7067 resources

• Una banca dati di immagini su videodisco
  The article is addressed to the archaeologist, usually a “non expert” beneficiary of the innovative computer science techniques, but, at the same time, bearer of very complex requests. It proposes to give a concise and up to date view of the state of CAD software, especially as regards tridimensional graphics.
• Il CAD commerciale per l'archeologia
  The article is addressed to the archaeologist, usually a “non expert” beneficiary of the innovative computer science techniques, but, at the same time, bearer of very complex requests. It proposes to give a concise and up to date view of the state of CAD software, especially as regards tridimensional graphics.
• Analisi comparata delle attestazioni della ceramica africana nel V secolo d.C. Un'indagine preliminare
  In this paper a comparison between data on African Red Slip from several Italian and African sites is attempted. The aim of this preliminary survey is the detection of variations in the distribution and use of this ceramic production in the 5th century AD. At the same time the patterns of trade, and the differences between the diffusion in African sites, the overseas distribution and the local markets, are examined. Those differences can be detected by means of comparative analysis between contexts coming from different kinds of settlements: major centres, ports or more or less isolated sites. The presence of the various productions and forms of ARS have been compared with multivariate statistical analyses.
• Contribución de análisis estadísticos para la diferenciación de grupos "culturales" durante la Edad del Bronce en el Sur del Sistema Ibérico (Teruel, España)
  The determination of cultural groups is revealed as one of the basic principles in undertaking the study of social formations in the Bronze Age complex panorama in the Iberian Peninsula. In this paper an analysis model is proposed for its identification in a southern area of the Iberian mountain range by means of statistical multivariate analysis (Cluster Analysis and Principal Components Analysis) and study on the pottery, particularly the decoration. In this way, we have succeeded in identifying two groups with distinct personalities, coincidental with many other microregions whose diversification emerges in the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1600-1300 BC), showing a process of territorial fragmentation after the apparent uniformity dominant during the Early Bronze Age.
• Sperimentazione dell'informatica nella didattica dell'archeologia
  This paper presents an experimental project in the use of Personal Computers for teaching archaeology at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Venice. During three academic years from 1987/88 to 1989/90 the students worked on input and output of excavation data from existing information complied on sheets called “Unità Stratigrafiche” and “Elementi Strutturali”, using the Software Data Base III Plus. Furthermore the students began to use the graphical software package AutoCad, to draw the successive layers including their with tridimensional rendering.
• La catalogazione dei beni archeologici e le tecnologie informatiche
  The author explains the principles applied by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione for the automatic processing of archaeological data in connection with the tasks of protection and preservation of the national cultural heritage. These principles aim at characterizing each archaeological work and at determining the relationships between these and their territorial context in a global historical dimension. Recent research works, and in particular those (generally disappointing) undertaken in the context of the so called “Giacimenti Culturali”, pointed out the necessity of a conceptual, more than technological, coordination. For this reason some fundamental methodological tools were implemented: “Dizionari Terminologici”, “Strutturazioni dei dati” and photographic inventories published by the Institute.
• Un centre de recherches sur les systèmes d'information en archéologie
  The authors present the research activity carried out at the “Centre de recherche sur les Traitements Automatisés en Archéologie Classique”. This activity can be divided into two main themes. The purpose of the first is to publish works intended to standardise descriptive archaeological language. The second aims at creating data banks, with particular reference to classical archaeology, and videodisks permitting the association of images to the relative documents.
• Tra terminologia e lessicologia: un ponte “informatico” nel percorso scientifico di Giovanni Adamo
  One year after his untimely passing, the Authors remember Giovanni Adamo and his original and impactful scholarly contribution to the field of terminology and lexicology, in the context of the close relationship with Humanities computing.
• Le banche dati dell'epigrafia: esperienze e prospettive
  The dominant method of working has changed and is changing at an ever-increasing speed, also for the epigraphists: many computer applications are today available to process epigraphical data. This article provides a rapid survey of the major types of computer based projects in epigraphy. The procedure currently used at Bologna is explained here: its purpose is to produce an index of forms in Roman inscriptions. Data entry is still in progress, through the application of a set of utilities that has been written, to allow a two way transfer of data between WS and dBase III.
• ALADINO: verso un sistema computerizzato per lo studio e l'analisi dei dati archeologici
  ALADINO is a database system created by the Centro di Documentazione of the Istituto Beni Culturali. It was used for data storage and retrieval during the course of the Roman and medieval excavations at Castelraimondo (Udine - Italy). Its distinctive features are flexibility, user friendly interfaces, the use of natural language and the automatic integration of alphanumeric data and images. ALADINO produces distribution maps of data acquired during excavation and allows frequency tables and simple uni- and bivariate analyses. At present, ALADINO has been further improved with new releases and it will be connected with other programs in order to study coarse wares through statistical analyses (cluster, multivariate, etc.) and to further implement a real computer-based information system.
• The ARBOR information system for classical archaeology and history of art
  Archaeological knowledge can be formally divided into object and method knowledge. The former consists of the knowledge of the concrete nature of the individual research objects, and is based on analysis. The latter means the knowledge about how to evaluate the object knowledge with the help of interdisciplinary methods, and leads to historical knowledge as the synthesis. Object knowledge is based on individual observation, and method knowledge on comparison. ARBOR consists of a formal language able to represent textual object knowledge in a computer readable way. A PC-based implementation allows the retrieval on ARBOR-coded objects descriptions in different tree-structure-specific query-modes.
• L'ambiente Unix e le applicazioni umanistiche
  The trend in the use of computers in the Humanities, unlike taught or social sciences applications, seems to be the coexistence and exchange of many small or medium-size databases (both textual and “factual”) rather than larger ones, developed in big institutions. This requires two main conditions: a common operating environment and standards in the organisation and encoding of data. In archaeology, as in other disciplines, Unix offers a convenient solution for problem 1, and relational database theory for problem 2. An example is given of how a database may be organised and managed exclusively with the native tools of Unix and plain ASCII files.
• Un calcolatore disegna e rigistra ceramica antica: il sistema ARCOS-1 negli scavi di Velia, comune di Ascea (Salerno)
  The ARCOS System (ARchaeological COmputerized System), created in Karlsruhe, permits the automatic recording of ceramic objects and their subsequent processing and graphical representation. The System consists of two elements: ARCOS-1 is a mobile configuration for image recording; ARCOS-2 is a stationary data processor. The authors describe in particular the test carried out during the excavations at Velia (Salerno) in the summer of 1987. This test led to the graphical documentation of about 200 ceramic artefacts.
• Antichi insediamenti antropici nella laguna di Venezia: analisi multivariata di tipo 'Fuzzi c-means clustering'
  A particular type of multivariate analysis called “fuzzy c-means clustering” was applied to ancient bricks of 44 archaeological sites in the Lagoon of Venice, the remains of historical settlements of the last two thousand years. Each brick is characterized by its three geometrical dimensions, probably related to the local units of measure of the various epochs. The analysis was made with binary data (presence/absence) for the 20 principal types of bricks. The aim was to establish temporal relations among the various sites, some of which have definite temporal reference, allowing both to extend the references to the unknown sites and to evaluate, measuring the depth of the archaeological sites, the trend of the geological subsidence in the Venetian area. The results, compared also with those of a Correspondence Analysis, are, within some limitations, in agreement with the available dating from archivistic sources.
• Note sulla distribuzione delle ceramiche di importazione greca nel Salento in età arcaica. Aspetti metodologici
  Methodological and statistical aspects of the distribution of Greek imported ware in the archaic period (600-480 a.C.) in Salento are presented here. They form part of a wider research on trade. In order to value the fieldwork intensity and assess the survival conditions of archaeological data, the contexts to which the finds can be provenienced have been analysed. Frequencies of type concerning recovery of artefacts (occasional recovery, systematic excavation, survey, underwater and unclassified), frequencies of contextual types (settlements, cultual places, isolated graves, necropolis, unclassified and anchorage) and frequencies of the exploration degree in the archaeological sites have been studied. Crosstabulations between these classification factors and the quantities of material found in each context have been conducted. These analyses permit us to identify similar contexts from the point of view of archaeological research and to value more fully the phenomenon of interaction and exchange in the Salentine peninsula in the archaic period. Regression analyses were also conducted to study the distribution of Greek colonial ware.
• Statistical analysis of ceramic assemblages
  As well as solving two long-standing theoretical problems, this work shows great potential for the interpretation of ceramic assemblages, and has implications for the way in which pottery is catalogued. Different sorts of interpretation (functional, chronological, distributional) are possible at different levels of grouping (context, phase and site assemblages).
• L'analisi quantitativa nell'archeologia di epoca storica
  The application of quantitative analysis techniques, widespread in prehistory, still appears little used in the study of historical archaeology. For the most part their application concerns the field of morphometry and typometry of archaeological objects, and especially of ceramic artefacts. A survey of the projects carried out, with emphasis on the analysis of Etruscan artefacts (e.g. stone urns and bronze mirrors), outlines the methodological tendencies and the most used methods and verifies the results obtained through the application of mathematical and statistical analyses.
• Dall'archivio IBM: 1958-1970
  The examination of archaeological documents preserved in the IBM archive outlines the development and the methodological tendencies which characterised, from the end of 1950's until the 1970's, the application of computer science in this field of study. The phases regarding technological development are described, as are the procedures relative to research projects of various subjects, both linguistic and strictly archaeological. These experiences show that, right from the beginning of the application of computers in archaeology, the tendency was to exploit their logical and mathematical potential.
• Dalla teoria alla ricerca sul campo: il contributo dell'informatica all'archeologia medievale
  The standardisation of records in archaeological work has permitted, notwithstanding some initial “resistence”, the massive introduction of computer science. In the field of post-classical archaeology the contribution of computers appears essential in comparison with data arising from written documentation. The latter appears to be of such dimension and quality that it has led to the formation of a historiographical tradition that is not used to dealing with archaeological research. Cartographic computerisation and image processing represent another sector which is developing in the post-classical field in order to study city-planning and building. This leads to an interdisciplinarity which is becoming extremely stimulating.
• Nouvelles tendances méthodologiques dans le traitement de l'information en archéologie
  The author analyses new methodological trends in the nineties, concerning the evolution of quantitative techniques, and the development of computerised tools. The main role in archaeology of institutional changes and the influence of theorical approaches in Human Sciences are analysed, in order to discover a third way in archaeology.
• Rome: NE slopes of the Palatine hill. Archaeology of architecture and ancient masonries deep analysis
  The NE slopes of the Palatine hill and the Colosseum valley area have a long archaeological research history. Here the continuous urban development has produced the overlap of architectural complexes distributed over time. The huge amount of archaeological documents produced by the research is managed within a GIS environment. For the analysis of ancient walls we introduced the use of image-based-modelling photogrammetry in order to create a very detailed 3D documentation linked to a DBMS dedicated to ancient structural features. Through this methodology we can evaluate specific aspects of ancient construction yards for each period. We can also refine the chronological sequences of the architectural structures and verify the contextual relationships of the surrounding buildings in order to formulate wide-ranging reconstructive hypotheses.
• 3D modelling from archive and legacy data: preliminary data processing on the Roman shipwreck Grado I
  Ca’ Foscari University is addressing different archaeological issues to enhance knowledge about shipwrecks through digital technologies. In the last few years, the team has applied virtual modelling and digital techniques on archive and legacy data, starting with an innovative museum installation regarding the wreck of the Napoleonic brig Mercurio and cargos of amphoras of the Byzantine shipwreck of Cape Stoba. The potential of digital technologies has allowed us to analyse and elaborate different kinds of documentation, including archives, to obtain 3D models that could be studied and visualized with innovative technological solutions. The paper presents an original proposal to create a 3D virtual model of an ancient shipwreck based on archival and heterogeneous data. Regarding the Grado I Roman shipwreck, we processed perspective drawings of the hull and the amphoras, measurements during the excavations, digitalization of analogical images and of a survey of the cardboard scale model to obtain a complete virtual 3D model of the shipwreck. Legacy data represent a precious source for bringing to life obsolete representations of cultural heritage.
• Classical pottery in collection: the MemO Project and the recreation of a ‘context’
  Heir to a centuries-old tradition, the phenomenon of collecting ancient pottery, especially Greek and Southern-Italian, is still particularly active, and denoting a still lively adherence to classical taste. The materials of these collections, however, often appear decontextualized, that is to say deprived of their fundamental informative component. Since 2018, through a multidisciplinary approach, the MemO Project, directed by the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Padova, has dealt with the study of these materials in order to reconstruct their history and origin, i.e. to systematically recount their memory. This contribution intends to analyze the complexity of the narration of the archaeological data for the decontextualized material and, above all, to detect its informative potential in order to recreate the original context. Through a multidisciplinary teamwork, we intend to present the results obtained in the context of the reconstruction of the history of inevitably inaccessible materials.
• Anfore spagnole nel Veneto. Progetto di ricerca e primi prodotti
  During the last few years we have witnessed the development of research on trade amphorae, in particular with the help of archaeometric techniques and quantitative processing of analytical data. In this context we can quote the research project carried out by the authors, which focuses on the amphorae of Spanish origin found in Venetia. The study is articulated in two main parts: the first one concerns morphometric analysis of the amphorae by means of their photogrammetric restitution and the comparison between the diverse forms using geometric indexes calculated on the coordinates of the points measured on outline of the vase. The second one concerns the characterisation of the amphorae by means of the chemical-mineralogical analysis of the paste, with the aim of reconstructing their exact provenance. The historical-archaeological purpose of the project, the first results of which concern the amphorae from the Tomba di Giulietta in Verona, is the assessment of trade exchanges between Venetia and Betica.
• Accessibilità e disseminazione dei dati nell’esperienza dell’ISMA
  The article describes research carried out by the Istituto di Studi sul MediterraneoAntico (ISMA). The CNR-ISMA is involved in many excavations for which permits are granted by the Archaeological Superintendency and in several open access publishing projects. In relation to these research projects, the article discusses the position of the researcher of a public institution regarding access and dissemination of data.
• Prospettive mediterranee dell’economia romana. L’apporto di una banca dati
  As part of the FIRB 2001 Project, a computer research project on Roman merchants who worked in the Mediterranean area from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD was commenced. Data about the single businessmen were gathered from inscriptions (first of all instrumentum domesticum) and literary sources (both Greek and Latin); data were processed in a relational database, which is briefly described here. This paper, by way of an example, considers merchants who lived during the Republic (over 250 people) and focuses on the economic and social aspects of their activity. Painted inscriptions (tituli picti) or graffiti on Roman amphorae, stamps on amphorae stoppers and marks on anchor stocks inform us of the names of many traders (most of all ingenui or freedmen) involved in the transport and sale of goods such as wine and olive oil. Other inscriptions (mainly epitaphs or religious dedications) refer to a lot of tabernarii who worked in Rome, in other towns of Roman Italy or the Provinces during the late 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Some data from literary sources are also available, mainly concerning important businessmen who operated in the whole Mediterranean basin.
• Pre-Biblio, bibliografia georeferenziata della Preistoria e della Protostoria italiana: struttura del progetto e primi risultati
  The paper presents the new relational database Pre-Biblio on the Prehistory and Quaternary geology of Italy. It will be mainly composed of two correlated databases, «sites» and «bibliography» and some others such as the biographies of the most important scholars, the taxa of fossil remains contained in the sites, the palaeobasins. Each bibliographic reference will be linked to sites, which will be georeferenced on the 1:25.000 topographic maps of the «SIGEC» GIS system of the Ministry of Culture. An accurate survey of Italian and foreign literature regarding archaeology, vertebrate palaeontology, geology and related sciences from Villafranchian to Early Iron Age has been conducted in the most important libraries of Italian Institutions specialized in Quaternary studies and Prehistory. An estimated total of about 25,000 sites, 60,000 references and 800,000 links represents the core of the project, which could be concluded in five years with a team of eight specialists. The paper also provides a preliminary appraisal of the chronological distribution of published sites covering the whole Italian territory, according to which the protohistory (Bronze and First Iron Ages) accounts for half of the estimated body of data.
• TESS. La banca dati on-line dei rivestimenti a mosaico
  A project undertaken by the University of Padua has developed the new database system TESS for mosaics. This database system meets the national standards required by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione – ICCD. The database is available on-line thanks to the project «Cultural heritage in the Adriatic area: knowledge, preservation and enhancement», co-financed by the Community Initiative INTERREG III A – Adriatic Cross Border Programme. In detail, the database TESS includes informative files regarding Building and Rooms, Location, relevant Bibliography and Mosaic Pavement. Each file contains plans, designs and photographs. Furthermore, all the fields have a list of univocal and exhaustive terms in the Italian language. The mosaics database aims to provide a key working tool for the identification of the origins of iconographic themes, their geographic distribution and the development of local fashions which vary according to the context. The software was developed on a FileMaker client/server environment to achieve these key goals: multiplatform availability (Windows/Macintosh), multiuser capability and remote connectivity. Making wide use of the latest tools included in FileMaker 8, the development group created a smart and complete GUI to access the complex data structure, and at the same time implemented a stringent control of user privileges by setting data-related group policies. The result is a powerful middleware application that allows data entry, analysis and publication to geographically distributed operators and will provide data consultation to other users through normal web browsers.
• CeraMIS: interactive Internet-based information system on Neolithic pottery
  Most Neolithic pottery, except for some high quality fineware, is thought to be made of local material. However, in order to be able to conclude whether certain types of fineware were contemporaneously imported or not, considerable archaeometric analysis is required as well as the systemization of the acquired data. The development of CeraMIS, an interdisciplinary database management system for analytical results of raw materials for pottery (geological samples of clay and temper) and pottery artefacts (archaeological samples) is modelled on earlier ceramic provenance studies. It is an innovation established as part of a German-Hungarian bilateral project on "Long distance trade in Neolithic pottery". The database management system contains two main components: the SQL database and the software CeraMIS that organizes the storage of data. Applying a logical, already traditional methodological procedure of provenance analysis on archaeological pottery, in this paper results of petro-mineralogical and geochemical investigations of the samples are presented. The collection of results on surface treatment (painting, slip, and other techniques), investigations by non-destructive, high-resolution methods is also an important part of this procedure. Moreover, one of the important features of the database is that of clarifying the differences between analyses made on complete vessels, shards, the clay paste, temper and surface treatments. To present the results of these complex investigations and make the information available to specialists involved in this field of research, we have developed a software solution based on client/server architecture. The client software CeraMIS connects the server via the Internet, so that the user does not need to install any additional software. The database can be queried using traditional search methods. The system is designed in a way that makes further amendments and extensions possible without loss of data. It is updated and tailored according to the experience acquired during its use. The system functionalities, data structure and data content are regularly revised according to the requirements of the users and data providers.
• La catalogazione nei musei archeologici del Lazio: contributo per una terminologia ragionata
  In 1999 the Museum Service of the Lazio Region, together with the firm Andromeda, set up a database for the archaeological finds in the municipal museums in the region. The project, called IDRA, was created for the purpose of locating and quantifying the archaeological material in each museum. Designed as a client/server system with an SQL engine, IDRA software combines the philosophy of relational databases with object-oriented structures, where the information is organized hierarchically. At this time the database consists of around 17,000 files - provided with digital images and referring to 50 different museums - that are now available on the Culture Portal of the Lazio Region (http://www.culturalazio.it/site/it-IT/Argomenti/Banche_dati_online/). A tentative model used to locate both museums and finding sites through Google Maps has also been made. On the basis of specific agreements with the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Rome a project was initiated for a shared consultation of databases pertinent to different authorities as well as for a common investigation about structured terminology lists. To this aim we have conducted a standardization of terminology related to the entry “Object Definition”, and developed a list of about 500 terms. In the present article we have focused on some of the issues that emerged during our work in order to submit them to public discussion. We deal, for instance, with how to define the state of preservation of the object in relation to its definition; whether and how to use diminutives; how to structure the categories of material so as to define the finds for optimal searching; and how to file objects reused at a later period.
• Un approccio globale, archeologico, archeometrico, informatico, alla schedatura della ceramica a vernice nera della Valle del Tevere
  This paper focuses on the multidisciplinary charts regarding the sherds of Black-Gloss Pottery found in the settlement of Colle Rosetta (Sabina Tiberina, Rieti, Italy) in the 1970s, which emerged after deep ploughing. At present, the ceramic fragments are kept in the Civic Archaeological Museum of Magliano Sabina. Charts regarding archaeological data were drawn up for all finds (567 samples). Preliminary diffractometric, petrographic, chemical and SEM analyses were carried out on some sherds to confirm their probable local manufacture. In this article we describe how we created a database in which archaeological data have been associated with the results of the laboratory analyses. The interface has a main mask, in which information, conformed to the ICCD standards, concern details of style and topographical-archaeological data of the sherds, and a second one which regards data of the laboratory analyses carried out on the Sabina Tiberina sherds. Data concerning the analyses were entered into the charts to add to our knowledge of the ceramic fragments, and also to contribute to the cultural and technological debate on Black-Gloss Pottery manufacturers in the central Italic area.
• Esperienze di catalogazione informatizzata del gioiello monetale: trasversalità metodologica ed esigenze di specificità nell’ambito del progetto JiC
  From 2008 to 2009 the Department of Archaeology and the Department of Ancient History of the University of Bologna conducted the JiC - Jewellery in Context project. From the beginning, the JiC project pursued among its principal aims the creation and development of a database centred on the systematic census of ancient jewels, ornaments and other precious objects from the Mediterranean area, with specific attention to the context in which each artefact was found. Considering the typological variety and the different chronological, geographical and cultural ambits of provenance of the objects, the creation of an interactive web database - based on an open source server-side system - makes it possible for specialists in several distinct areas of study (Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Medieval Archaeology, Numismatics, History of Art, etc.) to cooperate with each other. In this regard and in order to preserve the specificity of the numismatic evidence in works produced by ancient goldsmiths, each form for the insertion of new records, as defined in the table Objects of the database itself, enables us to enter the description of coins mounted in jewellery. A specific set of fields contains detailed and particular connotations of each coin specimen: physical and technical data (such as metal, denomination, weight, diameter, die axis), information about the issuing authority, chronology, place of mintage, state of preservation, obverse and reverse types, references and further observations.
• Thesaurus: Un database per il patrimonio culturale sommerso
  Thesaurus Project aims at promoting the knowledge of the underwater cultural heritage, ancient and modern, through the application of several typologies of tools: underwater autonomous vehicles, which will be able to explore the sea bottom in teams communicating with each other; a database, which will be useful to store and manage all the information referring to archaeological or historical objects, shipwrecks and sites. This paper aims to explain the logic structure of the database indicating the particular needs of the research, the different typologies of items which have to be managed (archaeological and historical objects; ancient, medieval or modern shipwrecks; underwater sites; written or figurative sources, etc.), the relation with other similar databases and projects. The main task of this part of Thesaurus is to plan and organize an IT system, which will allow archaeologists to describe information in detail, in order to make an efficient managing and retrieving data system available.
• LiBER: Un progetto di digitalizzazione dei testi in scrittura lineare B
  This article focuses on the preliminary results of a CNR-ISMA ongoing project for the digital edition of Linear B texts, having the ultimate goal of providing scholars, and all those who are interested in the Mycenaean world, with an updated edition of these documents. LiBER (Linear B Electronic Resources) is a document management system which is able to process a variety of materials, such as the logo-syllabic script preserved by these ancient records and their physical supports, as well as to project all relevant data into a dynamic archaeological map. In particular, LiBER has been designed to manage structured texts and all the information available about their chronology, paleography and spatial distribution. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the general philosophy which lies behind the conception of this kind of enterprise and the solutions adopted for the encoding of this specific logo-syllabic script - by exploring drawbacks and potentials of descriptive markup languages and a database driven approach - and for the representation of data through dynamic maps.
• Cronotipologia al tempo del web 2.0: banca dati e mappa online dei portali di Genova
  The article describes the construction of a territorial database that collects information about the 14th century portals of the city of Genoa, in the historic downtown of the area inside the defensive walls. The project focuses on dating some significant elements and demonstrating their importance compared to other elements of the building and the portal itself. Decorative aspects, especially the aesthetic ones, are less significant compared to the thicknesses and shapes of the fixed frame stone of the portals. So the essential characteristics for defining the portal chronotype are the proportions and the thickness of the jamb portal in relation to the width of the net size. The territorial database was created with the aim of collecting information on all portals within the established boundaries. An important contribution to the research planning consists in the CIVIS project: a system in which information collected converged, leading to the production of digital cartography and computer data, available from all over the web. Moreover, the authors illustrate another territorial database produced thanks to a research conducted by ISCUM, which led to cataloguing the chronotypology of the portals in rural areas. In ISCUM databases there are already 2560 rural portals, for the most part located in north-western Italy.
• The flower woman figurines from the Foce Sele Hera Sanctuary. Ancient coroplastic digital data management, analysis, and sharing
  The paper focuses on the digital strategies developed in the study of the corpus of flower woman terracotta figurines found in the excavations carried out by Paola Zancani Montuoro and Umberto Zanotti Bianco at the Foce Sele Hera Sanctuary and stored in the National Archaeological Museum of Paestum. The flower woman definition identifies the best known structure of the statuettes composed of a female bust supporting a flower orthogonal to the base. Actually, the scientific literature about these peculiar artifacts reveals a diffused vagueness and ambiguity in the definition, formalization, and functional exegesis, encouraging a new comprehensive study. The main results come from: digital management of the information; seriation analysis supported by a quantitative approach; visualization of occurrences in the Mediterranean Basin based on Fusion Tables; testing of multidisciplinary approaches to cooperative content building in archaeology. The study developed a whole technology-enhanced workflow, including multimedia data digital management and sharing; statistical techniques for the analysis of terracotta shrinkage in moulded coroplastic figurines seriation; webGIS visualization of occurrences in the ancient Mediterranean Basin and their relations.
• An epigraphy database: a point of view of a researcher of Oscan/Sabellic epigraphy
  Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.
• Databases and standardisation. Experiences from Athens
  Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.
• Numismatics and inscriptions: ancient coins at Uppsala University brought online
  Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.
• The epigraphic project of the Laboratory of Epigraphy (EpiLab), Department of Humanities (Trieste University).
  Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.
• Inscriptions in their spatial contexts in Roman Italy
  Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.
• Inscriptions on iDAI.objects Arachne
  Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.
• Pre-Roman languages on the Apennine peninsula
  Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.
• La piattaforma 'Marmora Phrygiae'. Open data per la conoscenza delle cave di marmo della Frigia meridionale e per lo studio dei cantieri antichi di Hierapolis
  The ‘Marmora Phrygiae’ project deals with some of the main issues related to the study of ancient quarries and building sites with a systematic approach, integrating the skills of experts from different disciplines: archaeology, ancient topography, art history, architecture, geology, geophysics, chemistry, geochemistry, biology, remote sensing, computer science, and Roman law. This paper summarizes the main scientific results of the project and the computer techniques used for implementing the Marmora Phrygiae online geodatabase, a system aimed at data presentation on the web, sharing knowledge through Open Data. The Marmora Phrygiae database dynamically stores the results of archaeological research and archaeometric analyses in order to publish them online at the end of the project: after a registration process, free access to available data will be allowed. The same database is also interfaced to Geoserver, a web-oriented cartographic engine, in which the coordinates of each feature (monuments, quarries, artefacts, stone samples), acquired by a high-precision topographic GPS, are stored. This solution allowed acquiring important new data on the marble extractive district of Hierapolis, the organization of the urban building sites during the Roman Imperial age and the Early-Byzantine period, and their dynamics of supplying stone materials within the overall ancient marble extractive district of south-western Turkey.
• Sperimentazione del sistema ministeriale SICaR w/b per la gestione e la consultazione informatizzata dei dati sulla policromia
  The need for integration and sharing of data on ancient polychromies requires shared working methods and tools. This paper illustrates a first effort in the direction of testing the web-based Information System documentation for the Restoration of Yards (SICaR) of Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (MiBACT). This test activity suggested some changes that have been subsequently implemented in order to record archaeological and scientific information and manage standardized data on ancient polychromy in cultural heritage documentation.
• The Kingdom of Sicily Image Database
  The Kingdom of Sicily Image Database uses new media technologies to reframe our understanding of medieval Europe by focusing on the role of the built environment for the formation of state identity in the medieval Kingdom of Sicily ruled by Norman, Swabian, Angevin and Aragonese dynasties (950-1420). The theme is important for two reasons: the significance of South Italy as a prototype of multicultural state formation and the highly fragmentary (war bombardment, earthquakes, urban transformation) state of the sites that played a central role in the power structures of this new state. A comprehensive database of historical images of monuments and cities (prints, drawings, maps, photographs, etc.) made by scholars, artists and travellers from the 15th to the 20th centuries, can enable scholars and the public to recover the appearance of the landscape, of cities, and of individual monuments prior to radical renovations or destructions. An interdisciplinary research team is conducting a systematic survey and critical cataloguing of images dispersed in the archives, museums and libraries of Italy, Europe and US.
• Tanti cocci, quanti vasi?
  The study of a massive waste dump of the Arretine potter Ateius, by means of the database FileMaker Pro 11, provided some evidence concerning the deposit’s formation. For part of the fragments there were at least two depositions at different times, as some potsherds were re-used as building material within the kiln itself, then discarded again, with a layer of lime and sand that still covered them. Some fragments were first used as slats for shaping vases, then thrown into the dump, and eventually re-used as building material. All these operations inevitably caused the alteration of the stratigraphy, making it quite difficult to piece together all the fragments pertaining to a single vase. Moreover, in a period that cannot be identified, part of the dump was moved from the original place to the location where it was found in the excavation carried out in the 1950s . All these events are reflected by the archaeological records. The Conspectus 9 cup is a good example: the fragments of rims largely outnumber those of foots. Assessing the minimum number of vessels present in the dump is not easy under these circumstances.
• L’instrumentum fittile inscriptum Latinum: proposta per una schedatura informatizzata a partire dalla documentazione modenese
  Over the past few decades an intense discussion has taken place among scholars about the important role that instrumentum inscriptum plays in the reconstruction of various aspects of Roman social and economic history. One of the key issues is the definition of the criteria for publication and digital cataloguing of this class of materials, which includes various types of objects (amphorae, lamps, fine ware pottery, building materials, etc.) and inscriptions (stamps, tituli picti, graffiti ante or post cocturam). This paper presents a proposal for cataloguing fictile instrumentum inscriptum through a relational database which takes into account both the archaeological and epigraphical aspects of this kind of documents, while also paying particular attention to possible prosopographical comparisons with lapidary epigraphy. The collection of these data allows the user to pursue socio-economic research on the basis of different criteria, which can be variously combined: geographical, typological, prosopographical and chronological. Three case studies proved the effectiveness of this tool both for analytical and statistical studies.
• Database management e dati archeologici: standardizzazione e applicazione della logica fuzzy alla gestione delle fonti e delle attribuzioni tipologiche
  A specific relational database has been created for the management of small finds found on the Cretan sites of Phaistos and Ayia Triada in Crete. Such artifacts have been often underestimated in past archaeological studies, because of the perception that they are less relevant objects in comparison to other categories such as pottery. The database GEAR has been created to improve the recognition of their potential. This article presents the possible solutions used in the database to overcome some methodological problems: specifically two of the methodological aspects that have been dealt with are standardization and management of the reference sources and typological attributions. In the first case, a standard typological terminology (recommended by the ICCD) is used to assure data normalization; in the second case, the preservation of the subjectivity and uncertainty of archaeological attributions is obtained with the application of fuzzy logic and its concept of ‘probability of belonging’.
• The “Ebla Digital Archives” Project: how to deal with methodological and operational issues in the development of cuneiform texts repositories
  The paper provides an overview of the digital tools developed as part of the Ebla Digital Archives Project, which aims to offer a digital edition of roughly 3,000 cuneiform tablets from ancient Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh, in western Syria), dated to the middle of the third millennium BCE. The Ebla archive is the oldest one in the history of mankind, for which extensive information concerning the primary setting of the documents is available. The archaicity of the writing system, combined with the inherent difficulties in reconstructing languages from the remote past (Sumerian, Akkadian, Eblaite), pushes us to rethink the strategies to properly digitally capture the complexity of these sources, of invaluable historical significance: administrative documents, literary texts, vocabularies, letters, etc. We tackled the problem through the development of a PostgreSQL database, which is populated by ad hoc Python scripts that parse input transliteration files, which in turn are encoded using a shallow mark-up language. The individual steps in such workflow are discussed, as well as the benefits in terms of advanced queries for information retrieval that such approach offers.
• Alcune considerazioni sull'uso delle immagini digitali per il confronto di reperti archeologici
  The authors describe the use of digital image processing techniques aimed at achieving a criteria for quantitative comparison. Usually, these procedures are executed using visual superimposition of images and constrained by the lack of rescaling and anamorphic making up that could be used to cancel the optical distortions caused by lenses. The criteria used within the experimental activity are aimed at helping the archaeologists without changing their traditional research methods. These techniques can be seen as an interesting tool able not only to aid impartial decision making but also to enhance the autoptic analysis of the findings. The most important algorithms pertaining to image processing have been used for investigating the origin and the age of moulded and handmade objects.
• Anatomical-morphological analysis of a volumetric 3D model of an archaeological object
  The article emphasizes the importance of anatomical-morphological analysis of a volume 3D model reconstructed from microcomputer tomographic 2D images for archaeological documentation and treatment, non-invasive archaeological analysis, and a more optimal selection of conservation methods and techniques. The object of μCT reconstruction is a 40,000-year-old Palaeolithic hunting weapon found in 2008 in the Ljubljanica River near Sinja Gorica (Vrhnika, lat.: Nauportus, Slovenia). This wooden point (yew; lat.: Taxus baccata) is so far just one of only eight known Palaeolithic wooden artifacts found in Europe. Between 2013 and 2017, the point was conserved using a traditional waterlogged wood processing technique with melamine resin. Using computer volumetric analysis of five surface 3D models, taken before, during and after the conservation, it was found out that volumetric changes and deviations of the point have occurred (bending, weight, volume, surface cracks and changes). Surface changes of the 3D models did not answer the question: what are the causes for the resulting changes after the conservation process? Only anatomical-morphological analysis of the internal structure of the point could answer this question. To this end, we developed an iterative segmentation algorithm adapted to archaeological analysis for the reconstruction of a volume 3D model from microtomographic 2D images. In this way, we successfully supplemented the data of the surface 3D model and confirmed volumetrically and graphically the current and critical state of the internal anatomical structure of the artifact (cracks, fractures, etc.). The case study confirmed the exceptional importance of the use of microcomputed tomography as a non-invasive technique in archaeological analysis and in the planning and selection of procedures for conservation, restoration and storage of sensitive archaeological heritage remains in situ or ex situ.
• La conservazione della memoria materiale e immateriale. Sistemi informativi di catalogo e territoriali in Campania
  This article is intended as a review of the contact points between information technologies and cultural heritage, starting from the classification and cataloguing methods applied both to scientific and historical research. The Author describes the aims, activities and results obtained by the Archaeological Superintendencies in Campania from the most important projects developed between 1987 and 2010. In these projects, thanks to the cooperation with private and other public institutions involved in ICT, specific patterns and models of cataloguing and territorial information systems were created related to the domain of cultural heritage, including databases and information retrieval, GIS and CMS applied to cataloguing objects and settlements, web sites and cooperative and distributed web systems for cultural contents dissemination. The Author analyses the various methods and purposes of the applications conducted for studying, safeguarding and promoting the historical and archaeological heritage, in order to define the phases of this technological development and outline the mutual influences and benefits for these different but increasingly interconnected fields of research.
• Progetto Castellum Vervassium: dal dato archeologico al WebGIS. Analisi integrate per la ricerca, la tutela e la valorizzazione di un territorio nella bassa e media Anaunia (Val di Non, Trentino)
  The “Castellum Vervassium” project concerns a series of archaeological investigations regarding the landscape around an ancient settlement now known with the name of Vervò (Val di Non, Trentino, Italy). Among the different analyses (excavation, survey, remote sensing, etc.), in 2010 a sub-project was started to reconstruct a hypothetical ancient road network inside the target landscape. In order to optimize the scientific process, the entire research project was divided into three steps: a topographic study conducted with classical methodology, the determination of the least cost path through LIDAR data and the development of a WebGIS to improve scientific publication of the final result. Every single phase of the work-flow was supported by specific Free/Libre and Open Source software applications. During the classical topographic study, the simple and light GIS OpenJUMP was used to improve precision and to avoid time consuming operations with cartography (without compromising user control in qualitative analyses). For more complex quantity analyses, the software GRASS granted a high quality, mainly thanks to its modular structure. This program satisfied our needs in determining the least cost path between main nodes of the road network and managed huge amount of data analysing a LIDAR DTM of 1 meter accuracy. A WebGIS, based on GeoServer and OpenLayer, made it possible to share the basic topographic and archaeological information of the project with the community. This type of flexible media was the best choice for offering broad access to the data, thanks to different filters and pre-built queries that simplify the internal browsing of the system.
• Il GIS e lo scavo archeologico di emergenza: applicazione intra-sito ad un piccolo contesto dell’antica Felsina (Bologna)
  During the 2008-2009 season the Archaeological Superintendence of Emilia Romagna began an emergency archaeological excavation under the city of Bologna, very close to the complex of an Etruscan sanctuary attributed to the ancient city of Felsina. For the systematic management of all the mostly paper documentation gathered during the excavation an information system within the scope of GIS technology was planned and setup. At first , we focused our attention on data normalization; afterward, our attention was drawn to the advantages obtained by using GIS technology, which makes it possible for complex phenomena and spatial-temporal relations to be represented and analyzed at multiple levels, as well as acting as a support for objective interpretative evaluations. Using this system we were able to create thematic and chronological maps, and analyze all the intra-site phenomena. This project provides an effective example of how GIS technology can also be applied retrospectively, when the excavation has already been concluded and the data were recorded in the traditional way; it therefore represents a valuable instrument for implementing the knowledge of an archaeological context.
• GIS applications in archaeology
  The diffusion of the use of Geographical Information Systems in archaeology has considerably increased in recent years. This multiplicity of applications is due mainly to the growing interest of archaeologists in modern methodologies for the management of archaeological data, surveyed by topographic, photogrammetric and remote sensing techniques. GIS have become a fundamental tool for managing, sharing, analyzing and visualizing spatially referenced data and they are completely substituting the traditional techniques used by archaeologists, based upon filling out forms, graphics and other paper documents. Besides in the modern global society, dominated by mass media such as Internet, the issue of utilization has become more and more important, and most of the more recent GIS applications (Multimedia GIS, WebGIS) take this aspect into consideration.
• Un modello multi-hazard per la valutazione del rischio dei beni archeologici: il caso sperimentale della Villa Adriana di Tivoli
  Compared with other objects of our cultural heritage, the various construction remains that belong to the ancient architectural heritage are generally associated with the most challenging problems with respect to their preservation. Difficulties and problems become unpaired when the ancient heritage is the assembly of several monumental constructions, as in the case of the imperial complex constructed by Adriano in Tivoli, known as Hadrian’s Villa. Under these circumstances, any risk analysis and subsequent study of preservation measures will require a two stage approach. In the first stage, a detailed knowledge of each single element or structure within the complex must be acquired. In the second stage the available knowledge pertaining to the various monuments must be combined and the entire complex combining the single architectural artifacts into a monumental unity must be re-examined with respect to its original status and its historical modifications. Hence a great wealth of information and a profound knowledge have been acquired on several monuments in this complex. Therefore, it is now possible to propose sound hypotheses on each one of these architectural artifacts as well as to propose an interactive data system for risk analyses and risk assessment with respect to the preservation of the complex. Taking the opportunity of the "Risk assessment map of the cultural heritage" compiled by the Central Institute for Restoration (ISCR), a research project was undertaken to develop an analysis model of the villa which would allow an estimation of the global risk of the various ancient structures. This project is based on the use of a GIS to develop a matrix of risk indexes as well as a database grouping all available information on the single monument. The development of this system will make it possible to cross reference the data acquired within the various fields of investigation involved in the survey phase, the preservation phase and the restoration process of each monumental unit and the complex as a whole.
• Gestione informatizzata e valorizzazione del patrimonio archeologico. La piattaforma GIS per lo scavo a Pompei
  The subject of this paper is the representation of archaeological data at Pompeii by using GIS technology. The evolution of the original basic pattern of many domestic spaces (cubicula or entire dwellings) from the Samnite period to AD 79 in Regiones V (insulae V,3 and V,4) and VI (insulae VI,7 and VI,14) let us understand that they were transformed by adapting to the changes that occurred during the history of the ancient site, where building activities intensely affected the urban arrangement until the final destruction of the city in AD 79. Spatial analyses and predictive models, performed by combining excavation data and architectural studies, provide a very wide and complex range of information, such as layers of chronological phases or patterns of distribution trends, as well as 3D modeling to obtain precise and realistic 3D representations of wall-structures and the terrain (DTM). In this case study, GIS helps us understand the formation process of archaeological stratigraphy which is a result of the changes which took place during the history of the ancient site. Very different from the usual approach of intra-site GIS for archaeological excavations, this type of analysis arises from a broader perspective of the ancient urban landscape and of all those features useful for the spatial and conceptual definition of "neighbourhoods" in relation to the street network, as parsed through geoprocessing functions. The analysis conducted confirms that the distribution of architectural spaces and the evolution of the urban landscape in these city-blocks imply a close relationship with social and economic pressures. It is important to stress the value of a GIS integrated approach in the process of interpretation of an archaeological context, especially in terms of accuracy and of usability of the results for the management of a Cultural Heritage resource.
• La sfida della complessità
• Atti del Workshop nazionale di archeologia computazionale (Napoli-Firenze 1999)
• Documentare l’archeologia 2.0. Atti del Workshop (Bologna, 2012)
• La cinta muraria di Hierapolis di Frigia: il geodatabase dei materiali di reimpiego come strumento di ricerca e conoscenza del monumento e della città
  Despite the impressiveness of its remains, until 2008 the city walls of Hierapolis of Phrygia (4th century AD) were one of the lesser known monuments of the city. The preserved and reconstructed remains of the fortifications are about 2.1 km long and are characterized by the systematic reuse of many blocks and architectural materials from necropolises and monuments that were demolished at the time of the construction of the walls. The study and the topographical survey (using a differential GPS) of the city walls were employed along with the analysis and centimetric positioning of all the main reused architectural elements (1142 items), i.e. those which are easier to recognize and to trace back to the buildings from which they came. The fieldwork was carried out using a Tablet PC and a specially developed computer schedule to record the characteristics of the recycled materials and their location. The data were uploaded into a dedicated and specially developed geodatabase, aimed at managing information related to the heterogeneous materials reused, integrating the intrinsic characteristics of objects and their positions. In the geodatabase, every architectural element was catalogued so that spatial queries could be made to identify the existence of homogeneous materials and determine their positions along the walls; they are also correlated with their monuments of origin when this information is available.
• "L’intervisibilité": application à la région de la Tolfa-Allumiere
  This article focuses on the organization of settlements in the Tolfa-Allumiere region (Lazio, Italy) in the Final Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. Our research follows a study on the occupation of La Castellina del Marangone, located about five km South of Civitavecchia, and its immediate environment. Many authors have already worked on this topic in Italy, but the originality of the present work is represented by the use of GIS tools to describe the spatial organization of this central Italy region. Each site is located on a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), providing a 2D or 3D view of the landscape. From this DEM, a set of dynamic maps was created detailing the conditions of landscape. In particular, the analysis of the topography makes it possible to evaluate the exposure in a given direction and to analyse notions of distance and costs of travel in order to define the possible existence of networks. The rivers certainly played a key role in the establishment of major trade routes and communication channels between the coastline and the most rugged Tolfa area. By using ArcGIS we can not only determine the overall field of vision but also the line of sight, in order to establish if the landscape obstructed the view between one site and another. Following this analysis and the creation of mapping funds, it was possible to answer the question concerning the reasons that led people to change their lifestyle and occupy the space throughout the Bronze Age.
• Statistical tools in Landscape Archaeology
  Archaeological Predictive Models (APMs) represent an important evolution of spatial integrated databases of archaeological records. Before the development and the analysis of a predictive model, numerous other steps are required in order to integrate the raw data sets into functional archaeological systems. Our aim is to assess the evolution of archaeological data sets into APMs and to reconsider the real value of such attempts for the Romanian Heritage Protection or for scientific purposes. We will consider, as well, certain aspects regarding the deductive/inductive nature of the APMs. In our perspective, there are a few ways APMs could be improved: the use of more variables, as well as the understanding both of the analytical nature of data sets and of the real nature of archaeological data sets.
• Predictive modelling of Roman settlement in the middle Tiber valley
  This paper discusses the results of an inductive predictive modelling experiment on Roman settlement data from the middle Tiber valley, Italy. The study forms part of the British School at Rome’s Tiber Valley Project, which since its inception in 1997 has been assessing the changing landscapes of the Tiber Valley from protohistory through to the medieval period. The aim of this present study is to broaden understanding of settlement patterns via predictive modelling, and in particular to evaluate unevenness in field survey coverage, survey bias and past settlement location preferences. The predictive modelling method chosen was an application of the statistical Weights of Evidence extension for ESRI ArcView. The results highlight associations between Roman settlement and environmental themes that provide moderate predictive potential and suggest that further experimentation might prove valuable.
• ACTION GIS: un modello predittivo del movimento antropico in un paesaggio antico. Il caso di studio archeologico della Val d’Alpone (VR)
  This paper proposes a predictive theoretical model of ancient human movement in the Alpone Valley (VR). The aim of this study is to calculate, using GIS tools, the optimal pathways to move from an archaeological site to another considering a series of frictions, like topography or land use, that can affect movement. The reliability of these virtual ancient paths is tested using a mathematical function of metabolic energy created in Visual Basic editor: it facilitates the choice of the best frictions for the model to simulate the archaeological landscape and its possible human perception. The results are compared to verify if there is any correlation between present and past pathways using topographic maps. This GIS methodology is useful for an archaeological survey because it gives a preliminary presence probability of ancient paths in a landscape.
• Un modello GIS multicriterio per la costruzione di mappe di plausibilità per la localizzazione di siti archeologici: il caso della costa teramana
  This paper aims to describe the settlement dynamics in the province of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region, along the coastal area between the Tronto and the Vomano rivers, in the Norman Age. Starting from the study of 26 sites, relevant to both towers and medieval fortifications, the objective is to construct a GIS probability map for the presence of five other sites that are mentioned in various historic documents but have now disappeared. Analysing some variables linked to the territory and exploiting the spatial distributions of the existing sites, in particular in relation to the sea and the rivers, it is possible to obtain useful data for prediction. More precisely we have considered: 1) the viewshed analysis, 2) the distances from the sea, 3) the distances from the rivers, 4) the distances among the existing sites, 5) the slope, 6) the aspect and 7) the distance from the toponym of the uncertain locations. Linear combination of the raster representing these variables lead to a final map, which contains different values of plausibility related to the presence of a dubious site. The weights of the linear combination are provided by an expert using the pairwise comparison technique, through a multicriteria approach.
• Sistema Informativo Territoriale Archeologico e Carta della Potenzialità Archeologica del Comune di Parma
  The paper describes the features of the Archaeological Territorial Information System of the city of Parma. This is a cultural resource management GIS, that collects and organizes all the archaeological sites discovered in the municipal territory, and it should be useful both to archaeologists and to the municipality for city planning. The sites are positioned on the 1:5000 Regional Technical Map, that provides a spatial framework and information about roads and administrative boundaries. The Map is integrated with aerial photographs, historical maps, geological and geomorphological maps and a Digital Terrain Model. The attribute information for each of the archaeological sites is divided into separate tables and defined by thesauri, i.e. lists of preferred terms. Some thematic maps have been created: an Archaeological Map, i.e. a distribution map of the sites, chronological maps and an Archaeological Potential Map, i.e. a map that summarizes the archaeological features of the whole territory, also considering geological, geomorphological and historical information.
• The Patrimony Atlas of Seine-Saint-Denis
  The Patrimony Atlas of Seine-Saint-Denis (north of Paris) is an information tool related to the archaeological, architectural and landscape patrimony of Seine-Saint-Denis, accessible on the Internet address http://www.atlas-patrimoine93.fr/. It is distributed by the Cultural Patrimony Service of the Department of Seine-Saint-Denis, and is registered in the National Patrimony Atlas project of the Ministry of Culture. It is organized into three categories. The documentation platforms gather: a geographical catalogue which includes 50 levels of information geographically referenced, which are free of copyrights and can circulate online; a bibliography with 3700 references classified according to borough, subject and time period; an iconographic catalogue with 2800 images, the issues of archaeological maps and patrimony inventory that collect and collate past data. The “territorial views” offer a rapid access to a selection of ancient maps that represent a selected point on the territory on a contemporary basis, like the Napoleonic cadastral tables. The “Documents” file gathers the documents in a PDF format: university projects, thematic studies, articles and monographs, methodologies, summary charts, as well as hypertext documents, a presentation of the evolution of the road network in the latter part of the 18th century, a “Mathériauthèque numérique” dedicated to construction materials, and an “Atlas des colleges” of Seine-Saint-Denis. In its present version (2.5.3, put online in March 2008), the Seine-Saint-Denis Patrimony Atlas receives between 12,000 and 14,000 hits per month.
• SIGUR: un SIG pour la pratique de l’archéologie en milieu urbain
  For cities such as Rennes, that combine a past as an ancient capital city with the status of a modern metropolis, the value of its archaeological patrimony is complicated and complex. In many cases, the poor state of preservation of vestiges is due to the successive occupations and to intense pressure for modern urban development. These factors did not allow for any consideration to preserve its patrimony. Computer technology can contribute to solve some of these problems. First, it is necessary to have a comprehensive knowledge of these vestiges. Then, a spatial analysis would make it possible to create thematic, chronological and spatial connections of the elements that make up the topography. The ability to manage all the scientific information, in its various forms, generated by the archaeological activities on the territory of the city, is essential. The pertinence of the organization of scientific data and the relative specific connection of these to the urban setting not only depends on the quality of the topographic study and urban morphology but also on the potential development. This article presents a dynamic model structure for archaeological information, as well as the application through the development of a Geographical Information System, the SIGUR application. This is a vital step before any online distribution of information to enhance patrimonial value, or before any division of this information, through the creation of collaborative sites to encourage scientific partnerships.
• Mapping resources. Instances from the Carpathian Basin
  Publishing provenance data on the Internet requires the integration of various resources, some of them easily accessible, some of them costly and protected by various copyrights. The work is based on thematic and archive maps, special fieldwork and research projects, data published in technical literature and stored in related databases. This paper will survey the accessible resources used for creating an “Atlas” of prehistoric raw materials for the Carpathian Basin, both commercial and public domain elements and will concentrate on the additional new value as well as problems of continuous maintenance. New developments in supporting reference collections at the Hungarian National Museum will be discussed as well.
• Webmapping, archéologie et Géoportail
  The “Géoportail” is a French creation responding to the INSPIRE European directive; the website http://www.geoportail.fr/ is published by IGN (Institut Géographique National) and allows for easy and free or low cost access to many geographic reference data. IGN develops various kinds of services like visualisation, download, formats and coordinates transformation and API Géoportail; it publishes these services independently or in partnership with other public agencies, companies or associations. Archaeologists may use the API Géoportail to augment the value of their results or to show partial results on a public website http://www.geoportail.fr/.
• ALPAGE: towards the setting-up of a collaborative work tool
  Alpage program, based on a collaboration between historians, geographers and computer researchers, aims to build a historical GIS of Paris. First, we reconstructed the pre-Haussmannian plan of Paris by georeferencing and vectorizing the survey of the cadastre made by P. Vasserot (1810-1836). Then, on these fundamental layers, historical information layers, like medieval and modern ones, will be built by different researchers according to their specific interests (churches, town walls, fiefs, parishes, etc.). Since this tool is technologically complex and since it is intended to be a reference work for further historical studies about Paris, we must immediately take into consideration the organization of further collaborative work. Accessing the GIS data, both to share them with different types of users and to edit new data in it, is an essential question, although it is often considered a trivial one. The issue of the use of a tool by the researchers seems nevertheless to be decisive and intrinsically linked to the success of a GIS. Meeting the needs and expectations of the users, webmapping might be a good solution for editing the geometric and attribute data in a GIS. But today, setting up this kind of platform for collaborative work is still difficult and time consuming. That is why, for Alpage, a temporary solution was found, revealing what organization theorists call a “community of practice”: it combines a centralized management of the references and object identifiers via the web and an independent edition of the objects by thematicians on their own computers. For this reason the DBMS ALPAGE-References has been adapted and posted on the website of the LAMOP.
• Vers la mise en réseau des données et des chercheurs: le système d’information de la prospection d’Itanos (Crète oriental)
  As part of the archaeological research program conducted in Itanos since 1994, an archaeological survey was carried out on a substantial portion (about 20 sq. km) of the territory of the ancient city. The area surrounding Itanos offers an exceptional site that has not been occupied by any important human settlement since the Middle Ages. It thus appears as a fossilized map of the ancient occupation and presents an exceptional case in the history of the Cretan landscape. During the past few years, archaeologists have collected a huge quantity of information, that will now be presented to the scholarly community. All data have been organized in a database that is fully compatible with a GIS system. Since 2006 this searchable database offering the records of the survey has been made available online on the website of the French School of Archaeology. It is the intent of this article to present the heuristic and technical principles which lie at the basis of the project. Moreover, a GIS platform, offering a digital elevation model and a chronological distribution of all the archaeological sites surveyed, has recently been accessible on the website of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies. This GIS platform will be continually augmented by additional data and will eventually offer a powerful interpretive tool to archaeologists, which will integrate the physical conditions of the landscape which are at the core of historical explanation.
• Développement d’un outil de géo collaboration au sein d’une collectivité territoriale: l’exemple de l’Atlas historique du Val-d’Oise
  The Historic Atlas of Val-d’Oise is a tool with the objective to propose information concerning the evolution of the territory of Val-d’Oise. This application is an important step towards the development of the archaeological GIS project which is now a part of the Val-d’Oise Department project of GIS. The interpretation of the evolution of this project shows us how the archaeological methodologies develop with these tools, and how the informational and the technological foundation gives us the opportunity to develop this online application.
• L’ASPRO: un exemple d’interface cartographique pour la consultation d’un corpus archéologique
  The Atlas of Near Eastern sites (ASPRO - Atlas des Sites du Proche-Orient) is an analytical index of nearly 2000 archaeological sites occupied between 14,000 and 5700 BP (about 14,000-4500 BC) in an area extending from the Sinai to Turkmenistan and from Anatolia to the Arabian-Persian Gulf. Its objective is to propose consistent information concerning a wide area and a long period of time, based on evidence which is often difficult to access, and to free this information from the compartmentalization of knowledge. This corpus, which was published in 1994 in book form, and is now out of print, has recently been made available online in an interactive cartographic interface, at the following address: http://www.mom.fr/Aspro/login.jsp. The objective of this development is to sustain consultation of the corpus, to increase its diffusion, while offering new functionalities with more flexibility: consultation through different entries, including the cartographic entry. Thus, it will now be possible to respond to requests on the different tables which compose the base (sites, periods, bibliography, dating), and to display the results in the form of an interactive list (access to files) and in cartographic form. The display is presented in different scales and the sites may be visualized on several thematic maps (hypsometry, pluviometry, bio-geographic zones). The latter also enable selection by spatial intersection. The technical system is now in place, and the project can proceed to a new stage: the updating of the corpus through sharing of information, then validation by a group of specialists.
• Utilisation d’un site web intégré de webmapping et de gestion de contenus. L’exemple de recherches en cours en pétroarchéologie du silex appliquée au Paléolithique moyen
  The nature of flints used in prehistory is essential information for increasing our knowledge of old settlements. The study of this raw material as well as the identification of its source, contribute to the evaluation of the mobility of prehistoric men and their behavior in relation to mineral resources, thus contributing to a better understanding of certain problems related to prehistoric economies. An innovative multi-field approach, based on a series of geological surveys of the siliceous formations of the French Massif Central, of Morocco and of northern Bulgaria, makes it possible today to better determine the limits of the areas exploited. The study is based on a complete examination of the evolution of flint on three scales (macroscopy, microscopy, ultramicroscopy) thus representing an improvement over petro-archaeology which traditionally uses the methods of petrography, mineralogy and micropaleontology. Moreover, the reconstitution of the initial shapes of material clarifies the technical procedures implemented for their exploitation. This methodological innovation, based on a rigorous sampling, makes it possible to present the results of an integrated analysis of the geological samples in their areas of natural diffusion. It proposes a refined paleogeographic vision of the removal made by men in these areas and of their anthropic and natural transformation at the archaeological site. The original diffusion of this scientific study, which is still in progress, is based on a platform of content management and groupware, called Map’N, which integrates access to cartographic webservices and online functions of geocoding of the iconographic and cartographic documents used or produced by these research projects.
• Le SIG (SIGRem et AtlasMed): un outil générateur d’évolution des pratiques en parallèle à la mise en place des projets
  As part of the projects SIGRem and AtlasMed involving teams from the University of Reims, two steps were developed for the use of spatial data of various origins (archaeological, geographical, historical, etc.) with a Geographical Information System. Firstly, a global database called GISSAR was constructed and linked to a GIS begun in 2003 to allow the grouping and the working of information coming from different studies in the field of archaeology. Then, this collection of data files (photographs, plans, cards, texts, pictures, etc.) of all kinds should be considered when managing information, to put results online.
• Understanding urban fabric with the OH_FET model based on social use, space and time
  The proposed principle for understanding the urban fabric is based on considering the town as a set of complex objects, taking a systemic approach. The town system used to study the urban fabric over large time spans is composed of three sub-systems relating to historical objects from the level of the excavation to that of the former urban space: function (social use), space (location, surface area and morphology) and time (dating, duration and chronology). The historical object is the analytical unit of the space studied. It is the Cartesian product of the three sets, Social use, Space and Time, from which it stems. On the basis of this process, the Historical Object (OH) is broken down into three types of simple object, functional (EF), spatial (ES) and temporal (ET). The thematic approach to the OH in an urban environment is based on social use, organized according to a hierarchical thesaurus. Space, the most formalized of the three sets, is structured on the model of a planar topological graph without isthmi. Time, always considered as continuous and linear, will be modelled through analogy with space using temporal topology defined in the field of artificial intelligence. The relationships between these three sets each characterize an interaction (social use-space, social use-time, time-space, or function-space-time). In addition to reconstructing the OH, they allow urban changes to be observed by analyzing the distributions and mapping of each of the entities singly or two-by-two. The originality of this procedure lies in its approach whereby it is possible to start not from the mapping of a phenomenon at a time t1 and comparing it to that at a time t2, but to look at it in the same way whether its input is social use, space or time. The heuristic value of this modelling lies in the shift from description (what, where, when) to understanding the phenomena of change (how, why).
• Le webmapping sous licence libre
  Webmapping allows us now to network tools originally integrated into GIS desk software. They can be found under free licence, with some of them in open source, and answer to the needs of scientific research as well as to their financial budgets. Research centers, corporations or institutions interested must at first define their expectations in order to elaborate the appropriate GIS to put online. With the use of static maps in HTML, vector images in SVG format, image managing with the Applet Java or the designated map servers, it is possible to create complete and complex maps. An administrator can easily adapt the interface and the tools available to the user’s needs. These solutions are compatible with the format of the files generated by other applications and do not require a meltdown of map files in order to be switched onto a new format. These programs can be associated with others available in open source such as GeoServer, in Java language, and MapServer, programmable in C++. Acting as a transactional interface, the GeoServer system consists in stocking and editing spatial objects into a network. MapServer is an asset for customizing and advancing the broadcasting tools for online dynamic maps. This year we have successfully presented our Master 2 University project in Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne entitled NeoArcheo. It puts into practice the web tools and services mentioned above.
• Implementation of Geoportal in open environment for the community of the Human Sciences and Society
  The Center for Digital Geospatial Resources “Methodologies of Modelling for the Spatial Information Applied to Human Sciences and Society” (M2SIA– M2ISA) was created in March 2006 by the CNRS. The purpose is to facilitate the pooling, exchange, access, transmission, broadcasting, and mutualization of spatial data as well as respect the international geographical standards of the ISO/TC211 from a portal and from a geoportal. The CSDR M²SIA (CRN M²ISA) is constituted by ten partners who belong to the network of the MSH. This structure depends on multi-third party architecture in an open environment. One of the third parties of this architecture is formed by the suppliers of data who correspond to the various MSH sites. These sites give cartographic services created under the ArcIMS software with the AXL language. These services are automatically joined into the architecture and directly consumable by the simple user via an interface developed in Javascript, HTML. The AJAX and Web 2.0 technologies are implemented.
• Un logiciel libre de Modelé Numérique de Terrain (MNT)
  The author describes a free software, originated in the same sphere as videogames programming, able to work under OpenGL and SDL. Its architecture is based on Delaunay triangulation algorithms and is aimed at rapidly creating 3D realistic Digital Terrain Models. The purpose of this free license software is to give archaeologists a simple tool to overcome complex traditional topographic design software. It allows direct data transfer from acquisition tools to servers for an immediate online elaboration (consultation, updating, changes, etc.). The optimal final result could be the combined use of this free software for topographic calculus.
• Il sistema informativo territoriale archeologico della città di Parma
  The «Sistema Informativo Territoriale Archeologico di Parma» is a project promoted by the National Archaeological Museum of Parma in partnership with the «Centro di Geotecnologie» of the University of Siena, the municipality of Parma and the «Compagnia Generale di Ripreseaeree». The aim of the project was to create an archaeological resource management GIS, which would be useful both to archaeologists and to the municipality for city planning. The GIS was built with ESRI ArcInfo. The relational structure of its geo-database, managed with ArcCatalog, permits the use of a data model based on separate tables for the attributes of archaeological sites, associated archaeological investigations, and the data that constitutes the archive of the sites. The attribute tables are linked directly to spatial objects and base maps managed in ArcMap and provide the essential spatial search and query needed to manage the data effectively. The system is based on the 1:5.000 Regional Technical Map, that provides a spatial framework and information about roads, properties and administrative boundaries; it is integrated with aerial photographs and historical charts. This GIS consists of a spatial object that defines the location and/or boundaries of a broad range of data, from prehistoric sites to larger Roman and medieval structures. The associated attribute information for each of those sites is defined by the default thesauri, i.e. lists of preferred terms for describing types of archaeological sites. In the first step the study had concerned the old town centre of Parma; at this time the GIS holds nearly 400 archaeological sites and provides the main source of information about the archaeological excavations in the city. Some thematic maps of Parma have been created including a distribution map, chronological maps, an archaeological potential map. In the next phase the project will be extended to the whole municipal territory.
• Gestione informatizzata dei dati archeologici e dei sistemi GIS. Applicazione al sito di Hierapolis di Frigia
  The system used for organizing the data from the excavation at Hierapolis, a sample site for this research project, represents an example of the application of the methodology of GIS to a stratigraphically excavated site. The use of this methodology, based on the logical structuring of data in independent layers, makes it possible to reconstruct the micro-dynamics typical of a stratigraphic excavation. Once the archaeological layers are separated, divided and organized according to their geographic position, they are treated as a series of divisible and superimposable layers which can be used in order to create the floor plans of single monuments and, more generally, maps showing the different phases of the city. This type of data management makes it easier to understand the spatial organization and transformation of a city over time.
• The Tiber Valley Project. The role of GIS and databases in field survey data integration and analysis
  Information Technology is at the heart of the Tiber Valley Project, from the integration, storage and analysis of data, through project management to the visualization and dissemination of results. Here, some of the ongoing applications of this technology, both implicit and explicit, have been presented. Detailed results will be published as the project continues, with a synthetic volume currently in preparation (PATTERSON et al. in preparation).
• Il GIS del sito romano di Podere Cosciano: un esempio di gestione integrata dei dati di scavo
  Between 1999 and 2001, as part of the project Archaeology of Volterra and its territory, excavation took place at a rural site of the Roman period, situated near the old village of Montegemoli (Pomarance, Pisa). For the systematic management of all the mainly paper documentation gathered during the various excavations (US records, records of finds, plans of strata, reliefs and sections, matrix, photographs, IGM cartography), an information system within the scope of GIS technology was planned and set up. The results achieved are presented in this work, with particular reference to the methodology followed. Moreover, attention is drawn to the advantages obtained by using GIS technology, which has enabled complex phenomena and spatial-temporal relations to be represented and analysed at a multiplicity of levels, as well as acting as a support for objective interpretative evaluations.
• ARKIS-NET: un web-GIS per il progetto di conservazione assistito
  The ARKIS-NET project is focused on an innovative vision of the conservation of cultural heritage, in which the role of the access to different knowledge levels to dynamically use information is fundamental. ARKIS-NET is an evolution of ARKIS (Architecture Recovery Knowledge Information System), an Information System developed in recent years and dedicated to the management, analysis and representation of heterogeneous data, from the artefact scale to the territorial one, used as support to conservation, safeguard and fruition of cultural heritage. ARKIS-NET provides the foundation for disseminating high-end heterogeneous data, organised and represented in GIS form, and mapping services via the Internet. An user-friendly interface allows remote users to make analyses and query on data, integrating them with local data.
• Tecnologie GPS e Personal Data Assistant applicati all'archeologia dei paesaggi
  The Department of Medieval Archaeology of the University of Siena has been engaged for several years in the testing of GPS survey application for landscape archaeology. In the first section of this paper we have summarised the GPS application developed for field-walking, aerial, geophysical and topographical surveys. In the second section we have discussed the fact that, since the second half of the 1990s, we have felt a progressive disjunction between work in the laboratory and work in the field. While the availability of advanced technologies has been rapidly growing, activities in the field have continued to make use of instruments and methodologies developed in the 1970s. A mobile GIS system managed through the merging of PDA and GPS technologies represents at the moment the best available solution for restoring the link. The conclusions reached in our experiments using these devices consistently go far beyond the increased fieldwork efficiency and finally make it possible to systematically apply strategies and methodologies developed in the past but rarely used up to now because they were too time consuming.
• Topologia: identificazione, significato e valenza nella ricerca archeologica
  Topology is the science to manage and identify spatial relationships between geometrical features. Application of topology in archaeology means the possibility of analysing the logic of space as it was in the mind of ancient communities or as it has been fixed in stratigraphical contexts by post-depositional effects. Qualitative definition of proximity, continuity, connection and of many other spatial properties, included since the earlier registration on the field for each archaeological feature, broaden the capability to find out spatial relationships and formal representation of logical expression of space. The intent of this paper is to deal with the apparently difficult aspect of topology, starting from recent applications in architecture or, only partially, in archaeology. It suggests to find out methods of approach through a new form of stratigraphical unit and through representations of system theories and graphs. A case study of architectural protohistorical complex is presented for application of these principles and facilitate the comprehension of the use of topology. The development of GIS is always more directed to record and ensure spatial topological data and it appears to be the best way for future applications in archaeology.
• Modello dei dati e trattamento del dato sul GIS di scavo
  The paper focuses on the problems related to archaeological excavation data management through the use of a GIS solution; it considers aspects ranging from the planning of an open and functional data model, fitting the complexity of stratigraphy, to the possibilities of data processing such as the production of thematic maps or the elaboration of interpretative and predictive models using statistical and mathematical tools. It also discusses the difficulty of 3D data recording, as well as the recent technological development of Internet mapping servers and web-based dynamic GIS systems.
• L'Atlante informativo dei beni culturali 'Cluster': da strumento di ricerca a portale di diffusione multimediale della conoscenza
  The Second University of Naples has been working, for the last three years, on a cultural heritage atlas of the most interesting areas of the Caserta district, for the first time considering this region as a single unit, in terms of archaeological and historical evidence, from antiquity to modern times. Therefore, the data model - designed to classify the evidence - permits the virtual repatriation of cultural resources that have either been transferred or destroyed throughout the last centuries. It also permits the expansion of the scale of investigation, from the reading of the landscape through time to the archaeological excavation of the most significant areas, such as Calatia (Maddaloni, Caserta). Nevertheless, the object of the research was a multi-faceted reality, in terms of quality, spatial and temporal dimensions and chronology. For that reason, the information system developed has a complex architecture, structured on the usual four dimensions, including the temporal level. Great importance has been given to the development of a multi-medial information system, supporting all the different experts involved in research (archaeologists, experts in ancient topography, art historians, architects) and the different sources, such as aerial photographs, ancient cartography, files, images, both ancient and new. The hardware is also innovative: it enables the user to integrate both Intranet and Internet solutions and to use both fixed and mobile equipment, as well as to acquire images both through scanners and digital cameras. The engine for data base processing is SQL Server at the moment, even if a future exploitation of Oracle is considered; the input/output clients are carried out through Microsoft Access 2002. The GIS engine is ESRI and it is fully integrated with the applications through a viewer, designed to allow bidirectional queries, both from cartography to database and vice versa. This information system is structured to run on Intranet at the moment; meanwhile a consultation and input data pilot project of image files has been started up, before sending the information collected on Web. The viewer GIS has been set up for use in a Web GIS context.
• The landscapes of power: visibility, time and (dis)continuity in central Italy
  Interpreting the results of computerised methods in archaeology cannot be done without a reference to theoretical archaeology. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the theoretical assumptions behind the use of GIS and visibility analysis in modelling controlled territories. An underlying assumption is that changing locations of settlements are related to changing needs of communities in their environment. The relationship between visible areas and those needed for subsistence is reviewed in a specific context. The case studies presented are those of Nepi and Gabii. The different position these sites had in central Italian settlement hierarchies is discussed in relation with the interwoven relationship between assumptions on and interpretations of the results of visibility analyses.
• 'Segeda Project': the I.T. management of the territory of a Celtiberian city-state
  This article defends the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the management, analysis, examination and modelling of the archaeological data concerning the territory. Within this context, we outline some types of analyses that are being carried out with the use of GIS applied to the case of Segeda. Drawing on these and other experiments, we conclude that GIS technologies and their well-established capacity for the integration, analysis and examination of information from different sources constitute a particularly effective tool for the modelling of complex realities such as the one we are concerned with in our project.
• Considerazioni sulla reale 'usabilità' di mappe, GIS e cartografia a contenuto archeologico su Web
  An increasing number of scholars involved in archaeological studies and research projects are looking to the Internet as a means of making their results known. With the idea that a web designer should not work too far from the perceptions of the possible web user and bearing in mind some of the more recent discussions in the 'web-usability' debate, the author offers some considerations on the real and effective usability of these web-publications, with particular regard to maps, GIS and cartography, since these types of publications, by the very nature of their construction, should maintain their high communication potential.
• A GIS-based archaeological decision-support model for Cultural Resource Management
  Cultural resource management (CRM) work in the United States has recently produced vast amounts of data that are now being assembled in large databases. Thus, the potential has grown for useful site location models in support of heritage conservation. As Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become more powerful, they have become more useful to archaeologists. The realm of archaeological predictive modeling has grown to include at least three types of models that focus either on site-prospection, on understanding ancient ways of life, or on decision-support for cultural resource managers. Decision-support modelling seems to have the greatest near-term potential as a useful modelling tool. However, there are also significant methodological and theoretical issues yet to be resolved before such tools can be widely used. An example of an archaeological site location model currently in development illustrates the potential of decision-support modeling. Some of the problems inherent in site-prospection and ancient-behavior analysis can be avoided in models designed as decision-support tools.
• The Minoan peak sanctuary landscape through a GIS approach
  The research project, 'Building a cultural landscape model of Minoan peak sanctuaries through a GIS approach', based on a collaboration between the Institute of Mediterranean Studies (F.O.R.T.H.) and the Université Catholique de Louvain, aims to redefine the peak sanctuary, to clarify its function, and examine the relationship between the cultural and natural variables, which characterize the distribution of these sites in the Cretan landscape. To accomplish these goals we used advanced mapping techniques, satellite remote sensing, statistical analysis and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Intervisibility was investigated with viewshed analysis. A chronological evolution of the peak sanctuary landscape is proposed, explaining the location of the sanctuaries, in relationship to each other and other site types.
• Linking location and space to process using precision mapping
  Over the last five years global positioning systems (GPS) and electronic total stations (ETS) have become viable tools for use in archaeological field mapping. When used in conjunction GPS and ETS can generate precise, accurate, and georeferenced three-dimensional digital data sets in real time. As survey work proceeds, associated attribute tables incorporating field measurements and commentary can also be created, and the entire dataset can be imported directly into a geographic information system (GIS). This technique may be called precision digital mapping, and produces accurate, high density data sets of unprecedented richness. The revolutions in data management, visualization, and analysis made possible by GIS are now being mirrored by a revolution in field mapping techniques.
• Discretizzazione e modello-dati nei sistemi GIS
  Review article.
• La piattaforma GIS dello scavo. Filosofia di lavoro e provocazioni, modello dei dati e "soluzione GIS"
  It is our intention to present the experience accumulated in the last decade by the LIAAM (Laboratorio di Informatica Applicata all’Archeologia Medievale). In recent years we have worked to develop solutions for managing all types of information produced by an archaeological project. We have operated on different levels (from regional surveys down to detailed records of all the finds). In particular, all the data was administered within a system made up of three components: different GIS platforms, an alphanumerical database and a media database; these are linked by a system level application called OpenArcheo, directly engineered and developed at our Laboratory. Basic concepts of our system are the multidirectional links between information types (which allow the user to query and retrieve all the information related to a feature starting from any of the components mentioned above), modular organisation of the architecture in order to implement the ever changing variables and detail levels of archaeological research that suit the specific needs of every single project, and user-friendliness so that the management of complex data is possible for anyone who has a basic knowledge in the use of computers. In short, our aim is to optimise the management of information produced by archaeological projects and make it possible that the archaeologist has all the different kinds of data at hand in real time. Such a system, and particularly a “GIS solution”, is perfectly suited for the management of an excavation and the application of inter-site spatial and statistical analysis tools, organising each campaign of our projects and providing simulations of the parts we cannot investigate.
• La piattaforma GIS dello scavo di Poggio Imperiale a Poggibonsi. Dalla creazione del modello dei dati alla loro lettura
  This paper concerns the specific experience of our Laboratory in managing archaeological excavations on a GIS platform; the development process of our solution started five years ago and brought us, through successive stages of refinement, to an efficient data model. The basic idea was to reproduce on a graphic level the exact situation we find in the field. We therefore organised our objects according to an overall composite plan representing all the excavated layers, as well as the necessary landscape features, related only in spatial terms; detailed alphanumerical data and interpreted information were derived from the DBMS using specific identifiers. The objects were organised in views according to different parameters and queries; examples of views we created involved the surrounding landscape (e.g. with archaeological surveys, land cover and use, geology, etc.), preliminary investigations (with analytical surveys and crop-marks detection), and stratigraphical data (with a composite plan of all layers as well as analytical views based on chronological aspects, excavated structures, etc.).