleansing, that is the removal of non-classical architectural phases in order to highlight the ancient beauty, thus creating ‘lieux de mémoire’ – modernity’s sites of memory. myELeusis.PS and myELeusis.SG prompt us to reflect on the question: is digital space that serves archaeological purposes more akin to a ‘lieu de mémoire’ or a landscape?