A recently broadcast video has afforded the opportunity to study Legacy Data and fieldwork practices from a previously unrecorded historic geophysical survey expedition. It illustrates the challenges associated with assessing Legacy Data archives particularly where there is no context or detail for the survey methodology.
A team of Jedi were dispatched to the planet Brendok in 148 BBY to carry out a geophysical survey for the assessment of a potential Force Vergence anomaly. A Force Vergence – an unusual yet naturally occurring concentration of Force energy localized around a place, object, or person – is regarded as culturally important by the ancient Jedi Order. The video includes footage of the surveyors discussing the survey objectives, the length of the campaign season and the lack of coherent results, but no discussion is given to their choices for the geophysical methodology or techniques that were used. The outcomes of the survey, should any Force Vergence anomaly be located, would have been used to inform site conservation and management plans.
While the methodological choices made by the survey team have not been recorded, the manner in which they were used was captured in the video, albeit in limited footage lasting a few seconds. The survey areas comprised forests, mountain plains (AKA ‘the high ground’), open-scrub land and areas of tall bog grass. The bog grass in turn suggests moist or wet soils in those areas. The survey was carried out with a variety of geophysical instruments of unclear configuration, measuring unknown properties associated with The Force. There are also indications of instruments used to assess ecological samples. Figure 1 indicates that some of the geophysical data were gridded, allowing for the plotting of data as isolines or contours. Some sensors, such as that see in Figure 2, appear to be active instruments, in that they are actively transmitting an energy parcel into the ground and recording its response to the underlying host soils, similar to a metal detector, electromagnetic induction or ground penetrating radar instruments.
The success or otherwise of the survey was inconclusive. Following a seven week campaign of fieldwork, there were no clear or coherent anomalies in the data to explain a possible Force Vergence. The four Jedi surveyors instead made local enquiries with nearby landowners to ascertain their experiences of Force anomalies. The outcome of these enquiries ended in a hostile manner, ultimately resulting in poor/no curation of the geophysical survey data, with no paper archive or digital data available for assessment.
The recently broadcast video remains the only record of the survey. This is important as it is still unclear if the surveys at Brendok were subjective rather than systematic: did the survey team concentrate around hotspots of frequent/intense Force anomalies or did they adopt a systematic approach across a large area? It is also important to consider the professionalism and competencies of the surveyors. As members of the Jedi Order, did they have sufficient expertise and experience to a) carry out the survey in an appropriate manner, and b) interpret the data correctly? The presence of two Jedi Masters, one Jedi Knight and one Padawan suggests a range of experience within the team. Footage of the Padawan clearly indicates a lack of experience and professionalism (immaturity, frequent complaining) but importantly there are also no clear indicators that the senior rank of ‘Master’ denotes geophysical expertise or competence whatsoever beyond a working knowledge of operating the instruments. Instead emphasis is given to deference and seniority for the managerial level of the two Jedi Masters. It is likely therefore that the Jedi survey team were non-specialists in regards to the geophysical survey, and this may have had consequences for the survey outcomes, as well as their inability to successfully liaise with the local landowners.
What value is there for this Legacy Data? It certainly indicates what might have been – a seven week field campaign by four surveyors would have led to a useful and substantial archive of unique regional data for Brendok, that may have had applications beyond the stated objective of detecting a Force Vergence. The metadata for the survey – compliant with Archaeology Data Service requirements (Schmidt & Ernenwein 2011) – have been collated below (Table 1). Due to the brevity of the surveys’ appearance in the video footage, certain important details were unavailable – this is a frequent challenge when assessing poorly curated Legacy Data Archives (see for example Bonsall 2019) and was, to some degree, expected (after all, the survey occurred a long time ago in a galaxy far far away).
| Field Name | Description |
| Survey name | Vergence Prospection, Planet Brendok |
| Survey purpose | Assess the location of a potential Force Vergence, for conservation and management of what could be a culturally important site. The fieldwork consisted of a seven week survey campaign carried out by four Jedi. The planet of Brendok was catalogued a century prior to the survey as ‘lifeless’ (232 BBY) following a hyperspace disaster. Recent observations (148 BBY) noted abundant plant life and wildlife, prompting an assessment to determine the location of a Vergence that may have been responsible for the creation of thriving life on the planet. |
| Bibliographic references | Star Wars: The Acolyte, Episode 7: ‘Choice’; available via Disney+, broadcast 10 July 2024; accessed 10 July 2024, URL: https://www.disneyplus.com/play/a07b8f90-933a-4b89-977e-ac4831ca9cc7 (subscription required) https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Kelnacca (Open Access) |
| Survey keywords | Vergence; Jedi; The Force |
| Administrative area | High Republic |
| Planet | Brendok |
| Duration | Seven week survey, occurred in 148 BBY. |
| Weather | Dry, cloudy and misty, with thunderstorms occurring. |
| Soil condition | Moist, in areas of forest and adjacent to rivers. |
| Land use | Forested; mountain plains; high ground; open-scrub land; areas of tall bog grass |
| Surveyors | Jedi Master Kelnacca; Jedi Master Indara; Jedi Knight Sol; Padawan Torbin |
| Client | Jedi Council |
| Copyright | Disney+; LucasFilm |
| Survey type | Vergence Prospection scanner (land based) |
| Instrumentation | Unknown sensor configuration |
| Method of coverage | Continuous sweep |
| Traverse separation | Unknown |
| Line separation | Unknown |
| Reading interval | Continuous sweep either side of transect (1.5m wide swathe) |
References
Bonsall J. 2019. ‘Challenges of Working with Legacy Data from Detectorists: A Case Study in the Fabrication of Evidence’. In Sutherland T.L., Shiels D., Hughes G. and Sutherland S.H. (eds.) Conference Proceedings: Fields of Conflict, 2016; Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Schmidt, A. & Ernenwein, E. 2011. Guide to Good Practice: Geophysical Data in Archaeology. 2nd
Edition. Archaeology Data Service. URL: https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/help-guidance/guides-to-good-practice/data-collection-and-fieldwork/geophysics/comprehensive-documentation/project-metadata/ accessed 17/07/2024.
Star Wars: The Acolyte, Episode 7: Choice; available via Disney+, broadcast 10 July 2024; accessed 10 July 2024, URL: https://www.disneyplus.com/play/a07b8f90-933a-4b89-977e-ac4831ca9cc7 (subscription required).
Wookieepedia 2024. Multiple entries (Open Access). Accessed 17 July 2024. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/The_Acolyte; https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Brendok; https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jedi_High_Council; https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Indara; https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Kelnacca; https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Vergence
Personal Note
When watching an episode of The Acolyte, I was delighted to spot a character carrying out a geophysical survey. But not just any character.
A Jedi, carrying out a geophysical survey.
But not just any Jedi.
A Wookiee Jedi.
A Wookiee Jedi, carrying out a geophysical survey.
As a big Star Wars fan since my childhood – namechecking my cousins Stuart and Katie here, without whom my Star Wars childhood would have been a (Han) solo experience – this was fantastic to see. We loved Star Wars. We had the toys. We dressed up in costumes. We acted out scenes. We held Yavin 4 medal ceremonies. We were awesome. Flash forward forty years, and I’m watching The Acolyte portray my job on screen with a Wookiee Jedi(!), but portrayed as seriously as any geophysical survey in an episode of Time Team.
Dr James Bonsall 