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This paper describes a methodology for using the GIS Arc/Info system as an operating tool to study excavation finds and structures on an archaeological site. The choice of the archaeological sample site (Villa Rufolo, Ravello - Italy) and the definition of information and methodologies useful to its study and management were the result of collaboration between a photogrammetry partnership (S.F.M.) and the “N. Cilento” archaeological laboratory of the University of Salerno. The GIS architecture was developed starting from the analysis of methods common to both the research methodologies (landscape recognition and stratigraphic excavations), which define the phases of archaeological data manipulation. The main aim was to create a tool which, starting from the planimetric documentation of each excavation, could link the various environments to their related stratigraphic units through data derived both from the individual structures and from artefacts. Following Arc/Info data models, all information was arranged into a relational database. The Stratigraphic Unit (US) attribute forms the link which connects the graphical elements, geographical and spatial database, and the descriptive database. Data stored can be analysed using many criteria, and the GIS always makes it possible to display the graphic results of the analysis. Besides the management, integration and manipulation of the archaeological data assigned to the territory under investigation, with Arch/Info various data levels can be combined for the purpose of producing new types of information; this information is usually acquired by employing techniques of data overlapping and through statistic and classification processing of all the stratigraphic units related to the site. The next stage of our project will consist of a careful check of the results of the statistical and classification processes and the use of this model at other archaeological sites so as to exploit the GIS potential for comparing excavation data as well as the geomorphologic and geographic features of the various sites.
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For CRM the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is mainly related to the possibility of integrating archaeological data into territorial and town planning. The value of predictive models based on the construction of geo-environmental patterns has only recently been recognised. Spatial technologies have opened a whole new set of possibilities for the management of cultural resources, and the contribution of information technology to archaeological investigation makes it possible to reinterpret this protective action not only as a simple defence of the archaeological site, but as a dynamic exploitation and integration of the archaeological heritage into the territorial and town design. In Italy the diffusion of GIS at the inter-site level has been accompanied by the introduction of the concept of archaeological risk. This term has often been used incorrectly. In fact, it is more correct to refer to archaeological impact maps (AIM), borrowing the term from the Italian regulations governing the evaluation of environmental impact (VIA). An investigation based on the level of distribution of geographical information systems in Italian Public Administration has called attention to the increasing importance of GIS in urban planning. In the near future therefore, GIS will acquire a more strategic role, acting as a link and guaranteeing communication between policy makers and archaeologists. This paper examines the experience of an actual process of analysis and design of a GIS, designed for the management of cultural heritage. In particular, the aim is to offer operational and methodological guidelines for the development of the data models applied, in this specific case, to the analysis of the necropolis of Pontecagnano, an Etruscan-Campanian centre lying about 70 kilometres south of Naples. The system has been adjusted to the needs of different types of users: on the one hand, scientists interested in the reconstruction of the social, economic and cultural organisation of the ancient community, and on the other, operators involved in the preservation of cultural heritage through the promotion of a careful policy of development which would integrate the archaeological patrimony into urban planning.
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The study outlined here was conducted in order to show how the combined representation of a monument’s geometry, together with the morphology and distribution of the damage, the component materials and their physical characteristics, the historical-architectural analysis and environmental factors can be used to facilitate our understanding of the degradation processes. A correct management of the various aspects of our knowledge of our architectural heritage and the evaluation of its state of conservation, which are required for making a plan, implementing it and verifying the results, can only be achieved by constantly matching the specificity of the monument, after its exact geometry has been restored using elements obtained by means of historical and architectural analysis, the survey of the structure, building techniques and materials used, including those which describe its material status, considering individual buildings as a whole and systems of buildings as a group in its context. Information Technology (IT) was selected as the best means of creating environments that were the most suitable for the aims pursued and for use as an operating instrument. It was decided to translate the theoretical disciplinary model into a computer-based procedure in which the functions specific to the GIS - Geographic Information Systems - were transposed to an architectural scale. To this end, an Information System - ARKIS - is currently being configured. It is designed for the organisation, representation and utilisation of knowledge obtained from data regarding the architectural subject in question, its immediate context and its territorial location. Some actual applications are presented.
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Applicazione di un GIS intra-site al giacimento paleolitico di Garba IV – Melka Kunture (Etiopia). Spatial analysis has been widely utilised by Italian archaeologists to obtain territorial information at an inter-site level, but only a few attempts have been made to study the organisation of Early Palaeolithic paleosurfaces. The application presented here concerns the spatial analysis of the Early Palaeolithic site of Garba IV (Melka Kunture, Ethiopia). The excavation of two levels (C and D) over an area of more than 100 square metres has produced several thousand stone tools and faunal remains, which make it possible to attribute the site to the Developed Oldowan period, dated to 1.5/1.4 m.y. The entire set of data, concerning both the taphonomy and the techno-typological study of the lithic and faunal remains from level D, have been inserted in a database system (Microsoft Access and Excel). The plans of the excavation were drawn using Autocad and subsequently imported into the software Maplnfo and associated to the database. The management of the spatial data has been organised in order to meet the following goals: 1) Visualisation of the position and concentration of all the remains of the paleosurface D; 2) possibility of selecting the different classes of lithic materials and faunal remains in order to elaborate plans according to different themes; 3) application of statistical and quantitative methods together with spatial analysis to the study of each square metre of paleosurface D. The statistical and quantitative approach to the study of the frequency and density of particular tool types and faunal remains permit the identification of numerous hidden structures, which are probably related to several functionally differentiated areas of this Oldowan paleosurface.
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The purpose of this paper is to present an archaeological information system and multimedia application used to record, manage and diffuse the data provided by the excavations conducted, since 1976, in Braga, Portugal, and related to the “Urban Rescue Project of Bracara Augusta”. The Geographical Information System built to manage and process the archaeological information (SIABRA), created by a team from the Archaeology Unit of Minho University, which was responsible for the project, is presented here. A natural result and advantage of this system is to simplify and enhance spatial analysis and data articulation related to the main buildings which have already been found, as well as the urban interpretation. One further advantage is the three dimensional model reconstruction, where a specialist (archaeologist, architect, urbanist) can analyse and visualise complex and diachronic information concerning the Roman town, in order to simplify the global understanding of buildings, their reconstruction phases and the general relationships between them. The development of virtual environments reproducing archaeological sites, such as the Roman town of Bracara Augusta, can be considered as an important and powerful tool for facilitating the research of specialists and improving heritage consciousness.
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GeoARQUEOS is a programme designed with Avenue and Crystal Reports for the purpose of keeping the digital cartography of the Andalusian Archaeological Heritage updated. Its three basic functions may be summarised as follows: a) Automatic elaboration of digital coverages and data models using the information available in the Andalusian Archaeological Heritage Database (DatARQUEOS); b) Detection of geo-referencing errors in the resulting coverage (archaeological sites outside of their municipality boundaries and evident errors in the assignment of coordinates); c) Automatic comparisons between new and previous coverages, in order to offer information about the new, cancelled or modified archaeological sites in the new coverage. The GeoARQUEOS programme represents a considerable improvement in the handling of information related to the Andalusian Archaeological Heritage. This progress has been possible mainly because it acts as a means of quality control for the data by minimising the number of errors which escape manual filtering when information is stored in the system.
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Review article.
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In this paper we will briefly discuss the evolution of the solutions that the Chair ofEtruscology of the Bologna University applied to the topographic survey of the archaeological excavation in the Etruscan city of Marzabotto (BO). The operational choices, the instruments and the software used in the latest excavation fields will be presented here. We will then illustrate the applied experimental workflow and its possible further development in order to take full advantage of the possibilities and benefits offered by the 3D survey techniques.
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A new season of studies on the Etruscan-Roman city of Musarna have allowed us to establish that the city was occupied from the end of the 4th century BC up to the beginning of the 7th century AD, and that its foundation depended on a strategic and economic need of the Etruscan metropolis of Tarquinia, of which Musarna maintained its role of colony up approximately to 280 BC, when the entire territory was conquered by Rome. Later, the inscriptions and the epitaphs found in the site and in the nearby necropolis show that until the 1st century BC the only language spoken in Musarna was Etruscan, and that at least throughout the Hellenistic period, the administrative organization remained based on the model of a large Etruscan city. Therefore, the infrastructural networks, only partially restored later on, are fully Etruscan, as are the entire defense system and some public buildings, including a market and a portico built during various stages of the renovation of the square between the 3rd and 2nd century BC, as well as sacred buildings, such as two temples probably dedicated to Hercules and Bacchus. The excellent quality of the documentation of the urban plan made it possible to undertake a study aimed at determining the city’s spatial tracking practice. Some important considerations and insights on the organization of the territory have already emerged from this study and, in particular, we were able to verify on a territorial basis the size of the design module which had already identified on an urban scale. While this may already be considered an important result, the evidence of a design set on particular geometric properties prompts the investigation to highlight particular aspects of the Etruscan plan.
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The Po Valley was occupied by the Etruscans starting in the 9th century BC. This presence experienced a significant transformation from the mid-6th century BC, when the territory underwent a widespread colonisation process, which brought about a new pattern in the organization of the landscape. A network of farms and secondary settlements appeared and expanded around both old and new cities. Through the structuring power and the analytical potential of GIS, this research develops new perspectives on the reconstruction of the ancient landscape. In addition to cultural aspects closely related to Etruscan society, in this study we have taken into consideration the role played by the resources of the territory itself, both from economic and the transport network points of view. First, we briefly present the conceptual and physical structure of the GIS. It includes an archive of all the known sites N of the Apennines (541), dating to between the 6th and 4th century BC (managed in a relational database), and a set of geographic and thematic data of general interest, recorded in the same cartographic reference system, handled with GIS software. Second, on the basis of certain distinctive characteristics of settlements such as the size of the occupied area, the internal organization and the building techniques employed, a possible hierarchical subdivision of the settlements is identified. Further, the optimal pathways between major cities are hypothesised considering factors such as slope and the presence of rivers or streams, and a possible road network is calculated using the MADO model (optimal accumulation model of movement from a given origin). The final aim is to propose a settlement model that can then be compared to the reality of the current archaeological record.
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The paper focuses on some important results obtained by an integrated approach using archaeological evidence, papyrological sources and different kinds of technologies in order to reconstruct the urban development of the site of Bakchias, located in the north-eastern part of the Fayyum region (Egypt). The Mission of Bologna University has excavated ancient Bakchias at Kom Umm el-Athl for over twenty years. In particular, the latest studies, conducted in partnership with Sapienza University of Rome since 2005, have revealed several new elements which are useful for reconsidering the urban development of the kome. In 2011, a GIS was constructed not only in order to store and manage the large quantity of data collected during these years, but also to analyse and process the information and to optimise the research goals. Indeed, the latest-field activities have brought to light numerous structures, both public buildings and private houses in different sectors of the archaeological area. At the same time, an analysis of the papyrological and epigraphic sources was carried out so as to comprehend the useful information about the spatial content, activities and buildings recorded for the settlement. The research was completed using different surveying approaches. All the data thus obtained were merged together in a GIS environment, in order to collect and manage all the information and to integrate the individual elements in a coherent workflow process. Spatial or distributional analysis of the data relating to the site enabled us to draw a series of thematic and phase maps of the Bakchias site. The execution of these diachronic plans, representing different chronological phases of the town, allowed us to evaluate the historical development of the site and urban plan transformations.
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The Asculum Project started in 2012 by the Bologna University in agreement with the former Soprintendenza per iBeni Archeologici delle Marche and the Municipality of Ascoli Piceno, mainly as a project of urban archaeology and preventative archaeology in a city which has been inhabited for a very long period of time. A proper integrated methodology and the combination of a wide range of data, including that gathered from geophysical surveys, archaeological digs, historic cartography, bibliographic and archival data, allowed us to reconstruct the cityscape during the Roman Age and its development over the centuries. The understanding of the ancient urban landscape also included a detailed morphological study aimed at the reconstruction of the Roman paleosurface, carried out using data derived from coring samples and stratigraphic digs. In parallel, particular attention was directed to the modern 3D documentation of the historical buildings of the city, by means of laser scanner and the analysis of the stratigraphy of the surviving walls. The new surveys covered, in particular, the still extant Roman buildings, such as the temples incorporated by the churches of San Venanzio and San Gregorio Magno, as well as the Sostruzioni dell’Annunziata. These last acquisitions made it possible to reconstruct the overall layout and urban plan of the town during the Roman Age, as well as to shed new light on the conformation of the ancient landscape at the time of the oldest Piceni settlement. One of the most interesting aspects of the operating practices applied in the project was to reconcile the needs for preservation and research with the aim of a sustainable urban development.
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Located in the heartland of Central Asia, Samarkand has always been an economic, cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious hub along the ancient Silk Road. A regional approach, based on a GIS remote sensing assessment followed by field validation, was used here to reconstruct the urban evolution of Samarkand in connection with its hinterland. The basic archaeological features in the landscape (anthropic mounds, canals and burials) allowed us to reconstruct the main forms of land use and resource exploitation according to site distribution and chronology. If Samarkand was established as early as the Achaemenid period (late 6th century BCE), the evidence dated to that time from its hinterland is scarce. A first significant increase occurred during the post-Hellenistic centuries (3rd-1st centuries BCE), and reached the peak at the time of the most intense trade along the Silk Road just before the major changes following the Arab conquest of the early 8th century CE. Data also demonstrated how the development of Samarkand must be closely linked with a proper exploitation of its territory. A massive and complex irrigation system in the floodplain ensured the supply of water necessary to develop extensive farming and daily-life activities, while rain-fed foothills were used as pastures.
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Numana is one of the most important centers for the Picenian civilization and prospered in the Marche and Abruzzo regions during the Iron Age. Almost all of the archaeological evidence found until now refers to the necropoleis spread over a broad territory, while data concerning inhabited areas are quite scarce. Although findings are plenty, the study of Ancient Numana is quite incomplete. As a matter of fact, all the published materials are related to single burials or finds and there are no overall studies on its territory. A recent research project involving a wider sector of the largest Numana necropolis (Quagliotti-Davanzali), has not been published yet but offers a detailed description since the excavation documentation is available. The project sets out to consider burials as organized systems, offering information on cultural transformations and on the social organization of the ancient community. The systematic analysis of the data from the burial and the single funerary sets - to be organized in a specific GIS - will be accompanied by an investigation of the ancient landscape in its many components - necropolis and inhabited area - in its diachronic development, thanks to the results of other recent analyses carried out in the Numana territory (geomorphology, GIS of the archaeological map, new surveys of the territory). The scope of the project is therefore to analyze times, ways of arrangements, shapes of the Ancient Numana, in its definition of a territorial, inhabited, rural space, by using methods and techniques to record and read new data, to build knowledge in a scenario which can be integrated with results coming from future research.
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The interest of archaeological research on the Phlegraean Fields, in the Gulf of Naples, has been often concentrated on different topics: monumental architecture, thermalism, coastal otium villas. However, we are still missing a reasonable reconstruction of the ancient landscapes of the area with special regard to the peninsula between Baiae and Misenum. The recent PhD project at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has had the task of filling in the gap in local modern archaeology, and shifting the level of analysis from the ‘site’ to the ‘territory’: the study of individual monuments and surviving archaeological assemblages of the Roman town of Misenum, the main harbour for the Imperial navy, is now a part of the investigation of the urban organization of the municipium. The use of a dynamic and multidisciplinary research strategy has led to the creation of a new archaeological map for the area being investigated.
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From an archaeological perspective, one of the sites that best represents the western area of the province of Pavia, Lomellina, is Gropello Cairoli, due to the large number of discoveries, which had already been made by the end of the 19th century. Archaeological data chiefly concern the necropoleis, located in various parts of Gropello, while traces regarding settlements are scarcer. The chronological span goes from the end of the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD. Until now, the attention of experts has been focused principally on the detailed analysis of single necropoleis and on the numerous funerary furnishings, while a general overview of the development of Gropello has rarely been offered. A reconstruction of the chronological evolution of the territory and a historical-topographic synthesis has been proposed using a Database Management System and a Geographical Information System. All available spatial data, consisting of historical maps, aerial photos and sketches, were inserted in the GIS platform and the single burials were georeferenced, wherever possible, using the system of topographic overlay. At the same time all the information of non-spatial type, including the data relative to the artefacts and the burials, were fed into a specially created Relational Database. Therefore, it was possible to create specific queries, underlining particular chronological phases and analyzing the distribution of the evidence. The interpretation of the resulting data has suggested the presence of a widespread distribution of small settlements, with the funerary areas along the roadsides. An important demographic growth between the second half of the 1st century BC and the first half of the 1st century AD is evident, after which there is a slow decline suggested by the increasing rarity of archaeological finds.
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This paper proposes a GIS quantitative method for simulating dispersed distribution of sites in a landscape. A certain number of sites might have escaped archaeological detection due to the adverse surface visibility conditions experienced during field survey (the so-called missing sites). As regards early Roman colonial landscapes of central-southern Italy, these surface visibility factors were traditionally seen to be so dramatic as to have allegedly hampered the detection of the conventionally expected dispersed and densely-settled colonial farm landscape. In this paper the regional and site-oriented field survey conducted in Venosa (Basilicata, Italy) is used as a case-study to simulate a large amount of hypothetical early colonial sites. The aim of this theoretical exercise is to show how the rural dispersed settlement pattern expected by the conventional theory could appear on a map, and to visually highlight the divergence between survey data and conventional spatial expectancies.
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The site of Mount Bego is one of the most important rock art concentrations in Europe for recent Prehistory. After a study conducted for more than 45 years by Henry de Lumley, the majority of the 4,000 engraved rocks have been positioned and the near 36,000 engravings have been drawn. The engravings were firstly attributed to Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, on the basis of a comparison between the engraved weapons and real weapons that have been discovered in an archaeological context. During his PhD (2012), the author carried out the first systematic geostatistical analysis of the entire corpus, bringing out a series of effects (iconographic and geographic seriation, preferential location, etc.) in the engravings distribution. Thanks to the study of superimpositions, these quantitative results allow to consider a periodization of the main families of engravings. While weapon representations appear to be the most recent layer of engravings, reticulated figures and schematic horned figures seem to be the most ancient ones. Therefore, dating on the basis of weapon representations can no longer be considered valid for the entire corpus of engravings. Besides, Mount Bego site shows early occupations, as documented by archaeological artefacts (Cardial ceramics, Chassean flints, Recent Bell Beaker ceramics, etc.) and indices of human activities (certain since ca. 2400-1800 BC). This article presents the geostatistical predicates, methods (unimodality of realization periods of engraved themes, correlations, seriation, toposeriation, etc.) and principal results on which a first periodization frame has been built.
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Research on settlement dynamics is mainly based on data from archaeological field survey. This exploration method gives access to a large amount of information that enables to identify distribution tendencies and to establish a model of evolution of the settlement structure at different scales. Nonetheless, field survey data, even if chronologically dated, provide a partial record and a snapshot of the settlements. This static information lacks a certain number of parameters, which are essential to perceive the inherent evolution of the settlements and therefore to visualize it within the dynamics of the settlement trajectory networks. On the other hand, data from archaeological excavations enables to detect those phenomena. This paper proposes a methodological approach to use information collected during excavations in order to qualify and reinforce the analysis of the dynamics that rely on elements from field survey. While studying the dynamics of the settlement system during Antiquity in the Plateau lorrain (France), the use of evolving data from excavations offers solutions which balance and improve the static approach stemming from field survey data.
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The study of water cults in Gaul suffers not only from a great deal of variability in the quality of the available data, which is a common issue in archaeology, but also, more specifically, from the burdening of past historiographical approaches, which contributed to conveying a distorted view of the phenomenon. Accordingly, our main problems lie in site identification and reliability assessment. Until recently this uncertainty was avoided by widening the study to all sites with at least one characteristic attribute, or conversely, by limiting the corpus to the best documented sites. It seemed necessary to develop tools that would exploit this uncertainty, to study the phenomenon in the most complete possible way. These tools take the form of a database, associated with a GIS, leading to the practical evaluation of a site potential using a calculation grid.
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The understanding and representation of spatial evolution over the time are at the core of two PhDs. These studies largely rely on the comparison of diverse inventories of the same territory from tax documents and maps: terriers and compoix. These documents provide a lot of information on the structure of rural and/or urban areas. However, comparing this kind of information, which was compiled in successive periods, is sometimes difficult, especially because of frequent absence of maps related to the registers. Thanks to ANR ModelEspace’s work, it is now possible to study these documents by exploiting their topological properties: information from textual and/or planimetric sources is modelled as a graph which permits a comparison in order to analyse the spatial dynamics of land over time. That is why this method for processing spatial data is applied to the territory of Blandy-les-Tours (77) and Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (82) to observe land tenure, social and landscape dynamics.
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Over the past few decades Geographical Information Systems in archaeological practice and above all in urban archaeology have become a standard tool for understanding the development of late antique towns. This paper analyses the city of Ravenna as a case-study, illustrating some standard and innovative GIS applications in a city characterised by non-systematic archaeological research. GIS helped us to systematize archaeological investigations and to guide city planning. New important excavations, in Piazza Kennedy, with the discovery of the 5th c. church of S. Agnese, and other smaller trenches in the city centre, add a fundamental collection of archaeological data. The creation of new chronological evaluation maps highlighted empty research zones in the old city, where urban archaeology should focus new excavations and archaeological evaluation projects.
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The author illustrates the graphic documentation process that has been developed during the excavations at Sofiana in the Municipality of Mazzarino (CL, Sicily), as part of the Philosophiana Project. The project started in 2012 thanks to the cooperation between the Universities of Cornell, Cambridge and Messina and since the beginning it was necessary to document the excavations speedily, but without the loss of measurement accuracy featuring a well-established methodology of archaeological survey. The pipeline of the work has consisted in digitising archaeological contexts in a GIS platform from an orthophoto produced with 3D photomodeling. This process resulted in an optimal documentation according to the project requirements. The author also focuses on the importance of graphic documentation, which should be as important as the excavation process itself. Despite archaeology having a long tradition in the field of archaeological survey, this process is often perceived as a necessity rather than a key research tool. For this reason surveys are not always carried out by a professional figure, causing a lack of homogeneity in the final data.
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Methodological reflection on communication in archaeology greatly developed over the past fifteen years. It is now widely accepted that video-narrative medium has a larger potential compared with other media commonly used up to now. The archaeological video can be divided into some different categories - documentary, video update, docudrama - each of them potentially destined to a variety of audiences when the movie is inserted into a narrative framework. By its nature, the archaeological site of Vignale, where the relative poverty of the remains on the ground sharply contrasts with the richness of the 'stories' the site itself can narrate, is an ideal place to test the docudrama-model video. Initially intended to be just an instrument for communicating with and involving local population in the archaeological project as a whole, the video-narrative proved to be a powerful tool in stimulating the research group itself towards a more thoughtful and 'multivocal' recording of the fieldwork done. The output of the project was the making of a brief 'series' of videos, with the general title of 'The Excavation and its Stories. They were initially used as an educational support for younger students in archaeology, but later obtained a wider audience through the web.
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Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.
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The authors analyze, as a sample-area, the region that includes the municipality of Mogoro, in central-western Sardinia, with the objective to reconstruct, through the study of the settlements and their relationships, some economic and social aspects of the human groups of nuragic culture that inhabited this area between the 18th and the 8th century BC. The territory is located at the foot of Monte Arci, along the Mogoro river that runs through the southern part of the plain of the Campidano of Oristano. The area has been intensively investigated from the half of the past century; an in-depth stratigraphic investigation was carried out since 1994 near the nuragic site of Cuccurada, the main center of an articulated territorial system including a rich network of monuments related to the nuragic civilization. The results are illustrated through various research methods: GIS, with the application of spatial analysis tools, and multivariate analysis (cluster and principal components analysis) that allowed to set out new hypotheses on occupation and populating dynamics and to identify among pre-historical monuments one or more homogeneous and distinguishable groups, resulting from a database in which geomorphological characteristics are recorded. A hierarchical organization and a specific criterion for exploiting and monitoring the landscape have been developed, in which settlement choices depend on functionality criteria, having nuraghi and villages a key role on the strategic control of the territory.
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Plough zone archaeology is revealed to us by post-depositional processes that move, abrade, disperse, obscure and change the composition of surface find assemblages, biasing the interpretation of survey data. The tuff bedrock that is characteristic of the geology of large parts of Central Italy is well known to be prone to erosion, which has been accelerated due to the long and intensive agricultural exploitation of the landscape. In the case of the ancient Latin settlement of Crustumerium (North-Rome) the adverse effects of erosion on the preservation of the archaeological record have been stressed by several scholars. One of the objectives of the archaeological fieldwork on Crustumerium by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology, in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma, is to investigate the nature and impact of these taphonomic processes for the archaeology of this ancient urban area. The current paper investigates the history of land-use on the site of Crustumerium on the basis of elevation information in topographical maps covering a period of a century. The authors will quantify the geomorphological changes on the basis of a diachronic analysis of digital elevation models generated and compared within a GIS. The result is a series of maps in which the degree of erosion and subsequently the expected preservation of subsurface archaeology is defined for the entire settlement area. Maps like this can help guide future research plans, but can also assist in the interpretation of currently available data.
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This article describes the methods used within the Archaeology of Architecture in Romagna research project and in particular the structure and principles of the database. The results obtained in the following fields are illustrated: transformation of the architecture of churches and castles, medieval building technologies, ancient measuring standards, and clients. We selected 47 sites, including 7 ecclesiastical and 40 defensive buildings (castles). In the urban landscape the research focused on one of the most significant ecclesiastical buildings in Ravenna: the church of Santa Croce. Expanding into the field of monumental landscaping, a new project focused on a census of moulds and the forms of ancient building materials (campioni mensori) in northern Italy. In medieval Italian communes craftsmen and traders had to follow many rules to ensure the honesty and integrity of trades. All the members within the same administrative district had to use same systems of linear measurements and weights. Samples of these were exhibited on the walls of public buildings. Our methodological approach for the study of a monument uses the ancient measurements in order to understand the identity of clients, the origin of the workers and the chronology of architectures. The last part of the article suggests future goals of the research project.
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The paper focuses on the preliminary assessment of the archaeological landscape around Tell Mardikh-Ebla (Syria). The ERC funded Ebla Chora Project allowed to conduct a systematic collection of findings from the site and its surrounding neighbors. The information from previous surveys was combined with the data from spatial datasets (topographical maps, aerial photos, satellite images, DEMs) in order to provide a first inventory of sites of the Eblaite chora. A preliminary interpretation of the development of settlement pattern and territory exploitation is now possible, especially for the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC) when Ebla was the capital of a vast kingdom. Many potential sites were also detected, however their validation requires a field inspection which is currently suspended because of the civil war.
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A case-study is examined concerning the location/allocation strategies of the High Taro Valley (Parma-Italy) during the Middle to the Late Bronze Age and a predictive analysis is performed on the basis of a locally-sensitive application of T. Higuchi's (1998) model. The current work derives from a PhD project carried out by the author at the University of Padova. First, the research project database is presented, then three different analyses performed in mountainous environment are illustrated: two viewshed-based and one distance-based. The first is intended to analyze the visual control of each site on the surrounding landscape and to propose the clustering of sites in different geographical districts following the datum of their intervisibility inside a given buffer. The second seeks to highlight the high rate of overall control of Bronze Age sites over the entire landscape. The distance-based analysis shows a high correspondence between Bronze Age sites and ophiolites formations, known in academic literature as geological formations rich in chalcopyrite and possibly related to bronze metallurgy.
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This paper presents the ongoing Ager Lucerinus project, as part of the Archaeological Map of Italy - Forma Italiae project. The main aim of the study was to undertake a complete historical reconstruction of the cultural landscape of the colonial territory of Luceria (Apulia), including the border area between the Tavoliere and the Daunian Subappennines. The extensive and systematic survey of the whole study area was combined with the collection of GPS georeferenced data integrated into an ad hoc GIS. All monumental and structural archaeological features, as well as scattered materials on the surface were georeferenced, their shapes and sizes perfectly represented. The paper also illustrates the project to safeguard the settlement at Chiancone (Pietramontecorvino) as a representative example of the synergy between Universities, the Superintendency and local authorities. The survey allowed us to identify a vast settlement dating back to the 5th-4th centuries BC. The extensive archaeological excavations undertaken in 2012 and 2014 confirmed the presence of a Daunian settlement and brought to light the earthen grave of a warrior, characterised by the richness of the grave goods. These data are also of great importance for understanding the boundaries and the connections between the so-called Daunian and Samnite territories, also confirmed by ancient literary sources.
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Digital maps linked to GIS platforms are extremely effective tools for the knowledge of the archaeological heritage and its management. Currently available GIS cloud is very useful for the remote sharing of archaeological data, because it is able to index and quickly retrieve heterogeneous information from large databases. A cartographic engine embedded in the system makes the cloud more powerful and allows users to share geospatial archaeological data quickly on the web. This is very important in collaborative research projects and for dissemination. The Laboratory of Ancient Topography, Archaeology and Remote Sensing of IBAM CNR is experimenting an open source suite to create a fully working GIS in the cloud system. This suite is composed of different databases (MySQL, postgreSQL, postGIS), a cartographic engine and a web client (QGIS server, QGIS Web Client), and a http server (Apache Web Server), all embedded in the owncloud cloud system. The system is currently being tested for the realization of the digital archaeological maps of the cities of Lecce and Taormina, now in progress in cooperation with the University of Salento and Messina and the Archaeological Superintendence of Apulia Region and Messina Province.
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The wreck of the ship Mercurio lies at a depth of 17 m, off Punta Tagliamento, between the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions. It was discovered in 2001, and was excavated in 2001, and again between 2004 and 2011, by Carlo Beltrame (Università Ca’ Foscari) in collaboration with the local archaeological superintendency. It was a brigantine, belonging to an Italian-French squadron, sunk during the battle of Grado in the 1812. Problems typical of post-Medieval ships (especially when military), such as the complexity of the aspect because of the presence of metal concretions and a lot of items of different materials and typologies and the difficulties in documenting very small objects (such as the many buttons of uniforms) with the photogrammetrical system, were solved with the use of an intra-site GIS on a Quantum GIS open source application. The GIS allowed us not only to manage the large amount of information (site-plans, topological positions of the items, photos, etc.) produced during the excavations, but also to answer questions about the dynamics both of the sinking and the formation processes and, thanks to the use of a system of virtual frames, about the location of the nautical equipment, the links between the human skeletons and the personal objects and parts of the uniforms and the location of the caulker store-room.
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The Roman necropolis and amphitheater of Carmona (Seville, Spain) were excavated and opened to the public at the end of the Nineteenth century. Because of this long continuity, the Carmona Archaeological Ensemble boasts a special trait: a broad archaeological documentary archive. Efficient management of this store of information that is updated and added to on a daily basis required a computer application that could gather, integrate, conserve and facilitate the use of this volume of data from different sources. At the same time, it was considered necessary for researchers to have online access to the core substance of the information. Our information system for CAC was developed over the course of five years and is called SICAC. All of the graphic and alphanumerical data is organized in the same environment, thereby guaranteeing their integration, availability, quality and accessibility. SICAC has three platforms: desktop, online and mobile.
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This study belongs to the branch of research dedicated to the interpretation of the archaeological landscape using innovative models for the information analysis, managing and fruition of the land. To this aim, a preliminary analysis was carried out in order to identify the characteristic elements of the area being studied which are fundamental for landscape description. The study of material evidence is directly related, in this sense, to environmental resources in a diachronic key. The territory of Sila (Calabria) was considered as a case study and the work was divided into different essential steps, respectively concerning fact-finding elaboration, description and evaluation of data in the historical, environmental, settlement, functional and relational system of this territory. Using matrixes represented by descriptive elements of the landscape, it is possible to relate the natural, environmental, historical and archaeological features of places. The main point in this kind of approach is not territorial analysis but the development of synthesis models that make it possible to interpret the complexity of human-environment interaction. The Geographic Information System is one of the techniques for landscape analysis based on qualitative and quantitative environmental data with a great capacity for spatial interpretation of the structural properties of the landscape according to different natural and human gradients. GIS was designed to compare spatial data to temporal ones and this feature made it possible for us to elaborate interpretative approaches for understanding the way in which ancient populations made use of natural resources over the centuries.
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The Adulis Project started in 2011, directed by the Ce.RDO in collaboration with the Centre for GeoTechnologies of the University of Siena and the National Museum of Eritrea. The project aims to investigate and promote the cultural heritage of the ancient port site of Adulis, one of the most important archaeological sites in Eritrea and East Africa. The paper presents the results of the first two campaigns. First of all, we analyzed the satellite imagery to identify traces of buried archaeological elements. Then, three excavation areas were opened to unearth some of the structures already identified in the excavations of the last century, as well as to investigate the stratigraphy of the site in areas where archaeological excavations have never been conducted. In conclusion, a GPS survey was conducted on the whole area to elaborate a detailed map of the site, to create a DEM and to position all the archaeological structures that are visible on the surface. All the stratigraphic, topographic and cartographic data were managed in an open source GIS, based on the combination of the desktop mapping software Quantum GIS and the plugin pyArchInit.
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This study shows how the analyses conducted using different kinds of disciplines (geo¬morphology, archaeology, history) can be an excellent way to focus on the origin of settlements and their attributes. The relational database is based on a ranking of archaeological, geological and historical data, followed by a single form of recording, such as excavation documentation (mapping and topography of settlements), or historical and hydrographical details. The use of a standard lexicon simplifies the implementation of data, according to a SQL language, while the data entry appears as a single window with direct access to all of the system. The GIS platform can be used for the analysis of geological (morphological and geological studies, coring), histori¬cal (cartographical sources) and archaeological data (survey, study of known materials). As a result, this approach led us to create different kinds of thematical maps, like morphological and hydrographical reconstructions of the past, by studying the underground and georeferencing historical charts. Subsequently, through a subdivision of layers, archaeological evidence was classified also by chronological and typological levels. This study allowed us to obtain a cross analysis between the concentration of archaeological material and environmental conditions at different levels of visibility. These results made it possible to evaluate the archaeological potential and the units, which were calculated by the relation between the density of evidence, the presence of alluvial deposits, the urbanization level and the water-bearing stratum, gave us an overview of the landscape evaluation.
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Since 2002, the Italian Mission of CNR-ITABC has been operating in the archaeological complex of Chan Chan (Peru), which is the largest pre-Columbian settlement entirely built with adobe. In 1989 Chan Chan was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The main purpose of the work is aimed at the conservation, documentation and use of the site and of the territory that is related to Chan Chan from a historical and cultural point of view. The urban structure of Chan Chan, which is spread over a surface of 14 km2, has a number of buildings which characterizes the town at both an architectural (ciudadelas, huacas, huachaques) and decorative level (bas-reliefs, geometrical motifs). In order to achieve our research goals, we had to arrange for the combined use of various analysis techniques that would provide both urban and architectural information about the town. The data we obtained allowed us to make a more up-to-date interpretation of the urban fabric and revealed intriguing details regarding the construction phases of one of its palaces which will be helpful both for the planning of the Archaeological Park and the restoration project of the Palacio Rivero.
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The SITAR project, designed to implement the GIS Archaeology of Rome, was started in 2007 by the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma (SSBAR). The starting point for the SITAR project was the SSBAR requirement to digitize and manage a large quantity of administrative and scientific data concerning Cultural Heritage. This project was developed at a crucial point in which the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities was rethinking the Territorial Information System, the data standardization and data sharing system used in the past decades. It was the input to the new institutional Open Approach. This aspect is apparent in the proposed SITAR data model, whose linearity is applied in the same basic logical levels already identified and well-structured information architecture of the System and those that will be tested. The additional advantage of SITAR is precisely the possibility of splitting archaeological knowledge into these core levels and reassembling it under the guidance of those who have the tools and scientific knowledge to do so. The SSBAR aspires to the creation of an archaeological ‘cadastre’ of Rome which is an approved and certified basis created according to information on legal and administrative aspects of archaeological science. In addition, the comparison with other institutions actively engaged in testing new multimedia technologies applied to cultural heritage has encouraged the evolution of SITAR to 3D data modeling and the development of procedures to test the archaeological potential.
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This article describes the construction of a Geographical Information System for the study of the medieval pottery in Sicily between the 9th and the first half of the 13th century. The creation of a dedicated GIS enables us to organize and manage the large amount of data from archaeological excavations and surveys conducted on the island, while preserving their spatial relationships and accelerating the process of data analysis. This approach allows us to draw a historical synthesis based on the ceramic evidence and to propose a socio-economic model for Sicily. The system is based on two components, a relational database and a GIS platform linked together and able to integrate two kinds of information, the descriptive one and the geographical one. The aim of this system is to produce, on a regional scale, thematic maps of the distribution of medieval pottery in Sicily. Features are represented through points instead of polygons, so that the objects are visible at a small geographical scale. The system allows queries at different levels of detail, to show the distribution of the different wares, shapes, or types, etc. This system has been developed for the study of medieval pottery, but its structure can be implemented at any time by adding new modules. Future development will include the complete filing of archaeological sites dated to between the 9th and the 13th century (so far limited to those that yielded ceramic evidence).
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When attempting the recovery and reutilization of historic architecture, an in-depth knowledge of the artifact and its physical, environmental and historical context represents the first step required for its protection. Another important step is the choice of a methodology for transforming heterogeneous data into organized data. The aim of this research is to propose a method to construct a data map of the architectural heritage and the multidisciplinary aspects that qualify it (construction techniques and materials, material decay factors, signs of disastrous events in the past on buildings and the urban fabric, etc.). Thanks to the GIS environment it is possible to link together geometric, spatial and relational elements and then to develop quantitative and qualitative analyses based on spatial methods for typological and structural classification and to evaluate surfaces and structures. The design of the GIS architecture is fundamental, in order to contain data coming from different paths of knowledge acquisition (observed in loco or coming from documentary sources, derived from spatial analysis or instrumental investigations). In this way an important instrument for diagnostics, urban planning and conservation management can be created. The project is in its initial phase. The case study concerns the indigenous architecture of the historical center of Cancellara (PZ).
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Data acquisition digital methodologies have become a reliable tool for surveying buildings with heritage values. Laser scanning has become the preferred method for performing 3D digital surveys because of its high accurate results; even though, the cost associated with it is usually high. Emerging technologies have been able to produce low-cost data acquisition methods, and they are currently being incorporated as part of digital survey projects. Using the ‘Domus of the Calendar’ as a case study – an exceptionally unique archaeological and architectural site that was incorporated to the structural foundation system of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore – the present investigation aims to evaluate the data quality of two low-cost emerging technologies, namely SfM (Structure from Motion) and the iPad LiDAR system. This evaluation was developed by comparing low-cost technologies data acquisition capabilities with those of the laser scanner. The data for this test was obtained during an integrated survey campaign aimed at executing a critical analysis of the many historical layers of the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica. The results obtained from this investigation highlights the reliability of the different techniques implemented and suggest a useful solution for different and recurrent multi-scalar contexts.
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Ghoufi is located in the Aurès Valley, near the ‘Oued El Abiod’. Its location, next to the panoramic road RN31, is referred to as ‘Balcon de Ghoufi’ because - from above - you can perceive the depth of the canyon (500/1200 m) and the beauty of the place, scattered with Berber villages (vernacular semitrogloditic architecture), terracing, water collection systems, palm groves, orchards and gardens. The Aurès Valley - a thoroughfare since ancient times, a caravan route between the desert and the Mediterranean Sea - has been the subject of archaeological explorations by Pierre Morizot since 1957-1962, which established the chronology of the settlements. This valuable work has been supplemented by ongoing research. This territory still retains the morphological and hydrographic peculiarities that justify the Berber settlement choice despite the fact that unfortunately the places have been abandoned following a recent flood. From 2016 activities of survey and research, directed by the University Badji Mokhtar of Annaba and the Polytechnic of Milan resumed at Ghoufi. These activities are aimed in particular at surveying archaeological and architectural artefacts, conservation interventions to address deterioration and instability and valorisation projects. Since 2017 the research has been funded by the MAECI. The project begun with the collection of documentation and knowledge of the Ghoufi site in a GIS environment. It prefigured a preliminary scenario for its conservation and reuse, following an approach of archaeological sustainability respectful of the characteristics of the site, the territory and the Country.
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Sri Ksetra, in Myanmar, is an inhabited archaeological area in which rural landscape, widespread built heritage and archaeological evidences are intertwined with presence of numerous villages. In 2014 the three Pyu cities were named as the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in Myanmar: despite the premises, Sri Ksetra, Beikthano and Halin were not listed as ‘cultural landscapes’ sites but recognized as ‘cultural’ sites. Field research in 2015 highlighted emerging issues in the management and safeguarding of inhabited archaeological sites. The investigation raises critical issues concerning the conservation and management of the rural landscape as heritage, in view of a sustainable development of the site in favour of those who live there.
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When performing restoration work, it is not only the technical elements that come into play, but also social, economic and cultural aspects. This approach sees restoration as one continuous flow of ideas and operational plans, based on a fusion of disciplines and on collaboration between multiple players. These players, in various ways and for different motives, all take part in a restoration project, from diagnostics and planning to construction site management and even until the final result can be enjoyed by users, and they do so by constantly respecting the uniqueness of each individual situation. The collaborative relationships and partnerships formed on a restoration site foster a sense of belonging and mutual responsibility. The pro- cess of restoration may present a valuable opportunity for the community to come together, offering chances to raise cultural and civil awareness whilst encouraging people to collectively reflect on rediscovering and safeguarding local history. After all, a region may be embodied in a monument which the community can look to in order to identify and recognise themselves. The training of restoration architects is of particular importance in regions frequently affected by natural disasters or where local construction practices are being gradually left behind and traditional ways of living are undergoing radical transformation. If a restoration policy is to be considered conscientious and respectful of local communities, it must actively involve local people in restoration work. Attention should be paid to how these communities may dynam- ically evolve over time, as well as to the stresses and strains they are under. As such, projects must take account of a multitude of aspects: local cultures, the teaching of co-existence, the evolution of concepts regarding the conservation and restoration of historical and cultural sites and, finally, the remembrance and appreciation of traditions, as these traditions may be both unique and useful in imparting knowledge and providing first-hand evidence of traditional construction techniques.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe methods of documentation of different archaeological contexts. The first part illustrates some solutions for the integration of tablet PC within the current standards of archaeological documentation. The second part describes several techniques of photogrammetric survey for the documentation of burials, wall stratigraphy and structural elements. With the support of photo-modelling and stereophotogrammetry it is possible to record perimeter and surface of each Stratigraphic Unit in a three-dimensional space also obtaining isomorphic reproductions of the detected object. In conclusion, the last part of the article discusses the first results of an experiment which is still in progress: the 3D PDF for publication of the archaeological record.
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During the past years both the political instability and the uncontrolled economic development in the Middle East caused several threats to the cultural heritage, including widespread looting and destruction of hundreds of archaeological sites, looting of museums, flooding of ancient settlements due to the construction of dams, damages to monuments and sites during armed conflicts. Notwithstanding the ongoing difficult condition of fieldwork, a new phase of archaeological research has begun with projects of landscape archaeology, excavations and extensive surveys carried out especially in Iraqi Kurdistan, allowing a detailed reconstruction of the settlement dynamics and historical development in the trans-Tigridian region, from the prehistory to the Islamic period. A new archaeological renaissance contributing to the process of peace-building through the empowerment of strong ties between the local communities and the cultural heritage.
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Since 2011 an Eritrean-Italian archaeological mission has initiated research and excavation activities in the area of ancient Adulis, an emporium town located along the coast of the Horn of Africa on the Red Sea, in current Eritrea, documented by the sources as early as the 1st century AD and disappeared between the 7th and 8th centuries. The site, due to the historical and geographical context that determined its ancient splendour, invites us to broaden the research field, extending it from the excavation area to the commercial networks that, in ancient times, set in communication the African, Asian and Mediterranean cultures, without neglecting the intermediate scale, necessary to understand the ways in which the settlement was related to the territorial context and its resources. Among the natural resources water, in particular thanks to the presence of the Haddas, a seasonal watercourse that reaches significant flows, was certainly crucial to the development of the town and to the probable agrarian exploitation of its surroundings. Haddas itself was probably the cause of Adulis’ sudden destruction between the 7th and 8th centuries. Today, this watercourse is at same time one of the main resources and one of the major vulnerability factors of this portion of the coast, where the villages of Zula, Afta and Foro live a fragile equilibrium, seasonally endangered by its floods. The same protection of the important cultural heritage constituted by the site of Adulis today, in a way not entirely dissimilar from what happened in ancient times, depends on this balance.
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This paper aims to highlight the importance of 3D printing to support Cultural Heritage and related activities. We will demonstrate the advantages that a conscious employment of techniques and methods, together with the right expertise, could offer to an exhibition. We will detail the steps we took to produce a 1:1 copy of a medieval sphinx for the exhibition Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs which took place at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (USA). This paper highlights the project’s workflow, from the digital 3D scan, data processing, 3D printing, to the artistic finishing to prepare the object for display.
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The bronze quadriga of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, recovered in fragments at different times in the history of the Herculaneum excavations, represent a case study of interdisciplinary importance. Its reconstruction has never been attempted so far, due to the many factors of uncertainty that weigh on its knowledge. A new study, reconstruction and enhancement project was launched in 2020-2021 by the CNR-ISMed in cooperation with the National Archaeological Museum of Naples with the aim of producing new scientific knowledge and restoring the beauty and uniqueness of the recomposed original monument to public use. The interpretative problems related to the quadriga are numerous, complex and, concerning archaeology and its methods, they span from the study of sources and excavations records to in-depth knowledge of Roman statuary, casting techniques and the iconographic and stylistic characteristics of Roman bronzes. In this scenario, the application of methodologies and technologies combined with traditional investigations represents an innovative integrated method. Thanks to the digital verification of hypotheses, it can produce, on solid scientific bases, a virtual reconstruction of the investigated monument. This not only makes the costs for scientific research more sustainable, but enables restoration work to be directed by optimising time and resources.
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The paper aims to illustrate an intervention of digital restoration carried out on different groups of antefixes coming from excavations started in 1845 in a private fund today located in Curti, near Caserta and pertaining to sacred building roofs of a sanctuary whose oldest phase is dated to the 6th century BC. Nowadays, finds are preserved in the Museo Provinciale Campano, located in Capua. Particularly, two hundred and fifty antefixes belonging to the group named ‘female heads within the nimbus’, have been studied, articulated into thirty different series, filed in a database created ad hoc, and the digital restoration of their prototypes has been completed. Issues relating to seriality and traceability of these finds to individual archetypes will be explored, features that make a faithful 3D reconstruction of a prototype possible, based on the combination of physical data of fragmented antefixes pertaining to each series. Furthermore, phases and techniques of detection and scanning of an archaeological find using a laser scanner for small objects will be particularly analyzed. It will show how to achieve a mesh from a scanning file and how to elaborate it. Lastly, processing steps necessary to the realization of a 3D restoration will be illustrated through modeling techniques and collation of different 3D scannings. These kinds of technological experimentations contribute to diversify our memory transmission modes. They offer the chance to create digital and implementable catalogs, useful for a dynamic documentation of the Archaeological Heritage, but also and above all, fundamental tools for the monitoring, conservation and fruition of analyzed corpora.
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The article presents the results of a wider research carried out by a multidisciplinary group (archaeologists and engineers) of the University and the CNR-ISPC of Catania in the South-Western Quarter of the Minoan Palace of Phaistos (Crete). The article focuses on two digital survey campaigns carried out respectively in 2014, laser scanning, and 2019, Structure from Motion. Starting from the point cloud by laser scanner, the most recent, low cost and user-friendly photogrammetric tools (GoPro camera and software Agisoft Metashape) have been used during the 2019 campaign in order to update and to improve the previous dataset, which was used as a grid for georeferencing and scaling the new virtual model. Special attention was addressed to the comparison of the two datasets and to the reuse of the first one for georeferencing and scaling the second one. Furthermore, the research has been focused on the opportunity to exploit the obtained virtual model both for scientific purposes and for the outreach. The lack of accessibility of the South-Western Quarter of Phaistos Palace to the visitors attributes a special interest to this output. The virtual environment thus realized constituted an ideal starting point for the development of an educational fruition project based on a Serious Game approach. The cooperation of archaeologists and engineers in the development of the Phaistos game ensures a gaming experience not only pleasant but also provided with a strong educational profile.
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In 2005-2006 the excavations in the Sanctuary of Apollo conducted by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Hierapolis in Phrygia (MAIER) brought to light about sixty fragments of a larger-than-life marble statue of Athena. This paper presents the discovery, highlighting the role played in the research by digital technologies, especially 3D modelling and reconstruction techniques, the application of which mitigated the highly fragmentary nature of the evidence. The first section of the paper highlights the importance of the context of discovery of the fragments, which were found, together with other sculptural and architectural elements, in front of Temple B, in a deposit of discarded material related to the destruction in situ of part of the sanctuary’s decorations in the Byzantine period. The second section describes the plan drawn up by the MAIER to publish a comprehensive scientific description of the sculptures of the Sanctuary of Apollo. The project aims to reconstruct the sculptural decoration of the sacred area in the Imperial period, combining information on the types of statuary and the iconographic subjects and themes with excavation data and the epigraphical documentation from the sacred area. The project includes the study of the statue of Athena, for which this paper provides the description and the results of the historic and artistic analyses. The final section is centered on the process that led from the creation of the digital model to the virtual reconstruction of the statue of Athena and, lastly, to the 3D printing of the reconstructive hypothesis. Digital models were created for many of the sculpture fragments of the Sanctuary of Apollo. Saved in a database designed to store data on the sculptures, these models facilitate the study of the documentation and have proved to be extremely useful for the dissemination of the finds to the public, especially in problematic situations that limit or impede access to the evidence, as was the case during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and the University of Milan collaborate in the protection, preservation and valorisation of the large necropolis surrounding the Mausoleum of the Aga Khan in West Aswan. The first mission has been completed, the second is underway. Director Patrizia Piacentini describes the work and finds from the first mission and the experts from different fields (anthropology, palaeopathology, chemistry, botany, restauration, the computer sciences) that will be deployed during the second phase. Particular emphasis has been given to the historical meaning of the necropolis, in general, and, in particular, of tomb AGH026, which was excavated in 2019. They promise to yield information on the history and international contacts of the population of Aswan during the Late Pharaonic and Ptolemaic-Roman Period. Vicedirector Massimiliana Pozzi Battaglia enumerates some of the particular issues that were encountered from the point of view of conservation and transport. Inside Tomb AGH 026 different conditions were encountered, depending mostly on whether sand had covered a specific spot or not, which conditioned the preservation of the human bodies, cartonnage-making and wooden items and influenced their transportation and storage. Said Mahmoud Abd El-Moneim, General Director of Aswan and Nubia Antiquities Zone and Co-director of the mission at Aga Khan necropolis, widens the scope of the article to address other endangered sites that at present concerns of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. He describes the challenge posed by raising water levels and increased quarrying activity at Kom Ombo, Philae and Bigga, the rock art and palaeolake sites in the Aswan area.
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An internship at the CNR-ISMA was the starting point for the Master’s Graduation thesis ‘Audience Development in Archaeology: Strategies Based on Digital Innovation’ (Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi). The three-month internship was linked to several different educational initiatives carried out by the Institute. A series of activities was designed expressly: namely, analysis of the database of the scholarly journal ‘Archeologia e Calcolatori’, with a special focus on the articles related to data dissemination and education in archaeology, as well as Virtual Reality and multimedia projects; field observation of Audience Development initiatives in archaeology through on-site multimedia projects, presented in the cultural itinerary for the Virtual Museum of Archaeological Computing (Virtual Journey at ‘Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini’); and finally focus-group interviews both with high-school students, taking part to the Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro (ASL) program, and with expert scholars.
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Promoting archaeology online for the general public can be considered one of the new jobs archaeologists are called upon in present day society. Thanks to modern technologies, it is possible to reach out to different groups than those who regularly follow traditional media, such as books or television. Social media and digital platforms, in fact, disrupt the dynamics of mass media communication, changing it from a ‘one-to-many’ approach to a new ‘many-to-many’ form, in which complex networks are created and it is possible to involve a wider segment of public. Any kind of audience development strategy based on digital social media requires a carefully crafted approach with mid- to long-term goals. This paper focuses on the methodologies, the tools and the aims on which an effective communication plan for archaeological museums, institutions and research groups should be based. The paper starts with a brief overview of digital public archaeology in Italy and proceeds with a close examination of the most common social media currently used to promote archaeology online, illustrating their specific characteristics and features, and introducing ways to integrate them within a wide-ranging communication plan. The paper stresses the importance of outlining clear objectives, defining specific targets accordingly, and thus choosing the best digital platform or platforms. Finally, the paper examines some of the most useful measurement tools for social media and websites, which allow gathering and analysing quantitative data on the engagement of our online public, but also provide significant qualitative data that can help address any kind of issues in our communication and better understand our audience.
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The archaeological research at Leopoli-Cencelle (Tarquinia, VT) has enabled the definition of the urban structure and the network of infrastructures. In particular, water infrastructures were investigated by recording their physical remains, their position in the urban topography, manner of construction and technical solutions pursued. A GIS dataset was then set up incorporating the GPS tracks obtained from field surveys, integrated by their geo-referenced points.
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Rappresentare l’armatura culturale del territorio con QGIS: l’esperienza del PTRA della FranciacortaLandscape features are the result of interrelated actions of man-and-nature and can provide ecosystem services that need to be protected. Since urban planning policies can impact negatively on the conservation of cultural ecosystem services, urban plans must map them and make provision for their protection. For the Plan of Franciacorta (22 municipalities in Lombardy), we chose QGIS to set up a geo-database and map cultural heritage information. QGIS can provide more flexibility than a typical map, thanks to its graphics tools. To plan the development of actions to protect the landscape and suggest a range of planning opportunities for municipalities, an integrated representation of the landscape and protected ecological elements can highlight some critical issues: municipal borders can prove an obstacle in the implementation of supra-municipal projects and protected areas can include enclaves potentially vulnerable to urban pressures. Such maps have proved useful in guiding the planning choices in the development of the landscape protection schemes. The geo-location of critical aspects has brought out a range of inter-municipal planning opportunities.
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The study of epigraphical and archaeological evidence related to a specific topic, in this case infant mortality, has led to the creation of a geo-referencing project in order to collect, store and analyze information about the young deceased and their families. This paper presents a geo-referenced storage and management system that combines both open source software as QuantumGIS and PgAdmin. The use of a RDBMS has been implemented and purposively structured, taking into account the content and the form of the inscriptions studied.
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The location of the ancient district of Bauli has always had a central role within the archaeological research in the so-called Campi Flegrei, in the Gulf of Naples. Ancient literary sources mentioned this place in relation to the well-known phenomenon of ‘villa society’ that characterized the Gulf of Naples, especially the Baiae-Misenum peninsula. Cicero, Pliny the Elder and Varro mentioned Bauli as the place of the orator Q. Hortensius Hortalus’ maritime villa, which was particularly famous for its many fishponds. Other literary sources have contributed to reinforce the thesis, strongly defended by Amedeo Maiuri, that ancient Bauli was located at the place of modern Bacoli, where many remains of fishponds and other ancient buildings are considered to have been part of Hortensius’ villa in Bauli. Few eminent scholars - such as Karl J. Beloch - contrasted this theory, proposing a different interpretation of the ancient texts that has led to locate Bauli near the Lucrino Lake, E of Baiae. The goal of this paper is to present new data from GIS spatial analysis that can contribute to evaluate both theories and to answer the question about the location of Bauli. The viewshed analysis tested Cicero’s passage stating that from Hortensius’ villa in Bauli it would have been possible to see his villa in Pompeii if the distance was shorter. The viewshed rasters calculated for three observation points corresponding to Maiuri’s and Beloch’s location of Bauli provide new important data for the solution of this topographical question. By relating spatial analysis to the information reported by the ancient sources, together with the archaeological traces, it is possible to confirm the hypothesis that Bauli was located between Baiae and Misenum, in the modern town of Bacoli.
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The research project, carried out as part of the preliminary planning for the environmental requalification of the Barignano area (Pontelatone, CE), consists in a multidisciplinary application model for the best practice of preventive archaeology. The project started thanks to a recent agreement between the Municipality of Pontelatone (CE) and the Institute for Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage (ITABC) of the Italian CNR, encharged of drawing up an archaeological map of the territory of Barignano and the surrounding territory. Recent surveys increased the knowledge about the exploitation of the Pontelatone district since prehistoric times and defined a more articulated settlement model of the perifluvial part of the territory, providing it with a different economic position in the ancient world. Research data, confronted with geographically and historically comparable areas, propose a new territorial and economic development model for the areas located on the Volturno river, both in Roman and in earlier periods. Starting from archive research and published scientific literature, the survey was supported by remote sensing data and new software to map land markers - both historical and archaeological - and for their 3D representation. The dataset have been organized in different topics and informative layers on a GIS platform. The survey and the interpretation of remote sensing data provided new elements for the topography of the area. Traces that suggest a different environmental model for some regions of the Volturno plain have been identified. Furthermore, today’s research supported by targeted geophysical surveys represents an actual prospect for future research.
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Since 2011 the Archaeological Geographical Information System of Verona, SITAVR, has been implemented based on the existing and well-consolidated Archaeological Information System of Rome, SITAR, developed since 2008. The main objective of the two projects is collecting information about the archaeological findings regarding the two Italian urban centres with the aim to support a complete archaeological analysis and allow for easy data reuse. The purpose of this research is twofold: (i) archaeological studies, aimed to collect data and contents, and (ii) information systems applied to cultural heritage, aimed to organize, use and preserve the data on the basis of the innovations related to methodologies, technologies and standards. In this regard, the first step in SITAVR project was to create a domain model of archaeological data, by applying standard methodology for producing an abstract conceptual schema. Next steps were the definition of web services and a common format for data exchange; further in this direction was the creation of a mapping between this model and other international standards. The definition of the conceptual schema and the metadata, the common format for data exchange and the mapping on international standards have supported and encouraged the cooperation between SITAVR and SITAR projects. Moreover also some practical tests of interoperability between the two systems have been performed, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach. In particular, an experiment regarding the integrated execution of some queries on the two systems (funerary contexts and the road network of the two towns) was successfully implemented. In conclusion, our work further demonstrates that interoperability requires an initial large investment of resources, but allows to achieve results in terms of data analysis that by means of non-integrated systems cannot be easily accomplished.
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An epigraph is a complex historical document, whose significance is fully acknowledged only if its textual features (script, language, content, etc.) are studied in combination with the contextual information (on the textual support and its provenance). This is the reason why digital epigraphy lies at the crossroads of different disciplines applying ITs to textual and material sources, such as digital philology, computational linguistics, and computational archaeology. The specific interests and methods of those disciplines have exerted an influence on digital epigraphy, which is apparent in the documentary vs statistical approaches applied over time to the electronic treatment of the (re)source ‘inscription’. The aim of the paper is to trace those trends in the application of qualitative vs quantitative methods in the history of studies of digital epigraphy, highlighting the main moments of change, until the most recent developments.
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Notes: "What is F.A.I.R.?", by A. Piergrossi (p. 253-257).
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Based on the case study of the journal ‘Archeologia e Calcolatori’, the authors investigate specific issues related to the promotion of Open Science in archaeology. The first part analyses the initiatives undertaken in order to foster the dissemination of the journal’s digital resources on the web, such as the use of descriptive metadata (Dublin Core), the attribution of unique identifiers (DOI), the uploading of the full texts on institutional repositories for long term preservation (CNR-SOLAR), the collaboration with initiatives aiming at the aggregation of cultural and scientific digital contents (MiBACT-CulturaItalia). The second part illustrates many initiatives and projects promoted by the editorial committee to spread the principles of the ‘open access’ philosophy, nationally and internationally. The journal has thus become a record and memory of the progress in the theoretical, as well as applied, aspects of the Open Access movement. This study shows the relevance of the continuous experimentation of the practices for publishing scientific initiatives, adhering to and promoting the Open Access and facilitating the accessibility to its own resources.
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The prehistoric village of Portella (Salina, Eolian Islands, ME), occupied during the Middle Bronze period, was discovered by chance in the 1950s and excavated in three different phases, from the moment of discovery until 2008. The site is well preserved because, after partial destruction, it was rapidly covered by landslides of volcanic rock. That notwithstanding, the erosive activity had negative effects, too: the lateral erosion of the ridge is destroying part of the village; possibly a portion was already collapsed at the time of discovery. We can consider this erosion an unstoppable process that needs programmatic, continuous monitoring of the site. In the article, we will discuss how it is possible to make one ‘screenshot’ of the monument’s status with the help of new technologies, specifically, photogrammetry through UAVs. To enhance fruition, a virtual tour of the site was also created. This allows people with physical disabilities or reduced mobility to access, though virtually, the site. In conclusion, other possible areas of application of this low-cost and expeditious methodology are suggested, in particular inaccessible or overcrowded sites.
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The paper illustrates the creation and integration of the environment as a multilevel landscape in AMPBV Simulator, a spatial Agent-Based Model (ABM) developed in NetLogo programming language. The model was conceived with the aim of investigating, through a simulative approach, the events and the circumstances (both anthropic and environmental) that presumably led, between the end of the Late Bronze Age, in the 12th cent. BC, and the beginning of the Final Bronze Age, the protohistoric communities of the Southern Verona plain (known as the Northern Terramare polity) from a climatic phase of maximum development and articulation to an anti-climatic phase of sudden collapse. The study context is an interesting application for an investigation through ABM, both because of the complexity of the case scenario, in which several interrelated actors and factors must have played an important role, and because of the availability of a number of geographical and archaeological data providing both a term of comparison and an excellent information base. With the development of an artificial environment and by modeling processes potentially critical for the fate of the Terramare system, the aim is, on the one hand, to give such a complex study case a new tool for historical analysis and, on the other hand, to experiment Agent-Based Modeling and assess its potential as a methodology for archaeological investigation in the Po Plain.
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Online open access circulation of the journal ‘Archeologia e Calcolatori’ started in 2005. International standards developed within the Open Archives Initiative paradigm immediately offered fascinating solutions to disseminate metadata describing the journal’s content. The most relevant protocol for Open Archives implementation is OAI-PMH. Several software applications to support OAI-PMH have been proposed by different institutions and some enjoyed brilliant success. However, in certain situations the deployment of an OAI-PMH conformant repository remained problematic. For small research institutions and university departments, most of the existing OAI applications seemed difficult to implement. In this paper, the author recalls the main steps that guided the journal towards a simplified approach to the OAI implementation, one suited to small and medium-sized archives, creating a system operating now for 15 years.
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An attempt to build a global cognitive theory in Archaeology is proposed. The archaeological method is based on a three level concept : knowledge acquiring, structuring and modelling, inspired by the XIX century work of Peirce, renewed by recent developments of cognitive Sciences and used today in many fields of Social and Human Sciences, System Engineering, and recently proposed in Archaeology (DJINDJIAN 1993). The knowledge acquiring level A is the result of simultaneous and retroactive use of two mechanisms: several specific analogical processes in archaeology (contemporary analogy, ethnographical analogy, experimental analogy) and a cognitive process, general to Human Sciences. Logical objects used by archaeological reasoning are artefacts, set of artefacts (archaeological layer, dwelling structure, burial, etc.) and methodological objects (unit, sample, core, etc.). Such objects may deliver three categories of data: intrinsic data, extrinsic data and administrative data. Intrinsic data (named I) are a view of an object, resulting in the interaction between the archaeological artefact and the archaeologist who is perceiving and describing it. Intrinsic data is a knowledge of the artefact. Extrinsic data (named E) are data recording the various artefact contexts: spatial and stratigraphic localisation, links with neighbouring artefacts, environment, etc. Extrinsic data depends on the quality of archaeological excavation and recording. In all the cognitive processes, knowledge A must be associated with the archaeologist, ARCH, who is at the origin of the interaction artefact/archaeologist, the process of producing the knowledge, Pc, and the validation process Pv, controlling the reasoning: (A, ARCH, Pc, Pv). The structuring level, S, is discussed in relation with the question of enrichment of structures towards the emergence of a system, through a dedicated method called the systemic triple method (DJINDJIAN 1980): 1. Definition of the system S; 2. Perception and description of intrinsic data I; 3. Recording of extrinsic data E; 4. Formalisation of the structuring process: intrinsic structuring (matrix artefact x intrinsic data, O x I), extrinsic structuring (occurrence or Burt matrix intrinsic data x extrinsic data, I x E); 5. Exploratory data analysis on O x I or I x E; 6. Retroactions on I and E; 7. Iterative enrichment by integration of new I and new E; 8. Validation (using another artefact system, a new E, etc.). The modelling level is then examined with a discussion of the limits of the formal logic in Archaeology: empirical-inductive, where 'every structure is Culture', or hypothetical-deductive methods, where 'all the models are fitting well' falling in the weakness of so-called paradigmatic models. A new more restricting method is proposed, called the cognitive model method, CMM. The main features of CMM are: explicit, formalised, repetitive, stable, systemic, refutable, predictive, discursive and auditable. A general method to build a cognitive model is then given, in ten steps; some of them are already known and referenced, others are new and detailed: 1. Improving the knowledge A; 2. Discovering the structures S inside data; 3. Enrichment of structures S; 4. Systemic organisation in hierarchical subsystems; 5. Building models R; 6. Validating models R; 7. Retroactions for enrichment and stabilisation of the models R; 8. Model simulation for predictions; 9. Writing the archaeological discourse; 10. Auditing the discourse. The systemic organisation in hierarchical sub-systems is based on a five level system: 1. Technological know-how; 2. Economic activities: craft production, raw material supplying, subsistence resources, energy resources, buildings (dwellings, infrastructure), territory management, manufacturing, exchange and trading, etc.; 3. Social organisation: workflow, specialisation of professions, social groups, social hierarchies, family structures, community administration, defence, taxes, authority systems, etc.; 4. Symbolic sub-system: ideas and beliefs; 5. Global system. In conclusion, such approaches of methodological development are the most reliable but also the most difficult way to reach a real scientific status for Archaeology.
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The growing success, for more than fifty years, of the scientific contribution of computer applications and quantitative methods in archaeology may be now reviewed and analyzed from different technological and sociological points of view. This examination allows us to appreciate the material importance of such contributions and how the community of specialists in computational archaeology should play a major role in the future of 21st-century archaeology.
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The Messapian necropolis of Monte D’Elia (used from the 6th to the 2nd cent. BC) is about 300 m S of the modern town of Alezio (Lecce, Apulia), which lays on one of the most important ancient settlements of the Salento peninsula (ancient Messapia). The site was investigated between 1981 and 1985 by the Apulian Archaeological Superintendence. In 2020, archaeological investigations have been resumed by the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Salento, with the participation of researchers from the Institute of Heritage Science of the National Research Council. Their research activities focused on geophysical prospecting and topographical surveys, performed thanks to the combined use of laser scanner and digital photogrammetry by drone. This contribution illustrates these research activities, which are aimed at understanding the general plan of the necropolis, through the integration of the information published in the 1980s with data from new investigations and surveys, and, more generally, at the reconstruction of its topographic organization and extension.
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The poorly preserved human bones discovered during the DHOMIAP Project excavation of the necropolis KR-N1 in the area of Khor Rori (Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman) were an opportunity to apply, for the first time in Dhofar’s pre-Islamic funerary contexts, 3D photogrammetry to osteo-archaeological studies. The low economic engagement and the execution speed make this technique essential in the documentation of barely accessible archaeological remains and contexts, as already witnessed by previous studies conducted outside this research area. This paper aims to find a more appropriate method and setting for 3D model photogrammetric reconstruction of human remains, demonstrating the importance of this digital technology for the study of poorly preserved osteo-archaeological remains. For these purposes, the results obtained using two different settings for image acquisition (one with macro and one with standard lens) were compared and discussed.
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The paper presents the results of a two-year archaeological survey carried out in the Iraqi Kurdistan, namely within the Navkur Plain that has been extensively explored by the University of Udine since 2012. The surveys were planned in advance using Remote Sensing products available online and processed with Google Earth Engine, a large-scale cloud computing service specifically designed to process geospatial big data and especially satellite imagery. Images from Landsat 5, Landsat 7 and Sentinel-2 platforms were selected, processed and assessed. After two years, an overall number of 46 new and previously unknown sites have been localized and surveyed, contributing to the knowledge of the past history of this portion of the Kurdistan region and testing the use of Remote Sensing cloud-computing applications in the context of Near Eastern archaeological research.
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The ISPC-CNR is conducting research activities aimed at identifying ancient quarries that supplied the public building sites in the Athenaion of Castro, where excavations revealed dry-stone city walls made of calcarenite blocks and built in three phases between the 4th and 2nd cent. BC. The paper is focused on the large coastal quarries of Porto Miggiano, located approximately 4.5 km NE of Castro, where the extraction was carried out in function of sea transportation of the blocks. The extraction sites were documented through laser scanning and photogrammetry by a drone. In the main quarry, which covers an area of approximately 0.4 hectares, thanks to the metrological analysis of the stepped faces, four extraction areas were identified corresponding to at least five cultivation phases. The oldest and most extensive one affects the central sector of the quarry, where large blocks compatible (for dimension and macroscopic aspect) with those of the third phase of the Castro city walls, dated to the beginning of the 2nd cent. BC, were extracted.
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Large dwelling spaces, characterised by a continuous human occupation and for different practices, represent crucial archaeological contexts in reconstructing the organization of production and consumption activities within prehistoric communities. However, the archaeological record related to such depositional contexts often appears spatially disordered and dominated by a chaotic distribution, the result of the interaction of human and natural agencies over time. On this matter, computer modelling offers a wide range of methods to disentangle the apparent spatial chaos and assess the dynamics behind the distribution of the remains, both those deriving from human activities carried out on the spot and those resulting from later disturbances. In this framework, one of the main issues is the reconstruction of the complex of materials and tools from some human activity. This paper explores the effectiveness of Gcross function analysis to investigate dynamics of interactions between different categories of remains in a large dwelling space, addressing the question of how each category of remains interacts in the space with the others. As a case study, the analysis focuses on a wide area within the Bronze Age fortified settlement of Coppa Nevigata (Southern Italy).
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This research aims to use quantitative and repeatable GIS techniques, as well as Machine Learning algorithms, to study the settlement patterns in Southern Etruria during the final phase of the Bronze Age (1150-950/925 BC). The region of Southern Etruria is located in present-day Latium, Tuscany, and Umbria. The study, which includes 166 settlements, focuses on identifying the morphological characteristics of these settlements by means of raster analysis. Using a Machine Learning approach, the research will compare real settlements with random points within the region to understand the specific characteristics of the settlement pattern in the landscape. The study will also examine the use of feature selection and features importance methods to select the most significant features of a multivariate dataset.
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Long-lived-in dwelling spaces provide a huge number of valuable data by which to figure out human activities and patterns of space use by prehistoric communities. However, cultural dynamics can intervene during deposit formation processes and transform depositional sets of rubbish involving artefacts and ecofacts. Notably, trampling resulting from human activities represents the most intrusive agent that affects spaces continuously used over a certain timespan. Therefore, comprehending the effect of trampling represents a key-step to assess the distribution of items in the archaeological record and to establish a solid base on which to build valid models of the use of space. This paper proposes a methodological approach to figure out the diverse effects of trampling. The methodology has been tailored on a specific case study, a long-lived-in dwelling area of the Bronze Age settlement of Coppa Nevigata (South-Eastern Italy), dated to the 12th cent. BC. Here, cycles of use and of the discarding of pottery produced a massive number of shards, whose primary deposition has been probably subjected to alteration by trampling. On this premise, the impasto pottery record has been considered as viable proxy to investigate the effects of this cultural agent on the archaeological record. The analysis proceeds by three main steps: a data entry process structured to optimize the recording of shards dimension, fragmentation rate analysis of shards and spatial analysis of well-preserved vessels. This integrated approach allowed an assessment of the reliability of distribution and conservation of the archaeological record in the studied spaces, providing crucial information to better understand use of space patterns through a second analytical step: spatial analysis of artefacts and ecofacts. An aim of this paper is to provide an analytical process replicable for further Late Prehistoric contexts.
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The fortress of Ighram Aousser is located in Morocco, 10 km W of M’rirt and 120 km S of Meknés, on the so-called mines route. The lack of an organic and complete documentation and a concrete need to acquire new data about unexplored areas have required a multi-methodological research including the analysis of historical sources, archaeological surveys, topographic investigations, laser scanner modelling and geophysical prospections. All data were stored in a Geographic Information System, which allowed spatial analyses and the creation of thematic maps. The integrated geoarchaeological approach has led to a new archaeological map providing an updated view of the rich archaeological heritage in that territory. The article also offers a complete account of the valorization processes, the international promotion of the site and its long-lasting mining tradition.
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During the fieldwork season in November 2021-March 2022, the ‘Missione Archeologica della Sapienza nella Penisola Arabica e nel Golfo’ (MASPAG), as part of the research activities supported and financed by the Great Excavations of Sapienza since 2019 and MAECI since 2022, planned and launched a new landscape archaeological project in the Sultanate of Oman. The first survey was carried out in an area of the Al Batinah South Governorate unknown to archaeology, combining remote-sensing and ground verification activities. This operation also saw the first result of the collaboration between the MASPAG research group and adArte srl, developer of pyArchInit open sources plugin for QGIS. The first season of the survey not only made it possible to estimate the archaeological potential of the study area, but also served as a workshop, opening a dialogue between universities and private companies, to discuss open source solutions in archaeology.
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Morphometric characters of Middle Stone Age stone artefacts from SW Fezzan (Libya, Central Sahara) are investigated. The raw data set is composed of illustrations of tanged pieces from surface scatters and from one stratified and dated site. Both metric and shape analyses are used. The first is carried out on the basis of maximum artefact width and tang width from the whole data set; the second adopts Elliptical Fourier descriptors obtained from 2D contours of tanged points. The geospatial analysis of morphometric variability in a regional perspective shows some meaningful variations between artefacts coming from ‘highland’ and ‘lowland’ physiographic contexts. While the latter encompass most of the regional variability, the former seem to show a narrower range of variation, which could depend on a number of reasons including diverse chronology of occupation, different technological traditions or ecological constraints. The general data patterning is here interpreted in the light of the hypothesis that the water resources kept by the mountainous areas also under environmental stress possibly allowed them to act as a refugium during the most arid phases of the late Pleistocene. An intense occupation of the lowlands during similar chronological time frames and environmental conditions is less likely because of an inferable lower carrying capacity. The regional artefacts’ morphometric variability could thus mirror the population dynamics reconstructed so far for the study area: the record from the mountain ranges testifies for a residual occupation of humans skilled in arid survival, while the lowlands possibly hosted more varied population dynamics especially during cyclically earlier wetter conditions.
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This paper describes a procedure of archaeological interpretation and representation based on DEM technology. Through different contexts of application the aim is to describe the potential of this procedure, useful for recreating all the stratigraphic complexity of an archaeological site. After an introduction and a short history of studies about the use of DEM in archaeological documentation, the Author illustrates two examples of archaeological excavation and two of archaeology of architecture. The first case study is the Castle of Castelpizigolo (Toano, RE): the DEM documentation was used for the production of automatic profile lines of every archaeological stratification. A similar result was obtained in the documentation of the second archaeological context, the site of Capo Don (Riva Ligure, IM). The subject of this investigation was a fireplace dating from Late Antiquity to the early medieval period. The second part was focused on the use of DEM in the archaeological analysis of buildings. A preliminary investigation was focused on an example of household architecture from the island of Rab (Croatia). The DEM was used for the interpretation of the origins of some architectural instabilities, caused by stratigraphic changes which occurred in the original building. The last case study was the rural church of S. Giusto in Marlia (LU), where DEM analysis gave a new interpretation about the archaeological evolution of this building. The procedure described in this paper is an innovative method for producing a faster and more accurate archaeological documentation and for giving a new archaeological tool for the stratigraphic interpretation of historical buildings.
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The rich epigraphic heritage of the Castello Ursino Civic Museum of Catania has been studied by the EpiCUM project that encoded it in EpiDoc TEI XML, an XML based standard digital representation for cultural heritage contents. The project made the epigraphic heritage available in a digital museum: under the guise of the ‘Voci di Pietra’ exhibition, a selection of epigraphs were presented, implementing innovative presentation modalities thanks to a smart use of technological and digital means. Information contained in the epigraphs was semantically reorganized in a unique homogeneous container, the EpiONT ontology, constructed according to the Linked Open Data paradigm and to consolidated international standards. The encoding of the ancient texts, by the TEI standard and its EpiDoc subset, is wedded to the paradigmatic semantic web model for museums and cultural heritage. The EpiONT ontology is currently populated by 580 epigraphs collected in the Castello Ursino Civic Museum. Designed according to the CIDOC CRM standard, it makes use of the SKOS vocabularies of the EAGLE project concerning material, execution technique, type of inscription, and type of support of an epigraph. The EpiONT ontology additionally can handle any uncertainty in the origin and place of discovery of the epigraphs.
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Despite the fact that an increasing number of researchers in the cultural heritage sector is recognising the advantages that could derive from the use of knowledge management methodologies and tools, a lack of awareness of the basic principles of this discipline is still rather evident. Key concepts like “knowledge representation”, metadata, conceptual modeling, syntactic or semantic interoperability, ontologies, can prove difficult to understand (and even more difficult to apply) for researchers with a background in the humanities. This contribution, therefore, aims at clarifying the theoretical reference framework through the concrete analysis of archaeological materials. In fact, while it seems easier to borrow definitions and theoretical concepts or to artificially create even very complex conceptual models (e.g. the CIDOC CRM, which has recently been recognised as an ISO standard), it is a lot harder to implement such principles onto real world objects analysis. According to this assessment, and to the need of going from theoretical to practical aspects, the paper is structured in three parts: the first offers a theoretical base that makes available, even for non-experts, the tools for addressing more operational aspects; the second describes, through practical examples, both the knowledge representation model and the software tool used for analysing a class of materials, the Etruscan urns, as shown in the third part. The final objective is, therefore, to provide a point of reference for facilitating the approach towards KM (Knowledge Management) and help clarifying the key elements of a discipline that is obtaining a growing success but, so far, still showing a high level of entropy.
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After presenting a summary of the development of computer applications in archaeology from the 1960s up to the present, the author discusses a diagram outlining the main processes which characterise the work of the archaeologist and specifically those in which computer methods have assumed an important role. The author identifies the following essential stages for the use of computers in archaeology: data gathering, data structuring, also for purposes of interpretation, and data diffusion, in order to make results known. This last stage seems to be particularly influenced by the developments brought about in recent years by the introduction of multimedia systems which have made the electronic publication of archaeological data possible by employing digital supports like CD-ROM as well as by creating Internet sites.
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Archaeological investigations over the last thirty years in Pontecagnano, an important Etruscan-Campanian site about 70 km south of Naples, have brought to light an interesting archaeological context consisting of a large ancient site and an extended cemetery with more then 7000 graves, dating from the 9th to the 4th century BC The need to acquire, analyse and display this rich collection of data has given rise to the project, addressed to the application of a vector GIS to handle archaeological records from funerary contexts. This work consists in the elaboration of a powerful cartographical database, including the spatial location of graves and their attribute data. In this way it is possible to create and display thematic maps in order to trace a reconstruction of the social organisation of the ancient settlement through the patterns of development of the cemetery. Meanwhile the exact recording of the excavated areas in the digital cartography, superimposed on the topography of the modern Pontecagnano, allows us to have a complete, updated view of the operations, in order to define a new townplan and infrastructural projects in the local area. The package chosen for the full integration of conventional archaeological data with maps is Mapinfo, a desktop mapping software in use in archaeological computing applications. The information has been organized into three tables: burial data, paleobiological remains and grave-goods. These tables are linked to the digital cartography, structured according to different layers representing the ancient levels of the graves and the topography of the modern town. The project, involving numerous public agencies with different institutional aims, is designed to offer a single tool responding to different needs: scientific research, territorial management, running of a museum, townplanning and informing the public.
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The aim of this paper is to describe the principles on which the Caere GIS has been created and to offer an overview of the spatial analyses conducted and the theoretical principles on which they are based. In order to satisfy the ultimate goal of the project, a solution is described for the dissemination of the results across the Internet through GIS technology. Indeed, at the outset of the project, the decision had been taken to create both a GIS application for internal use and a separate dynamic GIS multimedia application for data diffusion across the Internet. Through the GIS platform, thematic maps of the site have been created, exploiting the ability of topological analysis to explore the mutual relationships between structures. The use of the GIS was not restricted solely to this application, as its full potential was exploited through the use of its analytical engine. Several spatial analysis techniques were used (in particular Viewshed analysis) both for the study of the distribution of finds at site level and for the wider analysis of the surrounding territory of Cerveteri. Finally, the on-line publication of the GIS will offer a chance to create a living document, continually reviewed and updated by the author. It will also constitute the first step towards the standardisation of a metalanguage, that will permit effective multimedia communication and the exchange of different data formats and sources.
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On the basis of the research activity carried out as part of the Archeo 3.0 project ‘Integration of key enabling technologies for the efficiency of preventive archaeological excavations’, the authors explore the feasibility and limits of the automated approach for the recognition of archaeological marks. This approach is mainly motivated by the relevance that aerial photographs play in the reconstruction of ancient topography of human settlements. For this aim, a collection of historical aerial photographs of both the city and the necropolis of Vulci has been considered. These photographs, in colour and B/W, have been previously used in a PhD thesis in Ancient Topography in which the traditional methodology (photointerpretation and cartographic restitution) has been fully exploited. In this work, a systematic study is presented in order to compare the results obtained with Machine Learning techniques vs traditional ones. This comparison allows us to discuss the strengths and limits of both methodologies.
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The 30th anniversary of ‘Archeologia e Calcolatori’ has offered the chance to focus on its rich repository of scientific contents and to envisage further strategies to better classify the journal’s papers. Mapping web resources is crucial in organizing and managing cultural information in the Semantic Web and Internet of Things (IoT) perspective. In this context, the editorial board has decided to adopt geographical and chronological annotation strategies and to implement established gazetteers of geographical and historical entities. The first step in this annotation project was to experiment with the ‘Recogito’ Pelagios tool, an international initiative aimed at facilitating better associations between online resources documenting the past. Furthermore, an analysis has been undertaken by means of Social Network Analysis techniques, which in the last years has been developed to cover a wide interdisciplinary field of study, including social and behavioral sciences, economics, psychology, anthropology. The paper illustrates the main results, to highlight connections between themes and technologies in the papers published over the last ten years.
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The Authors propose a knowledge map to analyse and access scientific contents related to Digital Archeology by leveraging various Machine Learning (ML) techniques. The case study concerns the articles published in our international journal «Archeologia e Calcolatori» in the decade from 2011 to 2020 and, as a benchmark, the publications in the ‘Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology’ (CAA) conference proceedings and journal. The titles and abstracts of the publications featured in these two data sets were analysed using a supervised classification approach into the subfields of computer science, based on the ACM’s taxonomy, and by applying topic modelling techniques to discover emergent topics, Named Entity Recognition to identify specific archaeologically relevant entities, and geotagging techniques to link articles with the geographical locations they discuss. The results achieved, although preliminary, provide some methodological suggestions: i) the opportunity to build custom analyses by taking advantage of the increasing availability of open data and metadata; ii) the scope of the contribution of archaeology, and in particular of computational archaeology, to the Heritage Science interdisciplinary domain; the heuristic and predictive role of different ML techniques to gain a multi-faceted access to data analysis and interpretation.
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This article describes the research work which is now being carried out in order to classify bibliographic information, related to the field of computer applications in archaeology, that is published yearly at the end of «Archeologia e Calcolatori». During the examination, information was recorded in a database using Access software. For classification purposes, particular attention was devoted to the research topic dealt with in the publication, which was divided into two separate sections: “subject field classification” and “computer typology classification”. One example of the way in which it is possible to consult the database on-line is now available on the Internet site of this Journal. In conclusion, the author describes the results obtained from a statistical analysis of data from the 266 articles which have been published over the last ten years in «Archeologia e Calcolatori».
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The Authors illustrate the ‘Monte Abatone Project’, focusing on the important necropolis South of the ancient city of Caere. The area in its archaeological and topographical features was not further studied since the geophysical campaigns (1957-1961) by the Lerici Foundation. The main focus is the large area around the Campana Tumulus, previously left unexplored in the large plan by the Lerici Foundation. Excavations in 2018-2021 on the South side of this area led, conversely, to discover a possible ‘family’ cluster of tombs, dating to at least between the early Orientalizing and the early/middle Archaic period: these tombs were of fossa, semi-constructed, single-chamber and C2 types. Also, further unknown sectors of the necropolis were found not far from this cluster, with a concentration of tombs of the early semi-constructed type (first half of VII cent. BCE), provided with small tumuli, ordered in two approximatively parallel rows and all oriented North-West. This suggests the existence of a planning by some form of ‘urban’ authority, at a time – beginning with the Early Orientalizing period − that marked a considerable acceleration in the economic growth of the city and its civil-political structure. The area West and North of the Campana Tumulus was also investigated, including surveying the edges of the plateau that led to the identification of tombs (VI-III cent. BCE) excavated in the past and partially backfilled, and terraces for funerary rites which are oriented, like the Tumulus, toward the city plateau. Extensive use of laser scanning and photogrammetry allowed to produce a model of the Monte Abatone plateau, a 3D model of both the Campana Tumulus, never surveyed since the first half of the nineteenth century, and other excavated tombs.
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This paper presents the results of the research undertaken through a series of on-site surveys and studies (2019-2022) of the site of Castellito di Ramacca (Catania, Sicily). The site, located on the top of a low hill (106 msl), was partly excavated in the late 20th century and interpreted as a Roman rural building, possibly with a special function (road station). Its name is also attested in ancient sources (Capitoniana). The site was re-evaluated using various non-destructive prospecting methods (aerial photogrammetry, fieldwalking survey, architectural recording), precise location with RTK GNSS and integration of the legacy data in GIS. This approach confirmed a new addition to the already known villa complex and contextualized it as a focal point of the rural settlement system. Based on the topographical data obtained from the survey campaign, conducted by integrating of different techniques, we propose a reconstruction of the villa’s elevation at its peak in Late Antiquity. This study illustrates the great potential of applying digital technologies for a new understanding of Roman villa remains.
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In the Cultural Heritage domain, the potential of BIM for the built heritage is well known. However, research in Historical Building Information Modeling (HBIM) is still developing and deserves new experiments. Currently, the main objectives are the model transparency, meaning that sources and reliability of information can be linked to the model and retrieved from it, for a better interoperability and multi-disciplinary collaboration. Given the proliferation of 3D models, both informed and uninformed, and their increasing quality, there is a need to protect this heritage and provide useful uses beyond visualisation. This research not only addresses the challenge of creating an informed three-dimensional model capable of showing and documenting the evolution and transformation of the building, but also aims to achieve an output that can be used by historical experts who contribute to the creation and validation of the information apparatus. The case study is the Lazzaretto in Ancona, designed by Luigi Vanvitelli in the 18th century: it is an example of a building that shows the material culture of its time. The information gained from the primary sources, which contribute to the analysis of early modern notions of contagion, are merged with the analysis of the built environment. The proposed HBIM model is the result of interdisciplinary research between history and digital survey/representation and aims to provide the greatest transparency of knowledge in both areas. The informed model shows how the data improvement through HBIM platforms is a powerful tool to support historical-archival research and guarantees the transparency of the model.
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The core of the research project CittAumentata is the development of a software tool that fully uses the potential of AR as a way of understanding and improving ancient landscapes. The app links a model of collecting and processing archaeological and topographical datasets to an experience that increases users’ interaction thanks to the ease-to-use and compatibility with most of the devices (smartphones and tablets). The scalability and the certification of a data protocol allows to systematize an innovative tool that manages 3D data and offers to citizenship a new way to understand cultural heritage and historical stratification in landscapes.
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Recent technological evolutions in the acquisition and management of building data are offering new opportunities for digital reconstruction. At the same time, the BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodology, based on the implementation of libraries composed of parametric objects provided by the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) standard, allows the design and management of data of existing buildings, and, in particular, historical and archaeological buildings. In the latter case, the great variety of Cultural Heritage (CH) distributed over the European territory, and the ability of BIM to cover the life of buildings or/and other artefacts from a geometric, descriptive, physical and static point of view, have stimulated the development of the HBIM (Historic BIM) modelling. The HBIM approach should consider the complexity of historical or archaeological buildings or artefacts, with particular attention to possible fragmentation or incompleteness of parts. In this work, different approaches regarding the survey, restitution and data management will be described, finalised to the construction of an HBIM model, considering different possible variables, emerging from different study cases.
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The widespread use of technologies and processes aimed at information management is one of the main trends in today’s building industry. Collaboration, coordination and validation of design results are fostered by software and workflows that involve many disciplines. Taking into account these premises, this paper deals with the application of such a paradigm to the archaeological and architectural fields. The application to the particular case study of the Etruscan town of Kainua aspires to be exemplary, since it is referred to different metric scales, from the building to the urban settlement. The digital reconstruction of the whole town, which can be explored and studied by means of Virtual Reality, was validated from a philological point of view using an original interdisciplinary approach called ArchaeoBIM, i.e. a methodology that encompasses the information flow among different disciplines with the same interest in understanding, and virtually reconstructing, lost realities. Using this method, architectural proportions brought by existing literature, physical behaviours of materials and components, layouts of rooms and spaces regulated by rituals or historic traditions are collected in a model that is able to represent morphologies, analysis and functions. This model, basically a geometric database linking heterogeneous documents, can be used in many different ways, from analytic abstractions to static simulations, from solar analysis to visual renderings. It becomes a common language for information exchange among scholars and users interested in the dissemination and study of the cultural heritage.
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The paper aims to analyse the Etruscan city of Marzabotto, the ancient Kainua, with an integrated approach which considers all the aspects, from the urban layout to sacred and domestic architecture, to handcraft production, as a reflection of community, identity values and social structure. With the aid of theoretical and methodological perspectives on production of ancient urban places, the most recent achievements are included in an archaeological framework which has now been completely revised.