The paper focuses on the problems related to archaeological excavation data management through the use of a GIS solution; it considers aspects ranging from the planning of an open and functional data model, fitting the complexity of stratigraphy, to the possibilities of data processing such as the production of thematic maps or the elaboration of interpretative and predictive models using statistical and mathematical tools. It also discusses the difficulty of 3D data recording, as well as the recent technological development of Internet mapping servers and web-based dynamic GIS systems.
In the last fifty years, many types of models on ancient social evolution have been created, both in the Old and New Worlds. This paper reviews the most influential ones, trying to summarize the recent, radical changes in the theoretical perspective on the emergence, development and collapse of complexity in human societies. The most serious problem, today, seems to be an enormous gap between the inadequacy of the archaeological record and the growing refinement of theories.
The study of complex archaeological systems through the new Artificial Intelligence and Natural and Neural Computing is a research project which evaluates the historical meaning of the relationships between records of the past as an essentially human construction. It repeats a strong position of Analytical Archaeology, but updates it on the basis of the progress which neurosciences and physics have made in simulating the principles which regulate memory, orientation, classification and mapping of reality. Modelling and simulating the contexts of the past in integrated, parallel, distributed processing through machine learning methods, must make use of a precise encoding of the documents. It takes on an important role in empirical research only when the results produced become the hyper-surface of a network membrane to continue, update, refine or open the analysis itself. After some 30 years of such theoretical, analytical and experimental research, logics, semantics and applications of neural computing maintain their distinct value as a new theoretical approach for the study of dynamic and systemic cultural complexity. They provide a new analytical paradigm for computational modelling in archaeology and an advanced computational method for pattern recognition in archaeometry.
This thesis analyses the potential agricultural production of the regions of South Etruria and Sabina, north of Rome in the Middle Tiber Valley, Central Italy. Historical evidence from Roman authors is combined with archaeological evidence from field survey and geographical resource data, and modelled within a Geographical Information System. Farm size and location are investigated in order to determine any correlation with contemporary Roman recommendations. Multi-criteria evaluation is then used to create suitability maps, showing those regions within the study area best suited to different types of crops. A number of different models for agricultural production within the study area are presented. Many variables are utilised, each presenting a range of possibilities for the carrying capacity of the area, complementing previous studies of demography. Research into workload, nutrition and crop yields provides a basis for determining the supported population of the area. Urban provisioning is investigated also, showing how high yielding models could have supported a large urban population within the studied region, as well as its potential contribution to the food supply of Rome. This analysis showed which agricultural systems could adequately supply urban centres, and highlighted those models that would have led either to an urban dependency on larger scale trade networks or to decline.
This chapter presents and discusses current approaches and trends in computer-based modelling of pathways and movement networks in archaeology. After an introduction to the theoretical concepts involved, we present a state of the art of methodologies applied for reconstructing pathways and movement in ancient landscapes and discuss the various difficulties in using these methods as well as the most important technical hurdles involved. The problems of integrating optimal pathfinding algorithms with ‘softer’ socio-cultural variables are highlighted, as well as the limitations of modelling connections between places using least-cost path techniques. Network analysis reconstruction and analysis approaches are then reviewed as tools to better understand the overall structure of movement and communication in ancient landscapes. It is concluded that, while the potential of current approaches for understanding ancient movement is considerable, improvement is still needed in three main areas: the integration of approaches, sensitivity analysis and validation, and the theoretical underpinning of models of ancient movement.
CLIO, developed by ICS-FORTH, is a system for cultural documentation purposes of museums. It serves as a scientific catalogue of museum artifacts, as opposed to the basic documentation and administrative purposes served by usual collections management systems. It supports artifact descriptions as temporal, geographical, cultural, historical contexts; style, technique, usage, and physical data information. It allows to express certain and uncertain knowledge as well as opinions. In this paper we address the notions of existence, events and causality, referring to them collectively as notions of occurrence, within a conceptual modelling framework and in the context of developing a general ontology for cultural documentation. Particular attention is given to the representation of relations on which historical and other inferences can be based. We present a new approach, which takes mutual dependencies between time and space into account.
This volume is designed as a 12-lecture textbook, which can serve as a course companion, self teaching guide and handbook for basic concepts. Each lecture comprises 20 pages, in which the methods are introduced, examples shown and the code is given. All examples are computed with open source software, mainly R, and with archaeological data available from the book's website.The book does not describe elaborated high-end models but rather very basic modelling concepts that serve as components in more complex models. The book enables the reader to construct such models by themselves and be sensitive for certain problems. In addition it gives hints for the interpretation of the results.Students are usually quick to apply fancy methods yet fail in the proper interpretation due to a lack of understanding of the underlying principles. This problem is addressed by the proposed book through three concepts:1. Command line software forces the students to first learn some details before they are able to produce results on their own.2. The book is focused on principles and methods. When the students understand a few basic principles, they have far better access to a wide range of related methods.3. Examples of poor analysis highlight common pitfalls.The volume attempts to be an applied, minimalistic and efficient textbook and is based upon several successful courses.
Point pattern analysis (PPA) has gained momentum in archaeological research that models large-scale distributions of sites and explanatory covariates. As such, there has been increased interest in the bias of archaeological distributions, which mostly have an impact due to modern land-use change. These interactions, however, have not yet been fully explored. In order to better understand archaeological point patterns as functions of explanatory covariates, we offer three different approaches: (i) environmental preference modelling of archaeological records in different chronological phases; (ii) a custom bias surface that represents the variability of the regional landscape; (iii) an R-package (rbias) allowing the generation of a fuzzified bias surface based on Open Street Map (OSM) data.
Building Information Modelling constituted an instrument of great innovation for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, involving the entire building process because of the possibility to manage a large amount of data and information. The application of BIM to architectural heritage AHBIM (Architectural Heritage Building Information Modelling) still presents aspects that are being investigated, due to the complexity and specificity of cultural heritage such as the craftsmanship of historical buildings (far from standardization of the elements and constructive modern processes, typical of BIM) and the complexity of the information that the BIM methodology must manage for the documentation of architectural assets. It is proposed a reflection on the BIM processes as a tool for a complex representation of the architectural heritage, where the “all-encompassing” nature of BIM is applied to an existing reality. Taking into account a specific methodological approach to built heritage, the work aims to investigate the potential offered by 3-D modelling and digital visualizations for the study of historical, architectural, cultural and material values of historic buildings.
The purpose of this article is to illustrate the enormous opportunities that the archaeologist is offered in the study of historical landscapes by the process of reconstructing spatial models. This formal process is characterised by the progressive incorporation of social and ecological variables in the form of numerical cartographic surfaces within a given model. In fact, the distortion of social space requires such a quantity, variety and complexity of operations that they could not be realised and synthesised without the help of a computer. Once this process has been completed, it can be exploited in various fields, like the history of roadways and transportation networks, or for a better comprehension of the effects of certain settlement layers on other levels of social occupation of space.
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.
For its unique features and size, the Hadrian’s Villa site has always been the object of studies and investigations. Italian and foreign institutions, as well as research organizations, are working together with the common purpose of understanding and protecting the universally recognized ensemble of buildings and works of art, belonging to the World Heritage List since 1999. Within this interdisciplinary framework, over the past decade, new technologies for digital documentation in the field of cultural heritage have gained more importance with respect to the traditional field of architectural/archaeological surveying. Through expeditious surveying (with no physical contact with the object and different measurement resolutions) several 3D reality-based models were created in the last years, with special regards to the Villa’s pavilions characterized by more complex and daring shapes. The aim was a better understanding of specific problems in those cases where archaeological investigation methods may take advantage of a correct and complete digital surveying of elevations in general and in particular of vaulted spaces, intrados and extrados surfaces. 3D digital models of complex roofing, as shown in the case study of the Small Baths, provide additional advantages concerning the use of finite elements analysis (FEA). Both the digital models (current state of conservation and reconstruction hypothesis) underwent to an accurate stress analysis that enables further achievements for site conservation and management and for ancient constructive and designing techniques.
The author illustrates a specimen of an archaeological map on a provincial scale and a prototype of an archaeological map on a municipal scale (Contessa Entellina area, near Palermo, ancient Entella) carried out by the Laboratorio di Topografia Storico Archeologica of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa within the GIS project of “Regione Sicilia”.
Treviso, as many other historical towns in Italy, is a large and multi-stratified site occupied since the Bronze Age to the present time. This study was oriented to model trend surfaces, representative of the ground level of the city in Roman Age, on the basis of stratigraphic data. GIS spatial analyses were performed to select a reliable dataset. DTM was obtained by the interpolation of elevation points related to significant features, with the aim to contribute to the study of the ancient landscape and to support the evaluation of risks connected with public works that may impact local archaeological heritage.
La ricerca riflette sulla possibilità di modellazione BIM parametrica dell’ordine architettonico a partire dall’analisi geometrico proporzionale dell’architettura storica. Lo studio dei trattati rinascimentali, ma soprattutto delle tavole raffiguranti le rappresentazioni dell’ordine architettonico, costituiscono spunti per la scelta e l’impostazione dei parametri per la modellazione. Punto di partenza, come per tutte le attività che riguardano la conoscenza di manufatti storico architettonici, sono le acquisizioni massive di dati, in questo caso da TLS, di supporto alla restituzione parametrica dell’ordine architettonico attraverso la modellazione per famiglie nidificate. Affinità tra il concetto di modulo e quello di parametro in termini scientifici emergono con chiarezza e costituiscono il vincolo indissolubile per la conoscenza e il disegno dell’architettura storico costruita.
By examining the potential offered by the digital survey, the article aims at encourag¬ing archaeologists to undertake a more rational approach towards three-dimensional data acquisition and management. Data was derived from excavations at Aveia (AQ - Italy) and Seglamen (Ethiopia). The 3D data-capture was achieved with the laser scanner and structure from motion techniques that make it possible to obtain a point cloud of an object from a sequence of photographic images, which are neither ordered nor calibrated. The conclusions reflect the role of digital technologies in the field of stratigraphic survey. Independence from scale and the ability to extract profiles and contours of stratigraphic units are factors of great importance for a virtual reconstruction of archaeological excavations.
This article focuses on a multidisciplinary and experimental approach on the relationships between the Phoenician cities (Lebanon, Syria, Israel) and their hinterlands in the Hellenistic period (4th-1st century BC). The article presents the successive stages of this approach. The first one is the construction of the corpus and the recording of the historical and essentially archaeological data in a relational database. The next step is addressed to spatial modelling. In other words, it means applying a spatial analysis to the data. For this purpose, we select a model, the gravity model, which relates the distance between archaeological sites, their comparative importance, and their capacity to interact between each other. Then we set up the model, thanks to our historical and geographical knowledge of the region. The results are visualisations, i.e., potential maps that include modelled networks extending across the region. They must be commented on in the light of the historical and archaeological knowledge that we have about the area: they confirm or question our reading of the Phoenician territories and get into dialogue with the archaeological and historical data, to improve our understanding of the cities. Then, we carry out a second experimentation, with the addition of six archaeological sites in the corpus, identified by archaeological survey and dated to the Hellenistic period. A new spatial modelling is carried out, with the same model and the same parameters. The partial reconfiguration of the networks is again commented on. The conclusion, finally, deals with the contribution of the approach, as a new tool available to archaeologists and historians in the study of Phoenician territories.
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.
The rise of the state in Ancient Italy went hand in hand with an increase in infrastructural power, i.e., settlement centralization and urbanization. The paper discusses theoretical challenges and introduces a modeling approach to a case study, one of the earliest cities in Southern Italy, Pontecagnano, with the aim of understanding the community dynamics at the time of the earliest urbanization (ca. 900–600 BC). The model is a two-mode model that derives from social network analysis, an approach that has been fruitfully adapted to archaeological research. The model is applied to detect trends in burial contexts from the community involved. Burial was, at that time, in the region, a key instrument in the creation of memory and display of status and thus for building and consolidating state power. The analytical network model is able to detect the dynamics in the community over time very well: network Cohesion is expanding and contracting, and points to the existence of tension and a tight control of funerary behavior. The study of Centrality of selected nodes provides a good understanding of the strategies in terms of the circulation of key resources. The latter is particularly significant for studying urbanization because the appropriation of resources was not possible without centralization and the development of infrastructure, as well as an ideology. Based on the study of selected resources, it is suggested that an increase in crop storage has played a particular role in the development of state power and the urbanization process at Pontecagnano. In due course, the paper also addresses methodological challenges of working with fragmented datasets when applying models to study the past.</p>
This study focuses on modeling the fourth dimension of historic architectures with an HBIM approach and special regard to stratigraphic analysis. The goal is to push the limits of current technology to understand the history of buildings, with impacts on protecting their authenticity; it is pursued with a practitioners-oriented methodology able to make aware models of their phases. The target audience are experts in the field of heritage conservation, while the outcome is to support long-term strategies for the sustainable management of heritage. Contents follow this structure: (1) Introduction: this section frames the benefits of affirming heritage’s physical authenticity and managing risks; it clarifies assumptions and the research aim; (2) State of the Art: this highlights the topic relevance, which is not yet fully resolved, focusing on semantics, critical-interpretative data control, and on the automation of some crucial results; (3) Materials and Methods: this describes the integrated workflow, including the photogrammetric acquisition, modeling, and data enrichment, the semi-automatic Harris matrix construction, and the optimization of laser data; (4) Results: this presents the results of modelling stratigraphic units, enriching them with information according to a semantics coherent with the conservation process, to govern the temporal relations while automating key outputs; (5) Discussion: this section refines the implemented solutions and introduce future works.
The recent trends in architectural data management imply the scientific and professional collaborations of several disciplines involved in the design, restoration and maintenance. It seems an achieved concept that, in the next future, all the information connected to new interventions or conservation activities on historical buildings will be managed by using a BIM platform. Nowadays the actual range or image based metric survey techniques (mainly produced by using Terrestrial Laser Scanner or photogrammetric platform today more based on projective geometry) allow to generate 3D point clouds, 3D models, orthophotos and other outputs with assessed accuracy. The subsequent conversion of 3D information into parametric components, especially in an historical environment, is not easy and has a lot of open issues. According to the actual BIM commercial software and to the embedded tools or plugin, the paper deals with the methodology followed for the realization of two parametric 3D models (Palazzo Sarmatoris and Smistamento RoundHouse, two historical building in the north-west part of Italy). The paper describes the proposed workflow according to the employed plug-in for automatic reconstruction and to the solution adopted for the well-known problems connected to the modeling phase such as the vaults realization or the 3D irregular surfaces modeling. Finally, the studied strategy for mapping the decay in a BIM environment and the connected results with the conclusions and future perspectives are critically discussed.
We introduce the open-source Sound Mapping Tools (SMT, implemented in ArcGIS with the Spatial Analyst extension) for use in terrestrial outdoor sound propagation modeling. SMT includes three sound propagation models: an updated version of SPreAD-GIS, based on the System for Prediction of Acoustic Detectability model; NMSIMGIS, a GIS implementation of the Noise Model Simulation (NMSim) algorithms; and an implementation of an international outdoor sound propagation standard, ISO 9613–2. SMT produces spatially-explicit predictions of sound pressure levels from one or more sound sources, facilitating the assessment of noise effects from sources such as motorized recreation, energy development, and road traffic. Model results can be weighted to represent variable acoustic sensitivity or compared to ambient sound pressure levels. SMT provides a user-friendly approach to produce sound level predictions across variable landscapes, with applications for environmental, behavioral, population, and community ecology studies and for planning and management of human land use and infrastructure.
The generation of digital 3D models of archaeological finds can be followed by further products, applications and studies such as a semantic classification in order to organize the digitally documented finds and provide connections between 3D models and databases. In this contribution we present a methodology developed to assist the superintendence of archaeological excavations or sites in the digital classification, management and visualization of finds inside advanced database/repository. Our approach, divided in three mutually connected steps (modeling, segmentation and visualization), has been realized as general as possible and tested on different types of archaeological objects. Firstly a reality-based 3D model of a find is produced, using photogrammetry or active sensors. Secondly the geometric model is semi-automatically segmented and classified according to archaeological and architectural rules. The semantic classification of the finds is afterwards linked to an archaeological database to e.g. decide whether the object is constituted by original pieces or some of them belong to other finds and should be re-located. Finally the modeled and classified find is visualized in 3D open-source systems linked to an archaeological database. The visualization of the achieved results (3D models and thematic layers) is thus very useful for monitoring and updating intervention policies within the archaeological area
The main objective of this thesis is to gain new knowledge of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age societies constructing and using megalithic graves in inland southwestern Sweden. The aim is addressed with an interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeological, osteological, radiocarbon, Sr isotope, and stable isotope data, genetic sex assessment and mtDNA haplogroup determination. The thesis encompasses four themes: the use-time of megalithic graves, mobility and exchange networks, diet and subsistence practices, and mortuary practices. This research mainly focuses on the skeletal remains, even though grave architecture and artefacts are also part of the investigations. The megalithic graves and the material recovered from them are used as a source for understanding individual life stories and the past living societies. The main study area is Falbygden, located in the southwestern Swedish region of Västergötland. Falbygden has one of northern Europe’s largest concentrations of passage graves, along with many gallery graves. The clear spatial structure of the geology and the well-preserved human and animal bone material make it an unusually fruitful study area for investigations combining bioarchaeological and archaeological methods to understand prehistoric economy and society. This thesis relies on a vast range of source material from Falbygden and the surrounding area of Västergötland. For this study, 61 water sources and five archaeological animal remains were sampled for baseline Sr isotope analyses. Nine domestic animal bones from five megalithic graves and one settlement were analysed for radiocarbon dating, and stable isotopes. ZooMS were performed on six of these samples. Furthermore, 221 human remains from 47 megalithic graves and one wetland deposit were sampled for dating and isotope analyses, and some of these for genetic sex assessment and mtDNA. The most important results are that the megalithic chamber forms are more varied than previously thought and that in some cases, Late Neolithic gallery graves can be difficult to separate from Early/Middle Neolithic megalithic graves. The construction and burial use of the megalithic graves appear in two phases, ca. 3500 to 2600 cal BC and ca. 2200 to 1100 cal BC. The two phases are separated by a time of disuse, which corresponds to the Battle Axe Culture period. The data acquired within this thesis demonstrate a distinct increase in human mobility and genetic diversity in the late use-phase compared to the early phase. The mobility in the early phase seems to be dominated by adults moving into the area, while in the later phase, mobility also involves migrations of groups, perhaps families with children. Furthermore, movements of artefacts, cattle and humans seem to have been part of different, only partly overlapping networks. No clear indications of a more stratified society or intensified agriculture could be observed in the Late Neolithic material from Falbygden. Instead, the results point to a less regulated and ritualized society, with more extensive farming and more varied agropastoral strategies in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, compared to the earlier phase.
The enhancement of the cultural heritage and the promotion of the territory, with a peculiar attention to alternative routes and decentralized places of interest, is receiving more and more attention from the ICT world. In particular, Extended Reality (XR) technology (Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality) is becoming quite pivotal in this process. In this context, two main critical issues are experienced: (a) places accessibility, in particular for sites that are often difficult to visit and (b) valorisation of itineraries and rural heritage, for those points-of-interest that are particularly important for the narration of the territory, even though outside the mainstream circuit. This is a perspective paper to preliminarily discuss the feasibility of two different widely used mobile applications, aimed at exploiting virtual and mixed reality technologies to promote an underground oil mill in Salento. The underlying problems and the steps that the authors intend to follow to develop the system will be briefly treated.
This paper, by critically reviewing different years (from 2010 to 2020) of research activities performed with Mobile Laser Scanning system, aims to review existing systems and how they are exploited in multifaceted domains. To such extent, the work defines five field domains where Mobile Laser Scanning have been used: Built and urban environment, Cultural heritage and Archaeology, Underground environment, Environmental monitoring, Forestry and Agriculture. Besides, this paper sheds the light on the pros and cons for each domain field, providing useful guidelines for those researchers involved in three-dimensional data collection with innovative systems. To achieve these purposes, research papers, were analysed, mainly considering geosciences related journals. The comparison among them revealed that, despite the incredible potential of Mobile Mapping System, the human intervention is still mandatory, and post-processing actions are needed to achieve the desired results, regardless the domain field. Moreover, our study provides insight into the technical and methodological limitations that raise a general scepticism on Mobile Mapping System for three-dimensional surveying, highlighting that in most of cases supplementary data are required to make the final result trustworthy. Such obstacles, hampering Mobile Laser Scanning diffusion, point towards unexplored areas for further investigations, serving as useful guidelines for future research directions.
Traditional crafts exhibit tangible and intangible dimensions. Intangible dimensions include the practitioner’s gestural know-how in craft practice and have received smaller attention than tangible dimensions in digitization projects. This work presents the process of representation and presentation of the glasswork and is exemplified in the re-creation of a historical object. Following an articulated pipeline approach for data collection, annotation, the crafting process is represented visually and semantically in a way that can be meaningfully presented and utilized in craft training and preservation. The outcomes of the proposed approach were used to implement a Mixed Reality installation. The installation targets craft presentation through an exploration of the workspace, as well as craft training through an interactive experience where users re-enact gestures of a glass master holding a tool and receiving audiovisual feedback on the accuracy of their performance. Preliminary evaluation results show high acceptance of the installation and increased user interest.
Many of the beings in this book – Cheiron, Pan, Acheloos, the Sirens and others – will be familiar from the narratives of Greek mythology, in which fabulous anatomies abound. However, they have never previously been studied together from a religious perspective, as recipients of cult and as members of the ancient pantheon. This book is the first major treatment of the use of part-animal – mixanthropic – form in the representation and visual imagination of Greek gods and goddesses, and of its significance with regard to divine character and function. What did it mean to depict deities in a form so strongly associated in the ancient imagination with monstrous adversaries? How did iconography, myth and ritual interact in particular sites of worship? Drawing together literary and visual material, this study establishes the themes dominant in the worship of divine mixanthropes, and argues that, so far from being insignificant curiosities, they make possible a greater understanding of the fabric of ancient religious practice, in particular the tense and challenging relationship between divinity and visual representation.
Le urne cinerarie realizzate a Chiusi, Volterra e Perugia in età ellenistica sono l'espressione di una situazione storica, culturale e artistica che presenta più di un motivo di interesse per le discipline antichistiche, sia in ragione della sua complessità, sia per il carattere di attualità dei problemi che solleva. In particolare è il sovrapporsi e l'intrecciarsi di diversi gradi di focalizzazione, di diverse prospettive – da quella cittadina e locale a quella dell'Ellenismo mediterraneo, passando per quelle pan-etrusca, italica e romana – che rende allettante l'analisi di questi monumenti per chiunque sia interessato a quel complesso di questioni che viene abitualmente riunito sotto l'etichetta dell'identità culturale. Infatti, già solo in virtù del loro alto numero, nell'ordine delle migliaia, le urne si presentano non solo come significative da un punto di vista statistico ma anche come esponenti di una cultura funeraria chiaramente definibile e caratterizzante in maniera specifica i tre centri dell'Etruria settentrionale appena menzionati.
The paper describes the findings of a geo-electric study conducted at the archaeological site of Torraccia di Chiusi (Siena Province) with the use of soil resistivity modelling. In collaboration with the Département d’Archéologie et Histoire de l’Art (Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium) and the Centro di GeoTecnologie (Università degli Studi di Siena), a new, non-invasive instrument, named the OhmMapper, was used for the first time in an archaeological context to provide geophysical sections of the terrain. The aim of the study was to evaluate the nature and distribution of the buried anthropogenic structures and to properly locate them on the map without the necessity of excavating. The site, located in the valley of the Foci river, has been described as a long lasting settlement (III to VII centuries AD, although ceramics dating to the II century BC have been uncovered). The OhmMapper is a capacitively coupled resistivity meter that measures the electrical properties of rocks and soil without ground stakes used in traditional resistivity surveys. A simple coaxial-cable array with transmitter and receiver sections is pulled along the ground either by a single person or attached to an all-terrain vehicle. The dipole-dipole configuration enables the instrument to immediately pick up the horizontal variations in resistivity, thereby enabling the user to identify structures such as walls or cavities. With the OhmMapper, nine sections were made around the perimeter of the area already excavated to collect data on the presence, depth, and dimensions of anthropogenic structures. The results from the sections were refined and placed on a map using an ArcGIS platform. The interpretation of the nine sections resulted in a new hypothesis on the buried anthropogenic structures and a new model of the natural landscape that existed at the site prior to its construction.
For the first time in the history of Venetian archaeology, this paper presents the innovative potential of the application of a non-invasive digital technique for the extensive measurement of reused sculpture (spolia) preserved in Venice and its lagoon, both in architectural contexts and as freestanding structural elements. The sample measurements were carried out to get precise digital representations of archaeologically and epigraphically meaningful items, such as ancient columns, capitals or inscriptions, which are reused in the facades of palaces on the Grand Canal, as well as inside and outside Venetian churches and bell-towers. In most cases, measurements were taken for the first time; it was also possible to test the functions of the device over considerable distances, even greater than 50 m, thus obtaining the measurement of artefacts that are difficult to access. Finally, the provision of a very detailed dataset made it possible to set up a broader, albeit still embryonic, study of the proportions of ancient artefacts, especially inscriptions.
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.
Modulo per l’inventariazione dei beni mobili: può essere utilizzato sia per l’inventariazione patrimoniale finalizzata alla rendicontazione annuale con Mod. 15, sia per registrare qualunque altra tipologia di numerazione/di codifica assegnata al bene in operazioni di primo rilevamento, riordino, rinvenimento, acquisizione (inventario di collezione, di scavo, storico; numerazione di lavoro; ecc.).
The great Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky has long been recognized as a pioneer in developmental psychology. But somewhat ironically, his theory of development has never been well understood in the West. Mind in Society should correct much of this misunderstanding. Carefully edited by a group of outstanding Vygotsky scholars, the book presents a unique selection of Vygotskys important essays, most of which have previously been unavailable in English.The Vygotsky who emerges from these pages can no longer be glibly included among the neobehaviorists. In these essays he outlines a dialectical-materialist theory of cognitive development that anticipates much recent work in American social science. The mind, Vygotsky argues, cannot be understood in isolation from the surrounding society. Man is the only animal who uses tools to alter his own inner world as well as the world around him. From the handkerchief knotted as a simple mnemonic device to the complexities of symbolic language, society provides the individual with technology that can be used to shape the private processes of mind. In Mind in Society Vygotsky applies this theoretical framework to the development of perception, attention, memory, language, and play, and he examines its implications for education. The result is a remarkably interesting book that is bound to renew Vygotskys relevance to modern psychological thought.
Recently, client-side attacks through the Microsoft Internet Explorer have increased. In this paper, we present a method to detect and block malware programs resulting from successful malicious iframe attacks. This method can detect malware program execution through distinguishing API sequences of normal execution and abnormal API sequences resulting from an exploit using Win32 API hooks. We implemented MiGuard (Guard against malicious iframes) and performed experiments. The evaluation results indicate that our approach can effectively detect and block malicious iframes. We also believe that our research can help prevent threats of malicious iframes.
The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) is a digital archive that has been promoting good practice in the use of digital archaeological data and supporting research, learning and teaching with high quality and dependable digital resources for twenty years. The ADS does this by preserving digital data in the long-term and by promoting and disseminating, open and free datasets, gathered from all sectors of archaeology. An integral component of the ADS remit has been the life-cycle principle of preservation, curation and dissemination of data in order to enable re-use. The ADS practices a combination of normalization, version migration, format migration and refreshment for the active management and ongoing preservation of all archived data types. This paper highlights the importance of the ongoing management of research data for long-term preservation. In particular this paper focuses on the challenges of migrating spatial data, specifically Computer Aided Design (CAD) files. Successful data migration of these files ensures that data is accessible and usable, and provides many opportunities through data re-use to combine and re-interrogate datasets, allowing new archaeological interpretations to be developed.
The population density of ancient settlements according to modern ethnoarchaeological data, and supported by archaeological data, was about 250 persons per hectare. An inventory of all known MB IIA and IIB settlements (130 in the earlier phase and 337 in the latter) was compiled, estimating their size and forming an approximate estimate of the population of Western Palestine for those periods. On the basis of the coefficient proposed here and other considerations, the authors believe the population during MB IIA was about 100,000 and in MB IIB, 140,000. In comparison, the population during EB II-III was 150,000 (Broshi and Gophna 1984) and 1,000,000 during the Roman-Byzantine periods (Broshi 1980). Quantification of the data also permits interesting conclusions concerning some aspects of the geography of settlement in this period, including spatial distribution and distribution of settlements by size.
The micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to identify manganese oxides, pyrolusite, manganite and cryptomelane in archaeological sites in northern Atacama Desert, Chile. The present micro-Raman data allow us to compare and expand the origins of raw materials used by archaic groups of the Atacama Desert. In the Andean highlands, pyrolusite and manganite were identified while in the coastal lowlands manganite and cryptomelane were found. The present results complement the data obtained from the lithic materials and rock art painting analyses pointing to a better understanding of the daily life of ancient populations and minerals use in this region.
Objective Archaeological textiles represent a variety of structures and materials, often subject to post-depositional effects such as dirt and decay. In this study, we examined textiles in 3D with high-resolution micro-computed tomography (μCT) imaging and studied the internal structures and patterns of textiles. In addition, nanoscale CT was used to identify fibre material. Design Two tablet-woven textile fragments and a plain-woven textile were excavated from a late medieval burial site in Valmarinniemi, Finland. Two textiles were scanned with μCT imaging and one with nanoscale CT imaging. Image segmentation was performed to study the internal structural components of the fabrics, yarns, and fibres. Results The tablet-woven ribbon and plain-woven textile were imaged and visualised in 3D using high-resolution μCT and nanoscale CT imaging. 3D μCT images together with segmenting showed the structure of the woven textiles and how warp and weft intertwine. Nanoscale CT imaging of plain-woven fragment showed individual fibres and provided information in identifying the fibres as cotton. Conclusions High-resolution μCT and nanoscale CT enabled the examination and identification of archaeological textiles in 3D. Thus, μCT imaging brings added value to the study of archaeological textiles with a precise method to study internal structures that otherwise would be invisible or difficult to examine and evaluate yarn and individual fibre geometry in a way that is less laborious and time-consuming than conventional methods.
Recent studies have emphasised the usefulness of a jointed employment, in historical and archaeological research, of the most advanced computer technologies with statistical methods. In this work, as an application of a Geographical Information System (GIS), we present a Matlab language program for the statistical analysis of spatial data related to ancient human settlements. The explanation of the program is preceded by some notes about the GIS, the area from which data have been collected, and the statistical methods applied to analyse the data.
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.
Il progetto nazionale di ricerca Cofin 2002 sulle Metodologie innovative e integrate per il rilevamento dell'architettura e dell'ambiente ha concluso il suo percorso alla fine dello scorso anno e oggi i risultati conseguiti vengo resi pubblici con questo volume. Negli ultimi quarant'anni, alle tradizionali tecniche del rilevamento architettonico, che si erano mantenute sostanzialmente immutate per molti secoli, si sono aggiunte in modo imprevedibile e con sempre maggiore rapidità una serie di nuove metodologie.
During the years 2006-2007, three teams of scientists (archaeologists with geophysicists) detected the archaeological surface of the Late Antique villa at Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi (Siena, Tuscany) using GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar), Resistivity and Magnetometry. Their aim was to identify archaeological remains and consequently spend less time and money on digging. At the conclusion of the fieldwork and data treatment, they used a CAD program to overlap geophysical and archaeological layers and check geophysical results on archaeological remains. Despite surveys in many other archaeological sites, they obtained few results: surveys located anomalies in less than 1/4 of the archaeological remains excavated in 2008 and 2009. In this paper the authors attempt to analyze (and try to find better solutions for the future) errors in the geophysical surveys caused by incorrect calibration of the database, low accuracy of grid intersections and excessively long grid lines, in relationship to site conditions and the kinds of archaeological remains. These technical problems in fact certainly create a less than optimal operational synergy between archaeologists and geologists during the post-processing of the data: an analysis of these problems may help to improve future projects of this type.
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.
The territorial surveys of the University of Bologna ongoing since 2017 along the Nevola Valley, in the northern Marche region, led to the identification of a Picenian necropolis of the Orientalizing age (7th-6th century BC) composed of funerary monuments with an annular moat and original tumulus, or partial accumulation, of coverage. Besides determining the discovery of the site, of particular significance for the knowledge of the pre-Roman population and the Picenian presence in this sector of the ager Gallicus, the integration of aerial photography and geophysical prospections (geoelectric and geomagnetic methods) has favoured the preliminary characterization of the buried deposit and directed the subsequent excavation operations, preparatory also to the procedure of preventive verification activated by a project of new construction in the immediate vicinity of the necropolis. The excavations, carried out under ministerial concession, have confirmed many aspects that had been suggested by the non-invasive techniques and allowed a first definition of the chronological evolution of the funerary area, which has known an important phase of use even during the middle-imperial Roman age, after an apparent hiatus of about 600 years. The tomb structures excavated up to now, mainly in the “cappuccina” style, in tile coffin and simple pits, and related grave goods, attest to a particular vitality between the II and IV centuries AD. Their disposition with respect to the Picenian monuments opens reflections on the continuity or discontinuity of occupation and on the value attributed to the context with the structuring of the dominion of Rome in the territory initiated in the 3rd century BC, with particular regard to the policies of submission of the indigenous cultural component. Although still preliminary, the collected data seem to testify the existence of a complex and important funerary landscape, also for topographic position, hinged, at least during the Picenian age, on large monuments that had also a function of territorial markers. The analysis started on the cemeterial nucleus of Roman age, later added to the original one, poses problems of chronological gaps and suggestions concerning the possible resilience of a place as a burial and memory site. Associated with this are considerations about the perception of forms, symbols and values of the most ancient funerary landscape by the Roman settlers, and more generally about the survival of the cultural landscape through the centuries and the societies settled here. From a methodological point of view, the comparison between non-invasive diagnostic techniques and archaeological excavation has triggered a valuable process of mutual feedback of data, which still continues in the light of ongoing research. Further food for thought concerns the capabilities and limits of the non-invasive survey methodologies used in relation to the targets of the research, verified, albeit only partially, by the excavation.
This paper discusses the application of environment evaluation models, with regards to the Archaeological Component, in consideration of the rules in force for the protection and conservation of the archaeological heritage. The protection both of Cultural Heritage and of planning of infrastructures must follow the principles of «sustainable development». In the first part of the paper, the authors acknowledge the value of environmental and archaeological impact studies on the territory. These studies, which must be conducted in a preliminary phase, make it possible to acquire a more profound knowledge not only of places subject to archaeological risk, but also of the historical and environmental reconstruction that may be useful for carrying out a project. The second part of the essay tackles the methodological problem for the archaeological impact evaluation of a site; this can be developed with the following aims: a) to single out the historical periods of a territory, relevant from the archaeological point of view; b) to define the sensibility of a historical period; c) to define the level of risk. For the evaluation it is necessary to define a qualitative hierarchy of the different sensibility levels that the archaeological object can have. This hierarchy is based on the identification of the right pointers and relevant principles of interpretation. The last part of the paper is a synthesis of an applied study case, described after the explanation of the methodology of the archaeological impact evaluation. In this study case the “quali-quantitative” evaluation techniques are adopted.
