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The procedures followed for the preparation of the thematic layers, describing the finding in an Etruscan site, are presented. The testimonial shows the advantages of using AutoCAD based tools, in order to link the database, containing the description of the objects in the drawing, to the CAD elements. This paper shows how to use the potential of a desktop GIS, based on AutoCAD and DBIV, in a variety of fields: from the preparation of hazard maps, showing the risk zones of fragile archaeological sites, to the preparation of a micro GIS project of fractures and related sections of a painting restoration project. The methodology proposed starts with the preparation of a topographic layer for the archiving of objects found on the site. The use of AutoCAD in conjunction with GDL-Graphic Data Link by Alpha Consult srl of Rome and ADE by AutoDesk is proposed, in order to simplify mapping of archaeological sites and perform relational queries on stored data. The AutoCAD application, called GDL/ARCHEO, is designed to establish and maintain DWG/DXF-DBF LINK, that can be utilized by ArcCAD (ARCINFO Data Structure), MAPINFO and INTERGRAPH. GDL/ARCHEO, a personalization of GDL is used as the data input environment for descriptive data related to AutoCAD featured in the drawing. The program has a library of Etruscan vases that can be further personalized and expanded; the default database can be modified to accommodate personalized projects. GDL/ARCHEO has the ability to create overlays, to assign ID-values to the resulting polygon, to provide network tracing capabilities and establish buffer areas for further studies. The program is an add-on ADE (AutoDesk Data Extension) for large archaeological sites. The paper also describes the GIS functions of overlay, buffer, polygon processing and network tracing to prepare hazard maps showing the risk analysis related to the different sites.
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The aim of this work is to contribute to a better understanding of the historical and archaeological heritage. Archaeological and territorial data have been collected and processed in a GIS in order to provide information on the evolution of the population settlement in a selected area used as a case study. The area investigated was that located between the rivers Nera and Aniene (North-South direction) and between the river Tiber and the Sabine Mountains (East-West direction). It is historically identified as the “Sabina Tiberina” region. This area is characterised by a large number of sequential settlements of different populations beginning in the Iron through to the Medieval period. The GIS developed offers the possibility of describing and interpreting the territorial changes caused by the various populations. One of the main features of the GIS is its easy use for non-expert users (such as teachers, students and decision makers). Examples of different types of maps that can be generated by our GIS are presented. Two examples of composite maps containing different types of information (geographical, historical, geological etc.) are presented to show the possibilities afforded by the system.
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Due to the recommencing of methodical archaeological excavation on the site of Nora, first Phoenician then Punic and Roman town, situated on the southern coast of Sardinia approximately 30 Km west of Cagliari, it was necessary to establish a cartographic system extended to all the hill on which the settlement standed (the settlement had never been completely mapped). This system had to cover previously surveyed areas and to allow the continuous updating with data resulting from new excavations. With these requirements, a computerised cartographic system was created, which consisted of basic information regarding not only the archaeological remains, but also the modern topography and the morphology of the hill. The aim was to design an operating system practical both for research and for safeguarding the archaeological site and allowing planning of its infrastructure. The project has been carried out in several phases: a) planning of the cartographical base; b) aerial survey of the zone; c) aerophotogrammetric zone; d) implementation of the numerical cartographic system; e) layout of the archives. The aerophotogrammetric information produced numerical files containing 3D data for every mapped point; using this data it was possible to create 3D models whose use is not only for archaeological research but also for aiding in planning for future infrastructural intervention in the archaeological park.
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The Wroxeter Hinterland Project is a three-year regional research project employing GIS technology in the planning, management, research and publication of a study of the Iron Age and Roman landscape around the Roman city of Viroconium (Wroxeter) in Shropshire. The use of GIS technology in projects such as this has again highlighted the problems associated with scientific interpretation of the known archaeological record, built up mainly over the past century. In particular, the capability of GIS to recognise, extract, and extrapolate patterns in multivariate map data has meant that archaeologists must now resist the temptation to interpret such patterns as anything more than relatively recently introduce biases of site preservation and visibility. This paper explores ways in which GIS can be used to discover, and correct, such biases.
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Abandoned towns have long been recognised as one of the most important resources to understanding the development and decline of the urban environment. In Britain, the number of opportunities for studies into abandoned Roman towns is limited as most have continued in use until the present day. The Wroxeter Hinterland Project is currently engaged in research on the best-preserved deserted Roman town in Britain: Viroconium Cornoviorum, in Shropshire – modern Wroxeter. The approach has been to use a broad range of geophysical prospecting methods to elucidate the nature and density of occupation on the site. Standard geophysical techniques such as magnetometry and resistivity have been extensively deployed alongside the newer technologies of Ground-penetrating radar, multi-probe, continuous-reading automated resistivity, seismology and conductivity. Airborne survey is adding another dimension through multi-spectral scanning and conventional aerial photography, while sub-surface surveys are being hatched up with ground-truthing data collected through conventional survey methods. The results are being processed in the Project’s GIS database and will provide as full an insight into the nature of occupation at Wroxeter as is possible without further extensive excavation. It is intended that the results will be published in an atlas and will also be accessible via the World-Wide-Web.
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The author illustrates the main purpose of a research project that he is carrying out on Roman centuriation in Central Italy. In particular, the paper discusses the evolution of Roman cadastre of Urbs Salvia during the Early Middle Ages and Middle Ages. The author suggests that starting from a hypothetical centuriated form, study should be made of field boundaries that can be extracted, for example, from medieval documents, ancient maps and cabrei. In this way, if significant data is found, we have a reliable confirmation of the supposed original schema. In the Urbs Salvia’s centuriation several medieval field boundaries abut the Roman limits or the burial monuments that the Romans used to mark limits. Moreover some roads, mentioned in several documents of the Chiaravalle di Fiastra Cistercian Abbey, run exactly in the middle of a row of centuriae. Data is recorded using AutoCAD R13 (for numeric cartography) and Paradox 5.0 for Windows (other data).
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This contribution deals with the survey of medieval sites in Tuscany, carried out to record territorial, topographical, historical and archaeological data and to integrate these different kinds of sources. It studies the region corresponding to the ancient county owned by the Ardengheschi family, in the south of Tuscany. The collected data are organised into a relational database; its most important tables contain administrative, geographical, environmental, historical and archaeological (descriptive and interpretative) data. Each database record is also geographically referenced by means of the coordinates of the central point of the corresponding site. This organisation makes it possible to investigate chronological and spatial relationships among sites. Some examples show the inadequacy of Euclidean distance and how it can be correctly defined to obtain coherent results; others deal with the definition of “contemporary” settlements, and it is shown how paradoxical results may derive from a “blind” use of database queries. To avoid such consequences, the use of “fuzzy logic” is proposed to define the lifetime of a site, especially if historical and archaeological records span over different periods; an application of fuzzy logical operators is considered in a final example.
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The purpose of this paper is to critically explore the role of Geographical Information Systems in archaeological research. Currently, some archaeologists seem largely captivated by new computing technologies believing that the sophistication of powerful software outputs will lend respectability by itself. In our opinion GIS is merely a set of techniques to visualise and manage large amounts of georeferenced data. Thus, there must be other tools to move from visualisation to explanation, which fall within the domain of Spatial Analysis. The ultimate aim of this paper is to show how we can integrate these already existing tools (geostatistics, intra-site statistical tests, digital image processing, artificial intelligence, etc.) into a GIS framework, in order to move from beautiful images to hard analysis. Finally, we criticise the lack of a theoretical background in archaeological uses of GIS technology, arguing that GIS is only a software and may benefit our research only if we use well defined archaeological problems on a well-based theory.
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In the Archaeological Institute of the Dodecanese, the need for establishing an information system has been evident for many years. The Est expansion in personal computing systems and the development of GÌS during the fast years have provided the possibility of its realisation. Three major projects are under development. The first covers the monuments on the whole island of Rhodes, the second deals with the Ancient City of Rhodes and the third examines the Old Town of Rhodes as a living monument. Experiments with digital editing of photographs have provided us with a useful tool in presenting archaeological information. Computer aided design is occasionally used in case studies of monuments. The digital information system itself, with all restrictions due to hardware and software limitations, encourages, in a way, a more clearly defined and better organised data collection procedure. The transformation of a non-computerised to a computer-supported institution is a long procedure. Data input has always been a major difficulty. Due to this fact the full potential of the information system has never been realised. The system depends highly on the continuous data import and information updating and, as such, its accuracy and usefulness are highly vulnerable.
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Studies in historic urban sites are very important for the defence and conservation of monuments and to preserve buildings. In this context particular consideration has to be used to layer-object, that is submerged structures and what is adjacent. With modern tools for photogrammetry bearing we can have numerical cartography with topological entities; it offers the means for structural and spatial study of objects. This can be drawn from their context and returned in 3D after some inspections. Useful elements can be added to numerical-cartographic maps by digital orthoimages resulting in mapping and storage operations. Our software inputs four files: - a tiff file storing the orthoimage - an ascii file with .par extension (the aim of this extension, like the following ones, is only indicative) containing rotoscalotraslation coefficients - an ascii file with .dtm extension containing che (x-y-z) coordinates of some generic points - an ascii file with .brk extension containing the (x-y-z) coordinates of some break-line points. Fundamental characteristic of this software is the possibility of recording orthoimages with no loss of geometrical information. The implemented functions include the possibility of displaying the orthoimage on PC screen, zoom in and zoom out, showing the geographic coordinates (East, North) in real time, creating more layouts for drawing, calculating distance between polygons, lines or points, calculating areas and perimeters, showing the altitude (approximation), displaying a DTM (digital terrain model). The interface is very friendly. Now our goal is rendering this prototype independent from its development environment.
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Over the years, the subject of archaeological publications, with regard to their style, format, content, and size, has been extensively debated. Nevertheless, all debates have axiomatically accepted that when talking about archaeological publications this automatically implies that we practically speak about the production of a book. Recent advances in Information Technology, supported by copyright legislative amendments, however, have forced us to reconsider this axiom; it is possible nowadays to replace the book, as we all knew it, with electronic presentation platforms and computer Cds. The computer hardware and software market now offers a variety of fairy sophisticated and relatively cheap off-the-shelf products that can be considered as both adequate and reliable publication platforms. Such a product is SPANS Explorer which is presented in this paper as an illustrative example.
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The Geographic Information System ODYSSEUS presented here is a database, set up according to the procedures established by the Ministero dei Beni Culturali e Ambientali, and extended through an additional information system relevant to archaeological and geophysical prospection, core drilling and surface collection. The database is organised for information retrieval (Highway) whereby any data may be found by name rather than graphical identificatio. The drawing of maps is undertaken in vector (DWG) format, the most commonly used in archaeology. In essence, the system is designed to receive images and link them to the appropriate database tables. It allows the visualisation and management of a DWG file, and the overlay at the same scale on other raster images (e.g. aerial photos), thereby producing a vector drawing of all the data highlighted on the raster maps. For all database “objects”, a series of mathematical algorithms automatically construct thematic maps. Geo-archaeological exploration of the data inserted in the database - geophysical prospections, core drillings, surface distribution of ceramic fragments, etc. - increases the number of parameter classes important in determining the characteristics for settlement-location models. This article provides a brief overview of the ODYSSEUS system, and two examples of its application: Oppido Mamertina, in the Calabria region of Italy, and the “Microregion”, a large area under protection in eastern Hungary.
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The authors illustrate the application of a GIS technology within the field of historical archaeology. They discuss a GIS pilot study of the Adriatic island of Hvar in Croatia, using the Geographical Resource Analysis Support System (GRASS), a Unix based software. Basic data was obtained through a survey of all the archaeological monuments on the island. In contrast to Greek literary sources, the GIS application gives a different perspective of the historical Greek colonisation of the island of Hvar (385/4 BC). In fact, after founding Pharos, there is no evidence of permanent Greek settlements extending beyond the plane, so the life of native communities would have continued unchanged.
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This paper presents the computerised epigraphical form which has been used for the cataloguing of the Roman brick stamps in the collection of the Vatican Museums. It has been structured on the basis of the form used for the cataloguing of the Lapidary Collections of the Museo Nazionale Romano. Following the acronyms of the entries, represented by an abbreviation of four letters, this form gives a series of answers written in capital letters, one of these to be chosen depending on each specific case; they are followed by blank spaces destined to contain different data, especially numerical. With the formalised recording of the data through an editor, it is possible to create statistical indices (KWIC and other types) through two programs called S.I.D.E.R.A. and « Epiglossa », written for this purpose.
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The aim of the present piece of work is to devise a tool for the computerized handling of information regarding the re-use of classical material in Medieval and Renaissance buildings. In view of the variety, loose structure and complex interrelations of the data in question, and in view of the kind of people likely to be interested in the product (historians, art-historians and archaeologists), hypermedia and hypertextual techniques were adopted. Thus, the software chosen was HyperCard, together with HyperKRS for improved searching. Particular attention was paid to the problems connected with the simultaneous handling of text and images, as well as to the definition of the user-interface and the search and retrieval operations. The pilot study made use of material from the archaeological Collection of the Opera Primaziale of Pisa.
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SIRIS (Information system for the reconstruction of historical settlements) is a territorial recording project based on the standards established by the Italian Central Institute for Catalogue and Documentation. Its aim has been to create an integrated alphanumeric, cartographic, iconographic data bank to operate as an informative territorial system pertaining to the cultural heritage of the Emilia-Romagna Region. Information resulting from territorial analyses conducted during the project have been listed, memorised in alphanumeric files or on videodisks (in the case of photos) and then mapped. The research relating to the card-indexing of archivistic and cartographic documentary sources has covered the entire regional territory, while landscape and morphological analyses, cataloguing of architectural works and the study of planning instruments have been carried out in the boroughs of Boretto, Brescello, Gualtieri, Guastarla, Luzzara, Novellara, Poviglio and Reggiolo. All this information is now contained in an integrated multimedia data bank. A microcomputer (VAX) with a standard operating system (UNIX) and a DBMS (INFORMIX) manages the alphanumerical and digital mapping databases and contains the instructions to guide the user through the data banks. A highly developed work station presenting information by means of windows (software X-WINDOX'S) is available to the SIRIS user. Methodologies of human-computer interaction have been developed with particular care in order to achieve a complete and easy-to-use system. The project has been promoted by the Istituto per i Beni Culturali of the Emilia-Romagna Region and In-Systems and Management S.p.A..
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This paper illustrates the computing section of a Strategic Project for the development of research methods applied to the study and safeguard of the archaeological heritage of southern Adriatic Italy. The project was launched by the Italian National Research Council and the University of Lecce. The computing section has as its objective the creation of a system for the management of data pertaining to antique settlements that guarantees the integration of three information supports: alphanumeric, cartographic and photographic. These supports contain data deriving from two interacting research systems: field survey and excavation. The cartographic data is varied: large scale maps, area and site plans, detailed plans of single monuments, stratigraphic sections and feature and layer plans. Software used consists of a relational database and a specific digitised mapping system. The system permits the acquisition of raster images. A global user-friendly interface which permits maximum navigation is in the process of completion. We foresee the principal field of application being the analysis of spatial distributions of artefacts and ecofacts as a basis for synchronic and diachronic cultural analysis.
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Archaeology is starting to face the challenges of electronic publication posed by advances in information technology; we are now able to offer almost all types of archaeological data in a single software environment, and have the opportunity to integrate hitherto discrete results. This paper describes the use of the University of Southampton’s ‘Microcosm’ open hypermedia system in an archaeological context. Microcosm is a set of programs running under Microsoft Windows which can support a variety of archaeological data, including databases, digitised site plans and survey data, synthetic text, and GIS images. The example uses the data generated by the Urban Origins in East Africa project, a Swedish-funded initiative to bring together archaeologists from ten East African countries and look at a regional problem. We suggest how the integration provided by multimedia can not only be a vital part of research work, but also be used in publicity, and provide the structure of a genuine regional resource.
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Computerised databases form an integral part of much archaeological work around the world, but few of these systems are designed with expansion or compatibility as a prerequisite. This paper investigates the problems of integrating data from a variety of sources, both urban and rural, and then discusses in detail the modular database solution adopted by two archaeological projects at the University of York. The discussed solution enables the integration of data collected from different sources, and at very different scales from the single record per site to the recording of every feature or artefact in more detailed databases. To conclude, the paper touches upon future developments in the field, and their potential impact upon the way in which we store and view archaeological data.
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The potential of the relational database management system (RDBMS) as a means of integrating disparate archaeological data sets is explored, using data recovered from the stratigraphically complex environment of excavations within the city of London. Means of checking and modelling the single context stratigraphies from such sites within the RDBMS are considered, followed by descriptions of techniques developed to allow integration of that model with dating information in order to aid identification of residual and intrusive material. Relational databases are seen to be a realistically accessible technology for archaeological bodies, and are of especial relevance to those working in the increasingly competitive commercial environment of developer funded rescue excavation, as is now common in London and England in general. They offer a means of aiding interpretation through both automating some of the repetitive tasks of site analysis and more importantly by allowing the wider patterns extending across previously discrete data sets to be sought.
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This paper begins with four propositions: there are four basic types of information: data (or more precisely numbers), text (i.e. single words, sentences and longer compositions), images (still and moving), and sound; that computer technology has now advanced sufficiently in power to capture, store, manipulate and retrieve all the types of data listed in the first proposition; that archaeological information is composed of all five types of information outlined in the first proposition; and that since archaeology also has vast quantities of this information it needs computer technology in order to handle it successfully. Given these propositions, this paper describes the purpose of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology and defines three separate roles that result. The historical development of IT applications since the late 1970s is traced, highlighting the mistakes made and the lessons learnt. This culminates in a description of the Ashmolean’s Collections Information System, in particular outlining the structure of the Collections Information Database that underpins the system. The plans for implementing this system are also described. The paper ends by looking at the problems of fully realising this system, and concludes that the plans are really a means of deliberately staying several steps behind the full potential of the technology while still moving forward, so that the Museum can wait for the eventual arrival of software that can provide a seamless transition between various tasks, with a minimum of effort.
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CThe “Giunone” project concerns the implementation of a numismatical database, designed to become a valid tool for researchers in the field of numismatics and coin collection history. The database was built in conformity with the entity-relationship model and is used in this phase under a Unix System. The task of data entry can be carried out by different people using a programme that works on IBM computers.
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The author presents the project NiKita (Navigation interactive - Kit pour l'archéologie), established with the aim of creating a tool for the interactive processing of archaeological bibliographical documentation. NiKita is a database of easy and intuitive utilisation, developed for Macintosh using the program Hypercard. The principal characteristics of this program are: availability of an “object oriented” programming language; possibility of organizing data in files or stacks, autonomous but correlated; capacity of processing eterogeneous data and different types of graphical formats; availability of a transparent and intuitive interface. The different stacks contemplate: graphical and textual documents related to sites, contexts and objects; Greek and Latin sources related to archaeological units considered; bibliographical references. At present, the file “Bibal” contains about 4500 titles.
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The creation of B.O.I.R.A. was brought about through the consideration of a problem that arises amongst every team of archaeological researchers. This problem is the great amount of information that is produced and gathered as a result of the work being carried on. In order that the information should be efficiently controlled and assimilated, the handling of the various data should be done by means of computer software tools. The aim of this report is not to call attention to the data that has been compiled from examples of recording systems of archaeological research published so far, but rather to make known to researchers a different methodology, such as that of Yourdon and the so-called Chen entity-relation design. This is done by using CASE tools in order to develop software systems which are made to measure and are of a high standard, which have been successfully proved in their implementation and use. By way of example, a system has been designed capable of handling data usually dealt with by an archaeological team.
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The aim of this article is the description of: 1) the characteristics of the UNESCO's ISIS information system; 2) the general structure of the PART programme realized in Paris at the CNRS, and then developed in Tübingen (Archaeological lnstitute of the University) and Rome (Ecole Française), within an European research programme on la Castellina near Civitavecchia; 3) the use on-line of this database and the characteristics of its application by a group of scholars that are carrying out similar archaeological research.
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The conservation section of the Antiquities Department in the Ashmolean Museum is currently developing a database for the conservation treatment records as well as the photographs and x-rays, using image processing equipment. 4th Dimension First was chosen for the database as this was the only off the shelf software available at the time, that was capable of handling both text and image based data. The article describes the design of the text database and discusses the positive and negative aspects of the software package as experienced by the conservation team. Also mentioned are applications of the database and its future developments such as the design of the image database. To conclude about the database package, 4D First is a versatile program with a large amount of options, although not always straightforward and user friendly to begin with, it was found that it certainly would do the job well.
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The ARGOS (Archaelogical Greek On-line System) Project proposes to create the most comprehensive bibliography on ancient Mediterranean civilizations and their cultural heritage, through a computerized union catalogue of the archaeological Libraries of the Institutions, foreign and Greek, in Athens. Their joint holdings, amounting to over 500,000 volumes covering the full range of Hellenic studies of all periods, including language, literature and thought, archaeology and history of art, ancient, medieval and modern history, topography, ethnology and folklore, are the most important in this field and are of world interest. By so linking these Libraries, we will make Athens the capital of learning in Mediterranean studies, effectively a new Alexandria. In addition, bibliographic information on articles published in journals and collective works will supplement the database of books. Readers in each Library will have direct access to the entire database, using multilingual menus and a detailed subject thesaurus to learn of bibliography and to locate the Library in which it is held.
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The present database was established during the special photographic and documentation survey of the Pompei archaeological area. This survey, promoted and realized by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione, began in 1977 and until 1981 produced about 25,000 black and white photographs of paintings, floors and objects still in situ, and in the last years, about 4000 colour photographs. The database, initially devoted only to specialised users, contains the alphanumerical files relevant to this photographic survey, and is aimed in primis at the retrieval of images. In order to render the database accessible to a wider public, the programme needed an up-dating, which has been inserted in a more ambitious project, aimed at the creation of a CD-Rom containing the alphanumeric database and a good number of images.
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The project, carried out under the scientific direction of the Istituto di Studi Liguri and the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione, is aimed at the study of 250 archaeological sites located in the coastline facing the Calabria, Sicilia, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise, Marche e Puglia regions. This area offers an homogeneous archaeological context, characterised by itineraries of both commercial and military traffic, which gave rise to trade and settlement phenomena. The research activity involves, for each site, field studies as well as filing and documentation. The project requires also the creation of a database, containing not only alphanumeric but also cartographic data and images. The filing is conformed to the rules established by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione.
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Francesco Gnecchi was one of the most important Roman coin collectors between the XIX and XX Century. His collection, consisting of about 20,000 pieces, was purchased in 1923 without any related document. In 1933 the epistular archive owned by one of the Gnecchi heires was found. The study of the archive allows us to have important information concerning the purchase of pieces and, consequently, their origin. To make possible a systematic analysis, the archive has been stored with a scanner on a computer system and an appropriate retrieval program has been developed.
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S.I.R.Be.C. is a multimedia project of Regione Lombardia. It began in 1993 and it is now carried out with the collaboration of twenty four museums, eleven Provinces and seven Dioceses. By the year 2000, the project aims at establishing: - a computerized inventory (data and images) of Lombardy's cultural property; - a regional information system of Lombardy's cultural property, consisting of a central multimedia data base, a regional computer network and a regional documentation centre; - a coordinate network of the documentation centres and the data bases belonging to museums, to public and private institutions and to the Church. S.I.R.Be.C. cooperates with the National Ministry for Cultural Property - Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione I.C.C.D. and with police units aimed at repressing illicit traffic in cultural property.
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The author illustrates the activity of Istituto Beni Culturali (IBC), the cultural institution of Regione Emilia Romagna with regard to the use of new technology in cultural heritage. IBC, a unique example in Italy, has created in 1990 a public company to manage the public resources and to coordinate the computerized cataloguing of the regional cultural heritage: the Centro Regionale per il Catalogo (CRC). Since 1993 IBC administers a regional museum fund (L.R. 20/90) and holds a major role in programming the regional policy in the field of local authority museums and cataloguing of museum objects. The Documentation Centre of IBC has elaborated the guidelines for recording information about objects preserved in local museum: our main aim is to provide every museum with a system to perform some essential activities; administration and cataloguing over all. As regards to cataloguing rules we follow the ICCD directives (precataloguing cards) in order to create a regional archive of cultural heritage conserved in museums. As regards software we have chosen an information retrieval system, Odysseus, very flexible and developed in a modular way. Actually Odysseus is used to catalogue museum cultural heritage, to realize data bases for the Internet and to realize archaeological maps.
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The Israel Antiquities authority, established in 1990, is responsible for over 25,000 archaeological sites in Israel. Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem is the headquarters of the Israel Antiquities authority (IAA). The IAA began its computerization program in 1991. In 1991 there were a total of five XT computers throughout the IAA al lowing it to facilitate an integrated system between the database used by archaeologists in the field and the database in the central computer of the Rockefeller Museum. Excavator 2001, the database used by archaeologists in the field, is built on a FoxPro database. The database of the central computer is known as the Antiquity System and is built on a Oracle database. In the final analysis our aim is to create a national database consisting of the vast material and objects obtained by hundreds of archaeologists working in the field. In addition to the artifacts and data which are currently being processed and integrated into the new system, we are also in the process of cataloguing hundreds of thousands of artefacts which are discovered and stored prior to the development of the national database system.
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DELTOS II is an information system covering the needs for documentation, conservation and administration of site monuments and preserved buildings. It offers map display, supports large data volume, storage and display of multimedia data (mostly images and free text) and drawing facilities. DELTOS has been developed by the Institute of Computer Science, FORTH, in dose collaboration with the 23rd Ephorate of Classical and Prehistoric Antiquities and the l3th Ephorate of Byzantine and Postbyzantine Antiquities. The system has been installed at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Crete, Greece and is currently in the initial stage of exploitation.
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In cataloguing the growth and refinement of cognitive data lead to a limitation of specialized sectors and in general to a weak comprehensive view of cultural phenomena. Moreover, the use of information systems in the Humanities has promoted the "vertical" investigation rather than the "horizontal" one on the poli-disciplinary horizon. The author, as an art-historian, notices in particular the inadequacy of projects devoted to the establishment of integration among various phenomena related to different cultures and periods of time. Some recent works in the historic-artistical sector of studies have turned again to the archaeological world and to its heritage with a deep sensibility of historicization. In this way they are moving towards a more dynamic cultural dialectic. Therefore the author feels that a collaboration between archaeologists and art-historians is necessary in order to translate their own knowledge into repertories (and therefore in safeguarding tools) and then into more complex historical judgements.
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The CAIE project aims to create a database collecting all the Etruscan monuments with inscriptions and to give, at the same time, critical importance not only at the text but also at the extra-linguistic context (i.e. elements regarding the origin and characteristics of the inscribed object, graphic peculiarities etc.). The purpose is a new and complex collection of Etruscan texts which, taking advantage of the power of computer databases, can deal at the same time with both information about the monument and its inscriptions; therefore, the program FUL/TEXT has been chosen, as an Information Retrieval System, duly adapted to the graphic particularities of the Etruscan language. At present about 5000 out of 10,000 so far known documents have been already recorded on file.
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Beside the publication of the whole texts according homogeneous groups with different glossaries, the program of Hurrian inscriptions Corpus (ChS) is aimed at assembling in transcription form all the cuneiform texts in Hurrian languages from the imperial archives of Bogazkoy (Part I) and from the other archives of the Ancient Near East (Part II). For this reason a software called GHISA (Glossario Hurrico, Ittito, Sumerico ed Accadico) has been created; this permits the elaboration of texts and the production of glossaries and thesauri of the various languages included in the texts (Hurrian, Hittite, Sumerian and Akkadian). The first output of the glossary and the thesaurus will be presented in alphabetical order (function "A" automatic), and following a morphological basis (function "R" reasoned) which can be continually updated. The collection of the whole transliterated material, as well the glossaries, will be published in the volumes of the Hurrian Corpus, while the thesauri will be a consultation tool for textual analysis and linguistic interpretation.
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This paper deals with the theoretical aspects of the manufacturing of study models through computer database programs for the instrumentum domesticum, especially in the field of Roman amphora stamps epigraphy. The stamps from the Dressel 20 amphora (Spanish olive-oil typology), of which we have thousands of examples spread principally over Rome and Western Europe, have been used as documentary information to compose the theoretical criteria. The proposed concepts for the study of stamps are the following: the "concept structure", which serves to codify and group the stamps according to their graphical image; the "concept codex" aims to codify and analyse the present elements on every stamp; the "concept family of stamps" allows to relate family groups of stamps (like variants of individuals, a workshop, or a production region). The proposed model can be used for every type of amphora stamp. We, however, recommend to principally use it on the information obtained from workshop regions, the only site from which we can decipher the complex meaning of the stamp text.
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P.E.T.R.R.A.E. Hispaniarum, The general project PETRAE, developed at the Centre Pierre Paris, is a recording programme of Greek and Latin inscriptions. Its aim is the computer-based management of all information regarding inscriptions, such as monument, text, bibliography, and the creation of indices. All information recorded in the database can be performed by queries and retrieved; they can also be prepared in a few seconds for printing in RFT format. The programme permits also the management of inscription images. The programme PETRAE Hispaniarum is a PETRAE sub-programme. Its final aim is the collection in a single database of all inscriptions relevant to the Iberic peninsula. The database is implemented with the assistance of a series of Spanish, Portuguese and French research centres. The recording system is completely decentralized and allows each research centre to operate individually. The PETRAE equipe has already published four works in traditional form (but using computerised editorial techniques), one of which forms part of the PETRAE Hispaniarum collection.
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“TreeTexT” is a formal language developed for describing the real objects (or monuments) of classical archaeology and history of art. It works with the “partitive” relation (i.e. between the whole, its parts and subparts) in order to permit the handling of complex objects such as Greek or Roman temples. A “thesaurus” allows to establish terminologies based upon the “generic” relation (i.e. between more or less explicit descriptors). A software package manages not only a specific textual retrieval at every described detail level of complex objects but also possibly related pictorial information.
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This work describes the technological study of Iberian sculpture, which is little developed in Spanish archaeology. To start the investigation, it was necessary to review the traditional archaeological documentation. In the same way, it exposes in detail the method of work that has been used in an ambitious project of investigation carried out in the Autonoma University of Madrid. For this project, we have built a specific database for the management of the vast and different documentation. The program was conceived to manage three kinds of information: item description, bibliography and pictures, all of them related by Escultur Program (Clipper language). In the creation of this program, maximum flexibility was also needed in the management of information, including the permanent integration of the three databases. Therefore, each sculptural piece is associated to its individual study, to the corresponding bibliographic references and to the graphical images made or remade, that are recorded in their respective databases. The result obtained through the use of the program offers the possibility of relying on three files of fundamental data to be able to plan and resolve archaeological problems in relation to the technological interpretation of the Iberian sculpture. In synthesis, they concern: the cataloguing and description of materials; bibliographic database; storage and management of images.
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The aim of this work is to illustrate a database in which we have recorded a great number of archaeological objects. The example is made with 303 figures from Portugal which the archaeologists name “cylindrical idols”. The first step was to choose the vocabulary and organize it in a hierarchical form. Our tree form has three chapters, some sections and subsections that form the base of the system; in the second step, the programme Access was used to describe the cylinders. When the recording was finished, the following questions were posed: a) What is the provenance of the Portuguese cylinders?; b) What is the main raw material?; c) What is their typology?; d) What is their geographical distribution? The answers were reproduced in the form of a graphical picture in which the results can be observed. These results are confronted with M. Gimbutas’ interpretation about these cylinders over Western Europe. Our conclusion disagrees with Gimbutas as in Portugal the figures appear in Copper Age contexts, whereas Gimbutas states that the cylinders were used during the Neolithic. This thesis was linked to the concept of the “Eve Goddess”, although the Kurgans that seem to have introduced the metal in Portugal held the sun as a principal religious symbol.
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A long-standing project concerning the study of the Bronze Age interrelations between the Aegean and Italy, in progress at the Istituto per gli Studi Micenei ed Egeo Anatolici, has stimulated the creation of an appropriate database. The relational database DEDALO is composed of six different files (1. sites, 2. excavation, 3. areas, 4. contexts, 5. finds and 6. bibliography), where information on the archaeological evidence related to Aegean-type material found in Italy is stored. The basic units of the structure are the sites where one or more Aegean items have been found. Although the entries of the fifth file, concerning items, are very detailed, DEDALO is not particularly object-oriented, but rather aims to integrate geographic, environmental, archaeological, chronological and archaeometric data, focussing on the relationship between the Aegean-type object (seen as the exception in its context) and the local Italian communities of the Bronze Age.
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The field excavation techniques of Neolithic sites have changed during the past two decades. With these changes, data recording procedures have also changed profoundly. A method of merging excavated horizontal levels and reconstructed layers is presented here, and the respective database structures are developed. The results of the advanced finds analyses revealed the patterning of site refuse in large Neolithic pit-complexes. Finally, a proposal for a relational database is developed.
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In this work we use an archaeological information system to record and manage data coming from an excavation. The system includes the excavation methodology, the geographical reference of archaeological elements, the settlements and elements denomination, the directories and files structure and the computer organisation. The authors develop a computer software based on PARADOX to record the archaeological information, including textual documentation, CAD maps and images.
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The paper illustrates the computing section of a Strategic Project for the development of research methods applied to the study and safeguarding of the archaeological heritage of southern Italy. The project has been launched by the Italian National Research Council at the University of Lecce. The scientific aim of the system is the management of excavation data relating to problems emerging from the study of settlements. The system is characterised by: a) the integration of alphanumeric data, graphical data (site plans, archaeological maps) and images; b) the application of quantitative analysis. The system has been tested with the input of information from the excavation of sample sites at Otranto, Vaste and Oria (Italy) and Hierapolis (Turkey). The end result is a series of thematic and chronological maps of the settlements, which are of particular importance for centres such as Otranto which are under continuous pressure from building development. “Risk maps” have also been produced, which indicate areas where archaeological action is most urgent. The results form the base upon which we can construct a functional relationship between town councils, Superintendencies and the University so as to take the necessary steps that will avoid the sort of destruction of archaeological areas that has taken place over the last few years.
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A hypothesis is proposed dealing with the way by which ancient societies could get knowledge and control of their territory, by means of some kind of a former “geodetic” network, conceived as some basic frame reference for orientation of travellers. Mythology was a practical and effective tool for training people. Zodiacal signs appear to be almost some kind of “universal” former “alphabet”, suitable either for characterizing every given town, or for measuring angles of any kind, or for assisting a traveller in his orientation. In the Aegean Sea the natural reference points were the islands themselves. In western Anatolia and Greece, they set up a system of temples and sacred sites. In Egypt, possibly, there was a network of obelisks and pyramids and in other areas there was something equivalent. Some observational evidence is already available, and proposed interpretation can already be found in literature, dealing either with the Anatolian-Aegean-Greek world, or with ancient Egypt. In any case, ancient Greeks were apparently capable of estimating the latitude of a site with high precision (+- 0.05° latitude, equivalent to -+5 km on Earth’s surface; standard deviation). These topics are briefly reviewed here. Then, it is shown how a suitable file containing the latitude, longitude, and dedication of all temples and sacred sites of a given area (or the location of obelisks and pyramids that existed in Egypt) can allow for the creation of a formal analysis capable of assessing whether such a hypothesis is only a simple although fascinating speculation, or whether it is supported by objective observational evidence.
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Until recently the preservation of the library heritage has been a very difficult task: conservation policies have been mainly interested in undertaking urgent restoration measures without carrying out prevention measures. Indeed, an effective conservation policy must be followed in order to ensure all protective measures are undertaken for the removal of dangers and for the insurance of a suitable environment. In this way, restoration measures, that represent a traumatic event for a work of art, could be avoided. Therefore it is highlighted the need to create a “risk map” for library heritage. This risk map should be a tool capable of selecting instruments for conservation, restoration and preservation and allowing a correct choice both for objectives and methodologies and the limitations of the essential measures. The risk map will be able: to give extensive answers to a number of key questions for the setting up of conservation policies; to give advice for the better planning of conservation and restoration measures; to help deciding between a routine measure or special maintenance, control and monitoring of typical situations; to manage economic resources without wasting of public and private money.
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The present paper draws attention to the problem of describing contextual information using an object-oriented approach to relational database techniques. Initially, it outlines the basic theoretical concepts for a structured description of complex information in a relational database. The insight gained from this exercise is used to demonstrate how a generalised object-oriented solution may be implemented using a standard relational DBMS. The implementation called GARD is an all-purpose recording system, where the user can create a particular database structure through its interface without making changes to the underlying table structure, and modify the database as needed parallel to the recording of data. Finally, an example using decorated bowls from the Danish Neolithic shows how complex relational information may be handled. This information has been entered into GARD and extracted again for analysis.
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Since 1995, F. Giudice, professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Catania, has donated a corpus of published and unpublished Attic figured vases (about thirty thousand files). The progressive updating of the archive and the stylistic analysis of the new vases (Post-Paralipomena Project) has allowed prof. Giudice’s team to study the new data of trade of Attic figured pottery across the Mediterranean. According to the method presented in 1993 («Archeologia e Calcolatori» n. 4), the Mediterranean area is divided in 13 areas and 47 sub-areas; for each of them a system of histograms shows the presence of Attic pottery in the whole area and in the single cities with particular attention paid to the chronology. As an example, this paper analyses the distribution in the Iberian peninsula.
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Designing a database to fit the needs of an archaeological excavation meant creating an open architecture capable of adapting to the evolving aspects of our research project (in range of data as well as in level of detail); this, together with the complete integration within the global system developed at our Laboratory, were the first aims we pursued in building our solution. The DBMS, based on an open ID system, can be considered a large data container which is continuously updated in its structure; it allows us to easily build relational indexes, increase the level of data detail and create new table and forms in order to manage new types of data. Essential aspects of this solution are total control over data consistency and data vocabularies, a self-made and user-friendly interface, and the possibility of managing multiple projects together. The automation of many repetitive tasks through programming also helps archaeologists in elaborating their data in order to produce information (the elaborated finds quantification and frequency routines are a good example).
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Some years ago, the chair of Archaeology of the University of Salerno, in cooperation with the Soprintendenza Archeologica and the Amministrazione Provinciale, began a methodical research program on the ancient settlement of Fratte. This settlement is situated on the hill of Scigliato, in the north-eastern part of Salerno on the Irno River, at the confluence of the Pastorano and Grancano streams. Since 1985 the archaeological area - partly rediscovered in the 50’s and immediately expropriated, enclosed and set aside as a park - has been the subject of a new systematic research project aimed at defining the chronology and the town-plan and understanding the monuments and their functions. Thanks to new scientific knowledge, since 1995 the research project, which is still in progress, has defined two principal aims. Firstly, strictly scientific, to acquire and organise as much information as possible in order to reconstruct the geo-morphological dynamics and human activity involving the entire territorial context of the ancient settlement. Secondly, to develop the archaeological park, which is considered a key element for the improvement of the neighbouring urban areas. As the information about the scientific methods and documentary records from the beginning of this century until now was not homogeneous, it was necessary to plan a new strategy for the management and systematic organisation of all the records that would guarantee consistent documentation. For this purpose we suggest using Syslat, which was created specifically for the recording of archaeological data, as the most reliable system for guaranteeing a standard of consistent documentation, description and global analysis of all records (e.g. Stratigraphic Units, map-making, photos, reports, etc.). This can also be used for the organisation and handling of all information which emerges during research projects using statistic and quantitative methods. Moreover, the possibility of connecting individual data-bases for different sites will make it possible to project each dossier on the largest scale, i.e., on a “regional” level. This information system, which has been tested since 1983 at the proto-historic site of Lattes (Herault, France) by a team of researchers from CNRS (M. Py, M. Bats, J.L. Fiches) was adopted by the Laboratorio di Archeologia using the earliest versions in order to test its effectiveness and to optimise the results. Continuous exchange of ideas and comparison of results between the French team, the “Centre J. Bérard” and the Istituto Orientale of Naples have allowed us to elaborate a “personal” application, which is specifically suited to the theoretical organisation and to the specific and complex requirements of archaeological research in Fratte.
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The case of the peculiar kind of jewellery with coins made by the XIX century Castellani manufactory from Rome, is the reason why a program of data elaboration has been implemented, to manage a quantity of written information (archives and figurative and technical descriptions) together with images: five different sheets are needed to join all the main elements. On this basis, an analogous database can be developed to investigate texts such as the XVI century manuscript by Pirro Ligorio, where coins are used to write a historical prosopography illustrating by means of drawings the history of the most famous old men. However, the coins are not always reproduced in the right way or the same coin is used on different occasions: a program like this can detect these cases. Computer analysis together with traditional humanistic research, will achieve, on a historical basis, remarkable results.
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By editing the Monumenta Linguae Messapicae (Wiesbaden 2002), realised between 1996 and 1999 at the University of Tübingen as part of a DFG Project, a new software, developed and widely used in the archaeology field, was for the first time improved for epigraphic aims: the Bonn Archaeological Software Package (BASP). In detail, the 'seriate' tool, which is included in the Package, enables the chronological ordering of inscriptions coming from defined contexts, sequencing the Units (=Inscriptions) by a principle of association of similar letter types. A chronological oriented track chart ('Streugraphic') is the result of the processing, where single epigraphic phases can be distinguished and observed: each phase can moreover be dated, if acceptable dating sources are available for some items. The new software tool can open interesting research output for Epigraphy, since it makes possible the drawing of chronological grids of inscriptions by stable coordinates. Furthermore, the insertion of new inscriptions in the chart and their relative chronological assignment can easily be obtained with the new method.
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The S.I.R.A.X program was conceived in order to create organised and consultable archives of X-ray radiographs. In 2003 in fact, the Archaeological Superintendency of the Marches Region set up an X-ray camera and inaugurated an important project to catalogue the 3000 X-rays taken by the Archaeological Superintendency of Tuscany between 1970 and 2000. This is one of the most important X-ray archives in existence and the Restoration Laboratory of Ancona conceived the S.I.R.A.X. program in order to reorganise it along with the other X-rays which they had taken themselves. S.I.R.A.X. is organised along two main lines: the management form is for data entry activity and the creation of an identification card for a more detailed individual report; the consultation mode facilitates the information retrieval. The program presents a simple and immediate interface which is easy to use, not only by experts but also by people not usually involved in this kind of activity. In accordance with this plan, S.I.R.A.X. will be made available on the Internet as soon as possible.
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The ever increasing presence of websites dedicated to antique numismatics and in particular to auctions of coins has raised the question of how this kind of material should be handled and the need to create highly specialised websites on a scientific level capable of monitoring, examining and organising the bulk of material circulating on the Internet. As far as Phoenician and Punic coinage is concerned, ISCIMA is in the process of setting up on-line a complete and thorough computerised database which is also part of its advanced studies program related to the early Italic civilisation of the Mediterranean basin. This streamlined database will group together all the websites dealing with Phoenician and Punic coins and provide a scientific bibliography of all the material concerning this subject.
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The Etruscan demon that guided and protected the deceased in the underworld has given his name to a database related to funerary urns produced in northern Etruria (Chiusi, Volterra, Perugia) during the Hellenistic period and often characterised by figurative decorations. The database, called Charun, is at this time dedicated entirely to monuments from Chiusi and is published on the Internet (http://charun.sns.it/). In this database data on the urns, the tombs in which they were found and the related grave goods, have been inserted. Bibliographic information has been collected and the relationships between the various typologies have been considered for each of the artefacts. From a particular urn it is possible to locate the data related to the tomb in which it was found, or from a particular set of grave goods one can find information concerning the specific objects which it included. The most detailed entries are those based on inscriptions, which are particularly common on objects from Chiusi. The web site includes interactive maps which are useful for locating the sites where the urns were found and for analysing their distribution.
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The systematic study of imports from the Orient uncovered in funerary contexts, as part of a research project the purpose of which is the reconstruction of the trade and cultural relations between the Aegean and the oriental basin of the Mediterranean in the Early Iron Age, has been supported by the relational database Ploes carried out in a MsAccess 2000 environment. Ploes represents an example of the possible meeting point between computer science and historical-archaeological research and testifies to the contribution that the computer science technologies can also offer to studies of the traditional school. The digital archives, that have replaced the conventional catalogue, have allowed the management of great amounts of data (1000 imported objects distributed in 300 tomb contexts) in a way that is functional for the purposes of research thanks to the possibility of creating a multiplicity of paths for reading the material. The Ploes database has allowed the storage of data related to individual objects and their discovery contexts in a single archive, thus making it possible to adopt a contextual approach to the analysis of the archaeological documentation. The structure of the digital archives reflects the defined methodological plan at the level of theoretical formulation of the study project: Ploes represents therefore not simply a container of information but an indispensable research instrument.
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For its unique features and size, the Hadrian’s Villa site has always been the object of studies and investigations. Italian and foreign institutions, as well as research organizations, are working together with the common purpose of understanding and protecting the universally recognized ensemble of buildings and works of art, belonging to the World Heritage List since 1999. Within this interdisciplinary framework, over the past decade, new technologies for digital documentation in the field of cultural heritage have gained more importance with respect to the traditional field of architectural/archaeological surveying. Through expeditious surveying (with no physical contact with the object and different measurement resolutions) several 3D reality-based models were created in the last years, with special regards to the Villa’s pavilions characterized by more complex and daring shapes. The aim was a better understanding of specific problems in those cases where archaeological investigation methods may take advantage of a correct and complete digital surveying of elevations in general and in particular of vaulted spaces, intrados and extrados surfaces. 3D digital models of complex roofing, as shown in the case study of the Small Baths, provide additional advantages concerning the use of finite elements analysis (FEA). Both the digital models (current state of conservation and reconstruction hypothesis) underwent to an accurate stress analysis that enables further achievements for site conservation and management and for ancient constructive and designing techniques.
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The paper illustrates the results of the surveys carried out along the Jato Alto and Belìce Destro rivers, and the research methodology based on computer applications. The study was conducted through the integration of analytical techniques based on a GIS platform to manage and process spatial data. The principles followed in the settlement distribution (possibility of water supply, exposition, slope and intra-site visibility) and the influence of foreign elements in the territory were examined with innovative methodologies. Specific attention was therefore directed to describing the relationships between settlements and the neighbouring area, by applying landscape archaeology to study this part of Western Sicily from Prehistory to the Middle Ages, and to develop a methodology for studying the ancient landscape. The area that was chosen extends about 180 km2, to the S-E of Palermo, between the mountains near the town of Monreale and the Oreto Valley. The use of Geographic Information Systems in archaeology shows how it is an ideal tool to quickly and effectively manage, store and analyze the large amount of data produced by surveys. This system allows us to query both graphics and alphanumeric data, for statistical calculations or complex spatial analysis, aimed at identifying distribution models or relationships between different elements otherwise not visible. A fundamental part of this system is the organization and construction of a database, which requires a careful analysis in planning the phases of the project.
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The most recent computer technologies of 3D geometrical modelling provide a great array of tools for archaeological investigation. This paper presents an application of the 3D laser scanner to study the metric and morphometric parameters of a Chalcolithic pottery vessel based on a 3D meshed triangular model. This model is referenced geometrically by high-precision fitting to the real object, enabling the study of some of the most important archaeological characteristics with great accuracy (texture, damage, profiles, etc.) as well as a reconstruction of those damaged parts. The computerized model has been used to study the metric and geometric parameters of the vessel, applying different statistical tests to analyse the width of vessel and the variability of some constructive parameters. These analyses allow us to compute any measurement, such as the surface area of vessel, the center of masses, the volume, and the regularly spaced contour levels of the interior and exterior. The results indicate the skill of the potters of the Copper Age and their knowledge of some elementary mathematical concepts of geometry and metric.
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The BIBLOS project was established in 1996 for the purpose of creating an Internet site which would combine and organise all the information gathered by the various branches of the CNR (National Research Council) relating to the Humanities. The browsing system is based on a subject catalogue which represents the main access to the files, and which includes information on three different research topics: linguistics, philosophy and antiquities. The Institutes have already made available the information collected from their research activity and the databases which have been developed, usually in the form of bibliographic catalogues and specialised bibliographies. Querying the BIBLOS site, the user may also consult on-line the catalogue of the Massimo Pallottino Library which is part of the G. Marconi Central Library of the CNR and is located at the Istituto per l’Archeologia Etrusco-Italica. Computer access to the catalogue now makes it possible to consult the different sections of the Library, to gain access to the document delivery service and to activate the link with the Central Library of the CNR.
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A spatial analysis of pottery dumps is proposed on a layer of the Neolithic site of Chalain “station 3” (Jura, France). The proposed method analyzes, through diagonalization, a table of presence/absence of square meters per vase, then, through data analysis techniques, a co-occurrence matrix of the number of re-assemblages of pottery sherds within the square meters. The results show that dump areas are well correlated to the ancient buildings.
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Archaeoastronomy is the discipline which studies celestial phenomena looking from the viewpoint of our ancestors (how they understood and used celestial phenomena and what role the sky played in their cultures). Archaeoastronomy uses different methods, derived from archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, statistics, and probability, in order to determine the thoughts of the ancient civilizations. Because these methods are heterogeneous and use data coming from different sources, the collecting and processing require considerable time. In this article two archaeoastronomical case studies in Romania are presented. First, we show a mathematical method used in order to study the astronomical orientation of the skeletons from the Neolithic necropolis of Cernica. We created a detailed data bank for the Cernica necropolis and, using our program written in MATLAB, we obtained interesting results, mostly from an astronomical point of view. Secondly, we provide an astronomical explanation about the ten radiuses on the top of the Andesite Stone from Sarmizegetusa Regia.
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Neolithic pottery from the Balkans and Anatolia is well known for its remarkable and unique decoration. Very often the visual features of these objects are used for determining the relative chronology of excavated sites, without considering its potential for mathematical observation. The repertoire of patterns used for developing the compositional structures painted on the vessels provide abundant data for such analysis. Almost all of the fragments discovered so far as well as the completely preserved painted pots from these regions were decorated following several visual principles which made it possible to achieve a precise disposition of the patterns on the spherical surface of the vessel. This decorative approach was established on the basis of the standards of Neolithic geometry which employ both symmetry and the principles of visual entropy. For this reason, the painted vessels from Early and Middle Neolithic settlements discovered in the Republic of Macedonia provide a variety of information about the organization and structures incorporated on the decorated pottery. In the earlier phases these painted compositions were mostly based on The Four Rigid Motions of pattern disposition on a one dimensional format, while later, besides using this concept, the principle of asymmetry was implemented in order to compose a two-dimensional image . The aim of this paper is to identify all possible forms of plane symmetry, patterns and compositions applied in the decoration of Neolithic vessels from the Republic of Macedonia, as well to promote the use of geometric symmetry as a possibility for the reconstruction of decorated fragments.
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Archaeology continues to generate large amounts of data, in a growing range of formats and media. Old datasets have been or are being digitised, and there is increasing emphasis on the re-use of old datasets, and on preparing new datasets with re-use in mind. That being so, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the prevention and detection of errors in archaeological data, and in acquiring or developing robust methods of analysis. The sorts of errors that can be encountered in different types of data are approached and discussed through a series of case studies, dealing with counting errors, measurement errors, and classificatory errors. They are linked to another obstacle to the re-use of data: the lack of standardised terminology between different originators. Strategies for mitigating these problems (which cannot be totally overcome) are discussed.
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Correspondence Analysis (CA) is a popular tool for archaeological data analysis, appropriate for use with tables of non-negative number. The technique allows the visual display of the associations between the rows and between the columns of a data matrix, and the relationships between them. Archaeologists with this kind of data often have no problem in understanding the ideas behind CA, but with limited training in statistics may have problems in implementing it. Commercial, menu driven, statistical software packages of the type used for service teaching in universities are expensive and restrictive in the way results from a CA can be presented. Archaeologists outside the university sector may not have access to such software. This paper is a guide to how the open-source software R can be used to undertake CA. R is a sophisticated, ‘state-of-the-art’ package that is constantly updated. It is not menu driven and can seem forbidding to new users. The paper provides a detailed account, ranging from installation of the package through to real applications of CA, that has helped, and we hope will continue to help, encourage the use of CA among archaeologists who have previously been discouraged from engaging with it.
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In this paper the authors have analyzed a fragmentary amphora found in the Venetian lagoon at Chiese Bruciate, which has analogies with another amphora from the lagoon which was found in the Rigà Canal. By comparing the amphorae on a typological basis it was found that they represent one of the least common shapes among the amphorae produced in the eastern Mediterranean which are known as the Late Roman type. Both of the amphorae discovered in the lagoon seem to have been imported from Asia Minor or the Aegean area of the Mediterranean during the Late Antique or Byzantine era. The amphora from Chiese Bruciate was attributed to the Late Roman 2 group and in particular to the Dyczek 25 type. As has been done in other study cases, along with the typological analysis a geometric shape study - i.e., a morphometric analysis of the amphorae made by comparing the different forms using geometric indexes calculated on the coordinates of the points measured on the outline of the vase - have also been conducted. Two known statistical indices were used: the coefficient r of Bravais Pearson and the similarity ratio k. For the analysis of the analogies between the shape of the amphora from Chiese Bruciate (SB) and the other amphorae open source R software was used.
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Fabric analysis in archaeology is the study of the spatial arrangement of a deposit through measurement of bearing and plunge angles of its singular components (natural and/or artificial) and through analysis of their mutual spatial relations and with the external environment. In recent years some archeologists (Lenoble, Bertran, McPherron, etc.) have developed a standard procedure for angular data collection and for statistical treatment of this information. The author proposes some conceptual and methodological innovations to improve this method: the application of fabric analysis to any historical and depositional context (in particular, anthropic contexts); the use of "ab plane" (instead of "a axis") for measurement of bearing and plunge of clasts; the development of spatial analyses associated with traditional statistical treatments; the management of data through geodatabase and GIS directly connected to the statistical software. In the future, this method will need other improvements in order to provide more information about origins, causes, and dynamics that produced a specific deposit from fabric analyses.
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Architectural design constitutes an important source of information for the study of prehistoric societies. In the protohistoric period, an architectural evolution took place in western Andalusia (Spain): the change from rounded to rectangular huts, and a new evolution to more complex houses formed by rectilinear thick walls and others less thick to shape small rooms. This paper analyses the metric and geometric features of the Acinipo protohistoric settlement (Ronda, Málaga, Andalusia) to determine the main architectural pattern in each construction phase. These analyses emphasize the evolution in the design from rounded huts to rectangular ones, but this type of construction returns to its origins with the more recent circular and elliptical huts. The comparison between these features reflects the similarities and differences arising over time in the settlement. Geometrically, regular shapes such as circles, ellipses and rectangles, as well as the orthogonality and parallelism concepts, were applied to the design and building of dwellings. Therefore, the individual huts were aligned to form a regular structure of the town, maintaining the surface area through time. The results provide evidence that geometry constitutes one of the most important multicultural symbols in the world of the architecture and its evolution shows the evolution of society.
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This paper compares the method of Correspondence Analysis (CA) for finding patterns in archaeological sites by artifacts abundance data, with a robust variant, named Taxicab Correspondence Analysis (TCA). We show that this comparison is useful, especially for sparse tables with outliers. We identify three kinds of outliers. Three well-known datasets are reanalyzed.
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The use of quantitative graphs began, in Italian archaeology, between the end of the Fifties and the beginnings of the Sixties in the last century, thanks to the work of Renato Peroni (Bronze and Iron Age) and Alberto Broglio (Palaeolithic). In 1976-1977 Amilcare Bietti and Alberto Cazzella published the first important article on the subject in the journal Dialoghi di Archeologia. The Eighties began with Amilcare Bietti publication of the first monograph on the use of mathematical and statistical methods in archaeology, that were to become very popular in many works inspired by processual archaeology. In 1987 the monograph Archeologia e Calcolatori, by Paola Moscati, was published; three years later the first issue of the homonymous Journal was edited. The last 'chapter' of this history is the introduction of new methods (functional analysis of objects and GIS) between the end of the Nineties and the beginnings of Twenty-first century. From that period onwards, the use of quantitative methods became daily routine practice in archaeology in our country.
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This paper addresses the issue of standardization in the cross-comparability of different vessel assemblages. It presents a computational method for building vessel categories from the bottom up, by comparing the specified attributes of a collection of vessel-types, and grouping like with like. Thus, it provides a platform for translating vessel data which may have been classified or divided by type using one taxonomy, bringing them into communication with those categorized by another. Two different methods of measuring the similarity among vessel-types (cosine similarity and the Jaccard index) are explored, toward providing a control on the resulting ‘synthetic’ categories. An exploratory dataset, collected from published data of archaeological projects in Italy focusing on ceramic vessels of the last two centuries BCE, was used to test the performance of this approach. Project data and results are open source and are available online at https://github.com/scollinselliott/synthkat/.
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The paper presents a reconstruction of the ancient morphology of the early medieval port of Comacchio through Kriging and Radial Basis Functions algorithms, and 3D models of the archaeological remains. The predicted surfaces are in significant accord with past hypotheses, also providing a good amount of certainty from a scientific point of view, since they appear extremely consistent with the geological data collected through stratigraphic corings. As a whole, the predicted surfaces and the 3D reconstructions of the wooden remains of the port offer fresh perspectives on the interpretation of the site by showing the existence of different building phases and spatial organizations, thus providing new guidelines for future excavations.
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The wealth of Mesolithic evidence in the Alpine environments makes it possible to attempt a reconstruction of highland settlement patterns based on the distribution of known sites. However, just how representative this site distribution is has not yet been fully tested and the impact of research biases on the spatial organisation of Mesolithic findspots is not clear. In order to tackle these issues the locational pattern of Mesolithic sites recorded in an upland area of the Venetian Dolomites (North-Eastern Italy) was analysed. Point pattern analysis was used to correlate site distribution with two sets of covariates mirroring research biases and prehistoric settlement preferences. Point-process models were created and compared using both standard Akaike and Bayesian Information Criteria. Results indicate that both factors equally influence the current site distribution. The low number of statistically significant variables - slope and land-use - suggests the existence of additional variables that were not considered. An additional model helped us explore the importance of alternative variables and provided new perspectives for future investigation of high-altitude Mesolithic landscapes, with particular attention to highland mobility.
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Conflicting archaeological evidence has generated conflicting theories about Israel’s origins. This work assembles all the theories into four categories and tests each category using computational tools borrowed from bio-mathematics. The bio-mathematical tools are models of diffusion, contagion and epidemics adjusted by various researches to study cultural transmission, ethnic borders and justice administration. The mathematical tools help reconcile known conflicting archaeological evidence and examine two aspects of the evidence that have not been considered so far: the alignment of the borders between material cultures and the conflict between sedentary and egalitarian lifestyles. Theories of immigration of pastoralist nomads passed the test.
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Locating archaeological cultures in time and space is a major challenge of archaeological research. Despite more than a century of scientific research in archaeology, a satisfactory solution has yet to be proposed. Past attempts to look into the problem focused on sharpening the definition of types of material culture artefacts, a more accurate chronological dating of such objects, various probabilistic methods or GIS solution for defining the time-space borders of archaeological cultures. However, the proposed approaches did not fully consider how the nature of archaeological cultures and their consequent dating and geographic positioning play a crucial role in assigning spatio-temporal borders. We propose to shift the operating logical paradigm in archaeology, from a crisp, Aristotelian-based logic, to fuzzy logic, in our opinion more suitable for reasoning in archaeology. We also introduce the rough sets theory to deal with chronological and geographic positioning of archaeological cultures. Both concepts have, in our opinion, substantial advantages over the traditional algebra and logic rules (implicitly) applied so far.
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Common ceramics constitute a very abundant material in the archaeological record. This study focuses on analyzing and statistically interpreting, from the perspective of archaeological material culture, the features of Roman coarse-ware ceramics from the Isturgi deposits (Andújar, Andalusia). The main goal of this research was to study ceramics from an archaeological perspective with reference to quantitative and qualitative aspects. The fragments of pottery belong to three essential types - kitchenware, tableware, and pottery for storage and transportation - and have different characteristics. The data set consists of 3,626 fragments of ceramics of Roman origin, divided in three clearly differentiated groups: 1) common calcareous ceramics, b) oxidized kitchen ceramics, and 3) reduced kitchen ceramics, having a very different quantity of fragments (1,635; 1,714; and 277, respectively) distributed in 16 excavation zones. The analysis of the information has been carried out on the basis of univariate methods, analysis of correlation and regression, analysis of the variance (ANOVA) and multivariate factorial analysis (Factorial Analysis with Varimax Rotation mainly). In this form it is possible to characterize ceramics on the basis of whether they were fired in an oxidizing or a reducing atmosphere.
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The aim of this paper is to determine the degree of standardization within certain Late Roman pottery productions. This research tried to outline a methodology to determine the standardisation degree of these samples and to unravel the measurement systems used in the production process. The morphometric characterization of each fragment allowed us to create different groups with a cluster analysis. The principal component analysis provided information that led us to a deeper understanding of the obtained groups. The coefficient of variation allowed us to determine the standardisation degree of the productions. Once all these data are known, we can approach to the possible measurement units that ruled the analysed production systems. We selected a form well represented in the ceramic contexts identified in the excavations of the Late Antique port-canal of Classe, the Hayes 85 small bowl. This vessel was considered a rare form in Hayes’ monumental book. New discoveries of the last ten years revealed how much we still have to understand about the characteristics of Late Roman productions, trade and distribution. With this in mind, we used a statistical method to analyse the main changes in the profile of this type and its variants.
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In this paper I have tried to build a computational theory. In other words, a “theory” implemented in a computer program. When using a computational theory we try to solve scientific problems, that is to say, we do not retrieve data units, but we “instantiate” a solution for the problem. I have formalised the concept of an “archaeological problem” in the following way: how is an artefact (or set of artefacts) used by a community in a specific context. The task is then to evaluate the social uses of a specific set of artefacts (Final Situation or State) in terms of: a) their description, and b) all information available about the social, cultural or chronological context and about the human community who produced those artefacts (Initial Situation or State).We may then represent problem solving knowledge as a list of discrete and closed units. Those declarative units are successive states of the problem. We substitute equations for explicit sets of propositions. We can implement a set of answers and a set of decision rules for each one. The resulting program looks like a complex database and not like a mathematical procedure, and we may consider the problem-solving mechanism as a sequential search in a preexisting problem space, using a finite number of particular decision rules. Some interesting work has been done in mathematical representation of archaeological theories, but such approaches have not been very successful, maybe because social sciences cannot be exclusively represented by mathematical models, or because archaeologists are incapable to communicate between themselves using mathematical expressions. As a consequence, archaeologists tend to express their theories by means of linguistic sentences, which is inadequate, given the fact that natural language obstructs objectivity. A representation in terms of logical propositions appears then as the best representation tool available to build social theories. Artificial Intelligence scientists are now exploring this possibility. In this paper I propose an analogy between the structure of archaeological (and social sciences) theories and the mechanism of Turing Machines: given some empirical data (observation of the archaeological record) and a knowledge-base (constituted by high-level concepts and their middle-range correlates), we have to explain the particular case (the archaeological record) by means of the knowledge-base (the theory). The logical mechanism is modus ponens.
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Classification represents a central topic in archaeological research. In fact, archaeologists seem to spend a great deal of their time in describing and sorting materials, from surveys and excavations, in groups which should serve various ends. In the history of archaeological classification, briefly outlined in the first part of the paper, there has been an endless debate between the researchers following the traditional /qualitative/subjective approach and the proponente of a “new” (now forty years old) paradigm, founded on the formal/quantitative/objective idiom. With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that none of them is at all satisfactory. In fact the traditional approach, despite the empirical validity, has proven very difficult to be formalized; the quantitative approach on the other hand, though being based on sound scientific principles, has presented serious difficulties in its practical applications. The article describes an attempt to implement an informatic tool able to produce formal analyses based on both qualitative and quantitative variables: an intelligent ObjectOriented system with classificatory purposes. The system, called Mosaico, is thoroughly illustrated in the second part of the article. The description concerns all the components of Mosaico, a language for conceptual modelling called TQL++ (Type and Query Language), and a brief explanation of some terms useful for a better understanding of the matter. A working example on the Fibulae from the Quattro Fontanili cemetery concludes the paper.
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This paper describes an approach to the study and understanding of social processes which has recently become prominent: systematic experimentation with "artificial societies" created on computers. The contribution that this new research tool can make to a "cognitive" archaeology, is considered. It is particularly asked how artificial societies techniques may be used to enhance our understanding of the role played by rationality and by collettive belief and misbelief systems, including religious belief systems, in the initial emergente of certain types of social complexity. Experimental work discussed aims to explore the relevant insights of Paul Mellars and of Roy Rappaport. One particular set of computer based experiments demonstrates how, in certain circumstances, social groups with some of the characteristics of "cults" may arise, with long term benefit to their individuals involved.
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Two components of the cognitive revolution are here considered in relation to archaeology: first, reflexivity, or in French "la pensée réfléchie", interested in exploration of its own process; second, computer science, which provides a useful framework for the analysis and simulation of reasoning process in a cognitive perspective. The "logicist" approach of archaeological constructs developed in France and Switzerland over the past decade follows those two axes. The present paper exposes some of the lessons gained from that research programme. One of them bears on the contribution of formal methods (logicism included) to the process of archaeological knowledge. This progress cannot be denied, despite contrary views expressed by the more radical relativists; but it seems to depend more on the empirical value of historical constructs than on their formal concerns. Another observation relates to the diversity of consequents derived from the same premises in archaeological argument, clearly brought out by logicist schematizations. Interesting questions are raised on that basis, regarding the sources and consequences of the phenomenon: (a) practical questions, such as probable changes in the functions and forms of archaeological publications; (b) theoretical issues, related to the current debate on the position of the humanities "between" Science, Literature and Common sense.
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CLIO, developed by ICS-FORTH, is a system for cultural documentation purposes of museums. It serves as a scientific catalogue of museum artifacts, as opposed to the basic documentation and administrative purposes served by usual collections management systems. It supports artifact descriptions as temporal, geographical, cultural, historical contexts; style, technique, usage, and physical data information. It allows to express certain and uncertain knowledge as well as opinions. In this paper we address the notions of existence, events and causality, referring to them collectively as notions of occurrence, within a conceptual modelling framework and in the context of developing a general ontology for cultural documentation. Particular attention is given to the representation of relations on which historical and other inferences can be based. We present a new approach, which takes mutual dependencies between time and space into account.
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The aim of the project is the design and development of a hypermedia application, exploiting University of Westminster's IDEAs system facilities, with the addition of SGML encoding support. Our target application is based on the Benaki Museum Byzantine Collection of icons and artefacts. However we envision the end application as a dynamic generic tool and we have focused our efforts in making provision to cover the multiple needs of all the Benaki Museum Collections through the application's functions. The project is being realised at the University of Westminster's Artificial Intelligence Division in close collaboration with the Benaki Documentation Department. Particular consideration has been given to visual data. The main facilities of the IDEAs system include: free text search with no limitations in the quantity or structure of the source information; hypermedia facilities and automatic cross-referencing and updating between different frames of information. The idea to include in our application Standard Generalised Markup Language encoding was germinated by our concern to find a reliable way of exchanging on-line data with other museums. We believe that the described service will offer the ground for a new type of on-line archaeological applications, by forming an accessible and explicit structure for the documentation of museum information.
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By using a mathematical model it is possible to express a formal representation of any object: such a representation is expressed in numerical language and is not automatically influenced by the physical object under study; rather it expresses "knowledge and ideas" relative to the phenomenon that, by means of models, is "interpreted" in this way. In general a model is an object that is constructed artificially in order to simplify the observation of another object. The intention is not to modify the actual physical properties of the things, but rather to represent ideal objects so as to be able to analyse their ideal properties. This allows the collection of information concerning real objects. Our research intends to verify the possibility of the use of mathematical analysis conducted using the method of reconstruction of finished elements on models that are reproduced with increased accuracy; the objects of this modelling have been archaeological shipwrecks. We have attempted to reconstruct, by means of data elaboration systems, realistic models of real objects without relapsing into specific logistics of pure modelling and/or pure mathematical research. The procedures that we followed derived from precise projectual needs, from the particular technical solutions available notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by the usable resources. It is necessary to use these calculation methods since they allow us to describe correctly, three dimensionally, the elementary geometry of the object while respecting rigorously the presence of the real one in the same space. In this way the use of information techniques is not reduced to a mere touch of modernity on the traditional techniques but becomes a meaningful support to the design procedure. This presentation shows some concrete examples and some lines of research that are presently being followed.
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Although computer oriented archaeologists seem to have become somewhat disillusioned with computer simulation as a tool, other social sciences are witnessing a significant wave of enthusiasm for it, particularly in the form of agent-based modelling. My aim in this article is to reach some understanding of just why this paradoxical situation has arisen, and to consider what will and should happen next as regards agent-based modelling in archaeology.
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This paper presents an alternative to the purely sequential and arbitrary resolution of events in agent-based simulation for Anthropology. It is argued that an alternative system in which agents constantly evaluate their priorities in the light of the actions of other agents provides for more realistic social interaction and allows for the emergence of social-like processes in a computer agent population. A number of other problems, such as the production of survivorship curves from a threat environment, are also discussed.
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Artificial neural networks are adaptive models that can be used for classification and pattern recognition purposes. ANNs do not differ from standard statistical models. The main difference between ANNs and traditional statistical models is their construction and definition process. In fact ANNs are adaptive in the sense that they can learn. Landscape Archaeology is a research area where the application of ANNs can be very useful. ANNs can be used for Landscape pattern recognition and Settlement systems modeling. This paper illustrate some aspects of the development of new tools and the application of ANNs in a raster GIS environment for archaeological predictive modeling purposes.