By editing the Monumenta Linguae Messapicae (Wiesbaden 2002), realised between 1996 and 1999 at the University of Tübingen as part of a DFG Project, a new software, developed and widely used in the archaeology field, was for the first time improved for epigraphic aims: the Bonn Archaeological Software Package (BASP). In detail, the 'seriate' tool, which is included in the Package, enables the chronological ordering of inscriptions coming from defined contexts, sequencing the Units (=Inscriptions) by a principle of association of similar letter types. A chronological oriented track chart ('Streugraphic') is the result of the processing, where single epigraphic phases can be distinguished and observed: each phase can moreover be dated, if acceptable dating sources are available for some items. The new software tool can open interesting research output for Epigraphy, since it makes possible the drawing of chronological grids of inscriptions by stable coordinates. Furthermore, the insertion of new inscriptions in the chart and their relative chronological assignment can easily be obtained with the new method.
The article describes the transformation of a number of procedures for archaeological data processing into Excel (Macintosh and MS Dos versions) macro-programming language. Automatic seriation is dealt with first. The general principles of the two best known algorithms - the reciprocal averaging method and P. Ihm’s correspondence analysis - are discussed. The Excel programme text is then presented and commented. After detailed analysis of the comparative merits of the two algorithms, a number of general remarks of a methodological nature are made about problems posed by seriation and particularly by automatic seriation techniques. The article then turns to the construction of incidence (presence/absence) tables and co-occurrence matrices. Here again, general principles are discussed before presentation of the programme text and comments on the macro. The last macro presented carries out replacements of cell contents. The conclusion contains some general methodological remarks about Excel and the writing of macro-programmes in Excel’s macro-programming language.
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.
La lunga gestazione segnata dagli incontri preliminari ha contribuito a filtrare i temi e a concentrare l'attenzione sulle tre sezioni nelle quali il convegno è stato suddiviso: Premesse e formazione, XIII-XIV sec. a.C.; Apogeo, VII-V sec. a.C.; Destrutturazione, IV-III sec. a.C. I 48 contributi di questo volume rinnovano in modo profondo e radicale il quadro complessivo delle cognizioni sull'archeologia delle Marche in epoca protostorica e preromana. Gli studi relativi alle nuove indagini territoriali, agli scavi e alle ricerche di superficie sono frammisti alle rassegne tipologiche dedicate a interi repertori e a singoli oggetti, che abbracciano il territorio marchigiano dell'Ascolano al Pesarese e contribuiscono a porre nuove domande e vecchie questioni. I risultati delle nuove acquisizioni inducono a rileggere e interpretare in modo diverso molti aspetti della cultura picena, primo tra tutti il popolamento del territorio a nord dell'Esino, che inizia a rivelare un'articolazione in precedenza sconosciuta.
This book provides a complete overview of novel and state of art sensing technologies and geotechnologies relevant to support management and conservation of CH sites, monuments and works of art. The book is organized in an introduction stating the motivations and presenting the overall content of the volume and four parts. The first part focuses on remote sensing and geophysics for the study of human past and cultural heritage at site scale and as element of the surrounding territory. The second part presents an overview of non invasive technologies for investigating monuments and works of art. The third part presents the new opportunities of ICT for an improved and safe cultural heritage fruition, from the virtual and augmented reality of historical context to artifact tracking. Finally, the forth part presents a significant worldwide set of success cases of the exploitation of the integration of geotechnologies in archeology and architectural heritage management. This book is of interest to researchers, experts of heritage science, archaeologists, students, conservators and other professionals of cultural heritage.
Gegenstand der Masterarbeit ist die Verwendung aktueller Technologien interoperabler Datenhaltung, insbesondere das Konzept der Linked Open Data (LOD) und der semantischen Modellierung, zur Verdeutlichung ihres Potentials in archäologischen Informationen am Beispiel von Terra Sigillata-Fundorten, -Töpfern und -Keramikfragmenten. Die Arbeit zeigt eine Migration von Daten, sowie die Möglichkeiten und die Problematik der Modellierung der Attribute und Beziehungen mit Hilfe bestehender LOD-Konzepte und kontrollierter Vokabularien, sowie eigene Ansätze zur Lösung. Diese Daten werden mittels REST-Schnittstelle zur Verfügung gestellt. Ein Schwerpunkt wird auf die Verlinkung zu anderen bereits bestehenden Projekten gelegt, wodurch eine Vielzahl weiterer archäologischer und historischer Informationen z.B. über das Pelagios Projekt eingebunden werden. Zudem wird das Potential der Verlinkung und Abfrage von heterogenen Informationen zwischen Töpfern, Fragmenten und Orten deren relativ chronologische Beziehungen über LOD mit einer webbasierten Schnittstelle aufgezeigt.
Building on abstract reference models, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has established standards for storing, discovering, and processing geographical information. These standards act as basis for the implementation of specific services and Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). Research on geo-semantics plays an increasing role to support complex queries and retrieval across heterogeneous information sources, as well as for service orchestration, semantic translation, and on-the-fly integration. So far, this research targets individual solutions or focuses on the Semantic Web, leaving the integration into SDI aside. What is missing is a shared and transparent Semantic Enablement Layer for Spatial Data Infrastructures which also integrates reasoning services known from the Semantic Web. Instead of developing new semantically enabled services from scratch, we propose to create profiles of existing services that implement a transparent mapping between the OGC and the Semantic Web world.
The Cultural Heritage (CH) domain encompasses a wide range of different disciplines, serving the study, interpretation, curation, and preservation of objects, collections, archives, sites, and the dissemination of related knowledge. In this context, stakeholders generate, retrieve, and share a vast amount of diverse information. Therefore, information interoperability has been considered a crucial task, especially in terms of semantics. In this way, the CIDOC CRM (International Committee for Documentation Conceptual Reference Model) has been widely used as an underlying model that offers interoperability between CH domain metadata standards and ontologies. To the best of our knowledge, an overall review of mapping, merging, and extending this core ontology, as well as an aggregate table which classifies and correlates those ontologies and standards, has not yet been presented. Our study conducts an aggregate review of relevant published efforts and outlines the various associations between them, encapsulating the CIDOC CRM and its specialized models, as well. This work aims to further clarify the field and scope of the different works, identify their methods, and highlight the semantic overlap, or differences, between them.
In 2015 the Department of History and Cultures of the Bologna University took part in the Grande Progetto Pompei - Piano della Conoscenza, with the task of providing a modern and complete documentation of the so-called Lotto 3 in Pompeii. The new survey was carried out by means of integrated innovative diagnostic survey techniques in order to provide a total documentary research of the whole sector. In 2016 a new project was started in agreement with the competent Superintendency, and focused on the study and preservation of the House of Obellio Firmo, included in the Lotto 3 of the Roman city. The new research contemplates an in-depth analysis of the building, employing systematic laser scanning and photogrammetry methods to generate an accurate 3D model of the house. This model is going to constitute the starting point for the further analysis of the wall stratigraphies and for the mapping and monitoring of the structures’ state of decay. The full-scale analytical documentation of the building also includes a detailed geophysical mapping of all the accessible domestic spaces, by using the ground penetrating radar technique. The preliminary results achieved by the non-invasive prospecting survey, integrated with the analysis of the surviving walls and building techniques, supply valid information for the archaeological interpretation of the house’s history. In order to allow the management and sharing of the information collected, the data are going to be organised within a building information model (BIM) with a triple objective: the reconstruction of a fragment of the ancient urban landscape in Pompeii during the oldest phase, with particular attention directed to the Samnitic period; the outlining of a precise strategy of intervention for the restoration and preservation of the House of Obellio Firmo; the re-opening of the building to sightseeing tours and its restitution to public use.
Coastal monitoring is fundamental to studying dune and beach behaviour related to natural and anthropogenic factors as well as coastal management programs. Various tools have been used in recent years for such investigations, including LIDAR, satellite images, terrestrial laser scanning, and photogrammetry, allowing for both qualitative and quantitative analyses. These tools are applied based on the spatial and temporal scales of the coastal zone being studied. In this study, seasonal coastal changes are monitored using high-accuracy and high-quality photogrammetry frames acquired using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The UAV surveys were performed over two sessions during summer 2014 (September) and winter 2015 (March). Additional data were also acquired during the strongest winter storms of the 2014–2015 season. The results of these two UAVs surveys are compared to identify the changes that occurred on beaches and dunes due to: i) anthropogenic changes such as tourist facilities and winter storm defence construction; and ii) the winter storms of 2014–2015 from dune erosion, investigating the magnitude of impact across all coastal zones under study. Moreover, this study demonstrates the efficacy and applicability of photogrammetry from UAVs for coastal work, analyses whether it is a useful technique for scientific studies and authorities to use due to its greater cost/benefit, and also whether it contributes to the application of local Integrated Coastal Zone Management.
Large numbers of maps have always been difficult to examine in detail, even now that they are being digitized around the world. But imagine searching digitised map collections by their text content: moving beyond titles or other catalogue fields, you could search every single word that appears on map sheets, as if they were book pages in any of the well-known, full-text-search enabled collections. This experience is now a reality. This piece is a data-driven journey across such experimental “text on maps” searching in the online interface for one of the largest and best-known digital libraries of maps, the David Rumsey Map Collection. Starting from the search for a single placename, the author discusses potential, as well as the limitations, of this approach, and suggests ways in which this new interface, which brings together the power of machine learning, the beauty of data visualisation, and the interactivity of annotation, can fuel scientific curiosity as well as playful exploration
Across the world, cultural heritage is eradicated at an unprecedented rate by development, agriculture, and natural erosion. Remote sensing using airborne and satellite sensors is an essential tool for rapidly investigating human traces over large surfaces of our planet, but even large monumental structures may be visible as only faint indications on the surface. In this paper, we demonstrate the utility of a machine learning approach using airborne laser scanning data to address a “needle-in-a-haystack” problem, which involves the search for remnants of Viking ring fortresses throughout Denmark. First ring detection was applied using the Hough circle transformations and template matching, which detected 202,048 circular features in Denmark. This was reduced to 199 candidate sites by using their geometric properties and the application of machine learning techniques to classify the cultural and topographic context of the features. Two of these near perfectly circular features are convincing candidates for Viking Age fortresses, and two are candidates for either glacial landscape features or simple meteor craters. Ground-truthing revealed the latter sites as ice age features, while the cultural heritage sites Borgø and Trælbanke urge renewed archaeological investigation in the light of our findings. The fact that machine learning identifies compelling new candidate sites for ring fortresses demonstrates the power of the approach. Our automatic approach is applicable worldwide where digital terrain models are available to search for cultural heritage sites, geomorphological features, and meteor impact craters.
Research on ancient sensory experience has questioned ocular-centric research as the primary form of knowledge production in archaeological investigations. With enough information about the material composition of an ancient building, the acoustic properties of the interior spaces can be modeled for greater understanding of the daily experience of past users. Acoustics can reveal what people heard in the past, an experiential starting point to begin asking how someone heard in the past. Thus, acoustic study of place offers the potential to deepen understanding of the emplaced past experience as well as limitations to what conclusions can be drawn directly from gathered data. One area that remains underdeveloped is the research of sounded experience in ancient outdoor settings. This paper presents ongoing acoustic research at the ancient Greek sanctuary to Zeus on Mount Lykaion, applying psychoacoustic analysis to comprehensive recording efforts. Moments of sonic connectivity and isolation in this mountainous site align with past building outlines and prominent landscape features, suggesting that the sanctuary landscape likely played a key role in ritual experiences. The sonic dynamics of the landscape can still be experienced – and measured – today. The paper details the current approach to data collection and analysis on the mountain and includes some of the challenges afforded by applying acoustic study in the ancient built landscape.
Significance Several areas of earth science require knowledge of the fluctuations in sea level and ice volume through glacial cycles. These include understanding past ice sheets and providing boundary conditions for paleoclimate models, calibrating marine-sediment isotopic records, and providing the background signal for evaluating anthropogenic contributions to sea level. From ∼1,000 observations of sea level, allowing for isostatic and tectonic contributions, we have quantified the rise and fall in global ocean and ice volumes for the past 35,000 years. Of particular note is that during the ∼6,000 y up to the start of the recent rise ∼100−150 y ago, there is no evidence for global oscillations in sea level on time scales exceeding ∼200 y duration or 15−20 cm amplitude. , The major cause of sea-level change during ice ages is the exchange of water between ice and ocean and the planet’s dynamic response to the changing surface load. Inversion of ∼1,000 observations for the past 35,000 y from localities far from former ice margins has provided new constraints on the fluctuation of ice volume in this interval. Key results are: ( i ) a rapid final fall in global sea level of ∼40 m in <2,000 y at the onset of the glacial maximum ∼30,000 y before present (30 ka BP); ( ii ) a slow fall to −134 m from 29 to 21 ka BP with a maximum grounded ice volume of ∼52 × 10 6 km 3 greater than today; ( iii ) after an initial short duration rapid rise and a short interval of near-constant sea level, the main phase of deglaciation occurred from ∼16.5 ka BP to ∼8.2 ka BP at an average rate of rise of 12 m⋅ka −1 punctuated by periods of greater, particularly at 14.5–14.0 ka BP at ≥40 mm⋅y −1 (MWP-1A), and lesser, from 12.5 to 11.5 ka BP (Younger Dryas), rates; ( iv ) no evidence for a global MWP-1B event at ∼11.3 ka BP; and ( v ) a progressive decrease in the rate of rise from 8.2 ka to ∼2.5 ka BP, after which ocean volumes remained nearly constant until the renewed sea-level rise at 100–150 y ago, with no evidence of oscillations exceeding ∼15–20 cm in time intervals ≥200 y from 6 to 0.15 ka BP.
The Forum built in Rome by Trajan is a match of his political and military virtues: the defeated populations materialize with statues and high-reliefs in precious marble and are therefore an integral part of the marble triumph of the emperor and the Roman army. The statues of the Dacians are distributed on the most visible architectural parts of the complex, and they have different size, as well as different back surface treatment, depending on their location. In order to reconstruct the architectural composition together with the sculptural apparatus, a complete metrological analysis of the sculptures has been undertaken, alongside the examination of the material features of Daci statues (clothing, surface treatment) and of data yielded by archives and excavations that took place in the past centuries and recently in the 21st century. The work has been based on a method measuring bi-dimensional photographic shaped-set of all the Daci dispersed in several art collections, starting from the idea of working with a low-cost method without specific expensive software. The workflow combines bi-dimensional images, scaled to 1:1 reference, imported in AutoCAD in order to produce a single .dwg file, with good resolution but easy-to-manage during the data processing. Some interesting, albeit preliminary, goals have been achieved. In the first place, a measured catalogue of all the Dacian statues dispersed in the world has been quickly built. It was therefore possible to start the reconstruction, at least virtual, of the sculptural context of Trajan’s forum. Regarding the size and archaeological aspect of the sculptures, three dimensional series of Dacians have been grouped, which contributed, on the one hand, to confirm the results of previous studies, and on the other to advance the knowledge with new data.
This paper moves from an analysis of some characteristics of text-writing for multimedia products and moves to a general reflection on the nature of archaeological communication, in its forms as well as in its contents and final goals. Multimedia products represent a new field of development in archaeological communication, due to the possibility of associating among them various 'vectors of information' (text, images, animations, 3d modelling etc.), to obtain the desired informative effect. From another point of view - maybe more interesting - such a new tool of communication imposes a careful reflection on the methodologies, strategies and procedures related to the acquisition of the archaeological data (Which data? How many data? Recorded with which tools and procedures?). Consequently, the reflection on the archaeological publication on multimedia systems is related to the broader debate on an in-depth revision of the theoretical and methodological approaches to the archaeological job in the field.
This paper tries to identify the most important concepts involved in the study of ancient texts and proposes the use of CIDOC CRM to encode them and to model the scientific process of investigation related to the study of ancient texts to foster integration with other cultural heritage research fields. After identifying the key concepts, assessing the available technologies and analysing the entities provided by CIDOC CRM and by its extensions, we introduce more specific classes to be used as the basis for creating a new extension, CRMtex, which is more responsive to the specific needs of the various disciplines involved (including papyrology, palaeography, codicology and epigraphy).
Learned representations of scientific documents can serve as valuable input features for downstream tasks without further fine-tuning. However, existing benchmarks for evaluating these representations fail to capture the diversity of relevant tasks. In response, we introduce SciRepEval, the first comprehensive benchmark for training and evaluating scientific document representations. It includes 24 challenging and realistic tasks, 8 of which are new, across four formats: classification, regression, ranking and search. We then use this benchmark to study and improve the generalization ability of scientific document representation models. We show how state-of-the-art models like SPECTER and SciNCL struggle to generalize across the task formats, and that simple multi-task training fails to improve them. However, a new approach that learns multiple embeddings per document, each tailored to a different format, can improve performance. We experiment with task-format-specific control codes and adapters and find they outperform the existing single-embedding state-of-the-art by over 2 points absolute. We release the resulting family of multi-format models, called SPECTER2, for the community to use and build on.
The scientific community has begun using new information and communication technologies to increase the efficiency with which publications are disseminated. The trend is most marked in some areas of physics, where research papers are first circulated in the form of electronic unrefereed preprints through a service known as arXiv. In the first half of this paper, I explain how arXiv works, and describe the conceptual backstage and its growing influence. I will look at the motives behind the developing technologies and focus on the views of promoters and makers of the system. In the second half of the paper, I look at the eventual fate of papers initially circulated with arXiv. While it is argued that preprints are sufficient for the everyday scientific practice, nearly every paper in some specialities finds its way into formally peer-reviewed journals and proceedings. I argue that the continuation of traditional publication practices, in spite of their costs and inefficiencies when compared with arXiv, suggests that formally certified publication still has important roles. Certified publication verifies the relevance of scientific work and establishes professional credentials in the outer rings of the community, whose members are not sufficiently embedded in esoteric networks to make appropriate judgements on the basis of reading papers in isolation, or even through consultation.
Identifying fundamental drivers of science and developing predictive models to capture its evolution are instrumental for the design of policies that can improve the scientific enterprise—for example, through enhanced career paths for scientists, better performance evaluation for organizations hosting research, discovery of novel effective funding vehicles, and even identification of promising regions along the scientific frontier. The science of science uses large-scale data on the production of science to search for universal and domain-specific patterns. Here, we review recent developments in this transdisciplinary field.
In ancient Roman world the monumental stone inscriptions had always an harmonic proportion. The metric measurement cannot define the train of their preparation; but the careful lay-out standard surely obeyed - perhaps also spontaneously - to some exact rules of the proportion (e.g. Hambidge's "dynamic symmetry", valid in some artistic fields) aimed at the primary purpose of all epigraphical expressions: the most efficacious communication. Some examples, mathematically verified by CILEA, are sown here.
This paper presents the computerised epigraphical form which has been used for the cataloguing of the Roman brick stamps in the collection of the Vatican Museums. It has been structured on the basis of the form used for the cataloguing of the Lapidary Collections of the Museo Nazionale Romano. Following the acronyms of the entries, represented by an abbreviation of four letters, this form gives a series of answers written in capital letters, one of these to be chosen depending on each specific case; they are followed by blank spaces destined to contain different data, especially numerical. With the formalised recording of the data through an editor, it is possible to create statistical indices (KWIC and other types) through two programs called S.I.D.E.R.A. and « Epiglossa », written for this purpose.
Tarquinia is a site of high relevance for the themes of this conference, from fragility to internationalisation, which can be explored on evidence gathered through uninterrupted and systematic presence of researchers from the University of Milan, since 1982. The site has attracted interdisciplinary initiatives and scholars from Universities and research institutes throughout Europe and the world. Today the ancient Etruscan city, buffer zone of the UNESCO site (2004), i.e. the necropolis of painted tombs, is threatened by various geomorphological phenomena and by the risk of abandonment of active research, hindered by current legal-administrative conditions. However, the continuity can counteract this two-faced fragility. This research is based on an established tradition and it is constantly renewed, with obvious advantages for the UNESCO site, which is always under the spotlight. The Tarquinian territory is one of the fields in which the interdisciplinary collaboration immediately yields high returns, especially focusing on a complete and defined survey, through the recent acquirements of topographic research (LiDAR, GIS, geophysical prospections) combined with archaeological investigation. This includes a thorough study of how the ancient city is integrated in the current town plan and in urban planning for the territory: the rules of archaeological, environmental and landscape safeguards the UNESCO Buffer zone vary considerably for specific land plots. However, if on the one hand it is right to think in terms of agricultural development and productivity, this must be done in a way that is respectful of the Etruscan metropolis, whose immense buried archaeological potential is as yet little known.
À travers la présentation et l’étude d’un inventaire inédit, le Catalogo generale des archives Faina de Pérouse, cet article explore l’histoire des premières campagnes des fouilles des nécropoles orientales de Vulci par Alexandrine et Lucien Bonaparte, de 1828 à 1833, en y réévaluant aussi plusieurs contextes et assemblages funéraires des aires de Maruchetto, de Ponte Sodo et de la Cuccumella.
Cutting-edge mobile phones and tablets marketed by Apple, equipped with a LiDAR sensor, are able to measure the three-dimensional position of objects and reconstruct their surface. At present, specific publications illustrating the potential of this sensor in the field of archaeology are not known. The first part of the article explains its functioning; the second deals with its limitations; the third describes its use in an architectural survey of two buildings; the fourth proves its usefulness in the architectural field, particularly in the study of archaeological standing buildings (archaeology of architecture). In light of the tests performed, it can be stated that the LiDAR offers centimetre-level accuracy and is therefore of great interest in the field of archaeology, also considering its relatively low cost, its ease of manoeuvring and fast acquisition of data, compared to other scanning systems. The LiDAR may become a common tool in the field of archaeology in the future if investments in this technology continue, producing sensors capable of measuring more accurately (the current maximum coverage is 5 m) and software (apps) that can produce flawless textures and more uniform sampling of space. In its current state of development, the sensor is not suitable for precise modelling of small-size objects, while it is useful for the archaeological documentation of masonry, architectural elements and walls. In addition, it is the ideal tool for obtaining floor maps and three-dimensional models of small-sized environments.
ArCOA is a project aimed at the study, enhancement and communication of museum collections and historical archives on the ancient Near East in Italy. ArCOA was born from the collaboration between the University of Milan and the Institute of Heritage Science of the National Research Council, with a multidisciplinary working group of archaeologists, assyriologists, museum curators, cultural mediators and experts of technology applied to cultural heritage. The ArCOA team collaborates with several museums, public institutions and universities, including the Archaeological Museum of Como, the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, the Department of Historical Studies of the University of Turin and the Museum of Antiquities of the Royal Museums of Turin, for the diffusion of knowledge of the ancient cultures of the Near East. This paper shows the results obtained on photogrammetric scans of small terracotta head and its reprocessing through different programs, its morphological and geometric rendering. Even if today open source photogrammetric programs seem to be almost absent from academic researchs because non-commercial alternatives are not very competitive, much is moving instead in the freeware direction, with regulated conditions of use for universities and research centres, such as for example the latest version of Reality Capture or Metashape. Furthermore, the acquisition processes vary greatly in relation to the size of the object, which can force the operator to think in terms of micro-surveys.
The site of San Severo is located between the cities of Ravenna and Classe, just a few kilometers from the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, on the same road. In recent years the archaeological area has been the focus of scientific research by the University of Bologna and the Ravenna Antica Foundation, which is the main sponsor for the excavation activities, directed by prof. Andrea Augenti (Dept. of Archaeology of Bologna University). During the last two seasons of work and discoveries, we decided to develop a system to promote interest in this important site not only for specialists but also for the general public, by creating a virtual reconstruction of its historical background, starting in the 6th century A.D. Using a new robotic total station, we conducted a 3D digital survey of all the structures, and produced the documentation to do the modeling. By means of different kinds of software, we made a multiphase model which reveals the former splendor of this monument and allows users to navigate in it in a virtual and realistic way.
Since 2000 a team from Ghent University has achieved intensive non-invasive intra-site prospections on four abandoned Roman towns in central Adriatic Italy (Marche Region): the coastal colony of Potentia and the inland municipia of Ricina, Trea and Septempeda. These urban surveys include total coverage geophysical prospections (such as GPR, geomagnetic and earth resistance approaches), low altitude aerial photography (including NIR photography with drone and helikite), geomorphological augerings, surface artifact collection, and micro-topographical field measurements. A GIS-based integration of all survey data, maps and re-studied legacy data has procured a formidable database for the computer-aided digital 3D mapping and interpretation of these complex ancient sites. The methodological acquisitions and archaeological results not only contribute to the understanding of Roman urbanization in this part of Italy, but also support and innovate the use of integrated approaches to geospatial mapping and analysis of ancient urban environments. Based on earlier experiences with 3D visualizations of the abandoned Roman town of Ammaia in Lusitania, as part of the EC funded Project ‘Radiography of the Past’ (http://www2.radiopast.eu/), the project in Adriatic Italy moves now towards presenting the new data in digital formats that allow specialists from archaeology and cultural heritage management, as well as the wider public to immerse into the visual world of Roman Late Republican and Imperial townscapes of a whole valley and its coastal environment.
The aim of this paper is to implement a novel Scan to BIM method applied to cultural heritage field to build 3D GIS model able to connect different databases and, as consequence, allowing a multidisciplinary approach. The proposed method was applied to the case study of a rock church located in the famous ceramics district of Grottaglie (Italy). To obtain the 3D GIS model of the structure under investigation, it was necessary to perform, as a first step, an integrated survey with Terrestrial Laser Scanner technology and close range photogrammetry which allowed the construction of a dense point cloud and high-resolution orthophotos useful for the study of architectural and historical analysis of the elements present within the rock site. Subsequently, the single objects identified using the stratigraphic method, was modelled from point cloud by the development of an original procedure based on the use of some tools developed in Rhinoceros and MeshLAB software that allowed reconstructing the objects in a geometrically accurate way. Indeed, the difference between the point cloud and the BIM model was of few millimetres, demonstrating the high quality of the proposed method. Finally, the BIM model was imported into 3D GIS environment and for each element previously identified, it was possible to connect multi-information.
, The identification of weights and weight-regulated artefacts is of primary importance for confirming the existence of European Bronze Age value ratios and exchange systems. Until recently, however, no such Bronze Age artefacts had been identified in Britain. Here, statistical analysis identifies—for the first time—Middle and Late Bronze Age balance weights and weight-regulated gold objects from Britain, Ireland and Atlantic France. These finds allow for new interpretations concerning modes of exchange and their significance in Atlantic Europe, further underlining a Continental—and possibly Mediterranean—influence on Britain during the late second and early first millennia BC.
As per the objectives of Project CHANGES, particularly its thematic sub-project on the use of virtual technologies for museums and art collections, our goal was to obtain a digital twin of the temporary exhibition on Ulisse Aldrovandi called “The Other Renaissance”, and make it accessible to users online. After a preliminary study of the exhibition, focusing on acquisition constraints and related solutions, we proceeded with the digital twin creation by acquiring, processing, modelling, optimising, exporting, and metadating the exhibition. We made hybrid use of two acquisition techniques to create new digital cultural heritage objects and environments, and we used open technologies, formats, and protocols to make available the final digital product. Here, we describe the process of collecting and curating bibliographical exhibition (meta) data and the beginning of the digital twin creation to foster its findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. The creation of the digital twin is currently ongoing.
Scholars typically argue that cultural interaction between the West Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Corsica and the European mainland took place through the Tuscan Archipelago, via such intermediary islands as Elba and Pianosa. This path is posited as the prime route in and out of these islands for both people and objects throughout prehistory largely due to the belief that early—pre-sail—seafarers would have wished to avoid more treacherous open-sea voyages. This article tests this hypothesis using social network analysis (SNA) to identify the strengths of inter-site relationships through time based on the relative proportions of West Mediterranean obsidian raw materials at 79 Neolithic sites dating from the sixth to fourth millennia BC. We argue that similar patterns of obsidian consumption reflect similar procurement mechanisms and the likelihood of more frequent interactions between the people of these communities. As such, it becomes possible to reconstruct the relationships that mediated the distribution of obsidian across the landscape. Contrary to previous interpretations highlighting the role of Elba and Pianosa in the exchange of obsidian from the geological sources of Sardinia along the coast to northern Italy and France, our results suggest that obsidian also took a more direct open-sea path upwards of 200 km from Corsica to the coastal regions of Provence and Languedoc in southern France. These results are contextualized within broader patterns of obsidian circulation and use and have important implications for debates surrounding Neolithic obsidian procurement, exchange spheres, and early maritime navigation.
The chapter discusses the developments of Sardinian archeology, phases of urban settlements and rural sites investigations. Moreover it provides an evaluation of the evidence that highlights the most salient features of Punic rural studies in Sardinia.
