Archaeology and cultural heritage work have fully entered the digital age. Today, researchers rely on tools like 3D scanners, a variety of GIS software, and Lidar equipped drones to document the past in ways that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. These technologies are powerful—but they’ve created a new and urgent problem. We are producing vast amounts of digital data without a clear path for its long-term preservation. This growing issue is known as the Digital Curation Crisis. It reflects a widening gap between how much digital information we create and how little of it is properly managed, preserved, and made accessible for the future.

At first glance, digital data might seem safer than physical objects. After all, files can be copied and stored in multiple places. In reality, they are often more fragile. Hard drives fail, file formats become obsolete, and poorly documented data quickly becomes unusable. Many projects still store critical files on personal devices or outdated media, leaving them vulnerable to permanent loss. A major misunderstanding fuels the problem: digitizing something is not the same as preserving it. Scanning documents or saving photos does not ensure long-term access.

The consequences are serious. Losing digital data means losing knowledge about the past. This affects researchers, institutions, governments, and descendant communities alike. Addressing this crisis requires a shift in how digital data is treated throughout its entire lifecycle. Our article “Responding to the Digital Curation Crisis: Definitions and Recommendations for Cultural Heritage” outlines recommendations that provide a path forward.

Digital preservation must adhere to ethical standards, especially with Indigenous and descendant communities in mind and following CARE principles is essential. Digital preservation needs to also include FAIR principles to ensure that data can be discovered, accessible, integrated with other datasets, and reused effectively in future research. Repositories, museums, and archives must develop clear policies, standards, and infrastructure for digital preservation. This includes understanding what data they already hold, assessing their needs, and gradually building systems to manage both new and legacy collections. One effective way to safeguard digital data is to deposit it in a digital repository designed to preserve data over the long term, ensuring that files remain accessible and usable as technology evolves.

Courtesy of University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology.

Preserving digital data requires resources, and these costs need to be built into project budgets from the beginning. Currently, most funding focuses on data creation rather than long-term stewardship. Allocating a portion of project funding to digital preservation helps ensure that data remains accessible after the project ends. Integrating digital preservation into existing budgets and, where possible, developing sustainable funding models are critical steps toward long-term success. Maintaining digital collections requires continuous financial commitments to ensure staff expertise, infrastructure, and ongoing system updates.  

The Digital Curation Crisis may seem overwhelming, but it is solvable. The tools, standards, and frameworks already exist. What is needed is consistent action: planning ahead, investing in preservation, and adopting practices that ensure digital heritage is protected. We are documenting history in unprecedented detail. Whether that knowledge survives depends on what we do next.

The article “Responding to the Digital Curation Crisis: Definitions and Recommendations for Cultural Heritage” is out now, open access, in Advances in Archaeological Practice.