Visualizations

The archival record contains plenty of material that lends itself to analysis and storytelling (which suits historians very nicely). However, it also contains material that can be difficult to wrangle into a textual narrative. This is a good thing. It is an opportunity for us to experiment with visualizing recalcitrant sources using all sorts of tools. 

Here is a gallery of visualizations of Russian empire-building in its southernmost province, Tavrida (the former Crimean Khanate). There are 3 things you should know before exploring them:

  1. They are interactive: feel free to click and drag to your heart's content. (You may need to refresh the view every once in a while.)
  2. They are suggestive. They are meant to provoke questions far more than they are meant to provide answers. They are visualizations of data - nothing more, nothing less.
  3. They were producing using free software. All are available for download.

 

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