Introduzione C. Greco, Il perché di una ricerca P. Pensabene, C. Sfameni, Le ragioni di una mostra, le ragioni di un museo P. Pensabene, Le ragioni di uno scavo Saggi 1. C. Sfameni, Dalla villa al villaggio: trasformazioni e "fine" delle
The web site LIMC-France, created by the French team of the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), is free and available in seven languages: English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian and Spanish. The site makes it possible to consult and search three different databases: – LIMCicon, the main database, gives access to file-cards gathering technical and scientific data relating to all Greek and Roman objects decorated with a mythological image that have been studied by the French team of LIMC, not only in French museums but also in several Near-Eastern, North African and East European countries. Most of the files are related to one or several digitized photographs. Each entry comprises a number of fields, all of them searchable, including bibliographical references, find-place, previous and current location, shape, iconographical description, key-words, etc. – LIMCbiblio updates the bibliography of LIMC articles from their publishing date onward. – LIMCabrev is a helpful tool giving complete titles of the abbreviations used in LIMC and in other publications of the LIMC Foundation.
Located in the Turrite Secca Valley, the Fredian Rock shelter was systematically investigated from 1987 until 1989. The archaeological sequence has already been studied in 1995, and one Final Epigravettian and two Sauveterrian levels have been identified. This work aims to furnish a comprehensive analysis of the entire lithic assemblage of Epigravettian Layer 5, providing an update from a techno-typological and techno-economic perspective. Strongly dependent on local resources, the industry has a wide range of raw materials available over long distances resulting from direct or indirect supplies, as part of seasonal mobility or through contacts on a larger scale. Approximately half of the assemblage consists of microlithic flakes. This is related to the particularly intense exploitation of the raw materials that characterise the Fredian Rock shelter industry compared to other sites in the Turrite Valley. Despite this peculiarity, the shelter fits well into the context of the Late Epigravettian of Upper Serchio Valley and the chrono-cultural sequences proposed in recent years for classifying industries at the end of the Late Glacial period.
En moins de vingt ans, l’édition en sciences humaines et sociales a été considérablement bouleversée. Tout a été réinventé : le marché du livre s’est transformé, le cadre légal a été radicalement modifié, la publication et la lecture en ligne ont connu un formidable essor, l’écriture même des sciences humaines s’est métamorphosée. Face à ces révolutions intellectuelles, techniques et socioéconomiques d’une ampleur inégalée, en faisant dialoguer éditeurs privés et publics, économistes, documentalistes, libraires, juristes, traducteurs, chercheurs, cet ouvrage collectif offre à celles et ceux qui se préoccupent du destin de l’édition en sciences humaines et sociales un premier bilan, à la fois clair et lucide, des changements survenus depuis le début du XXIe siècle.
The survey campaign on the monumental remains of the West Hall of the Domitian Complex (Roman Forum) has provided an opportunity for a general reflection on the archaeological surveying of architecture. Above all, there is the problem of how to guarantee an accurate documentation, when approaching ‘XXL buildings’, like those of this architectural complex. Working with two different methodologies, in particular digital photogrammetry and laser scanning, the authors have detected the best operating procedure for the documentation of such very big structures. The data obtained during the surveying campaign has also allowed the reconstruction of the different historical phases for the West Hall in the Roman Forum.
The Atlas of Near Eastern sites (ASPRO - Atlas des Sites du Proche-Orient) is an analytical index of nearly 2000 archaeological sites occupied between 14,000 and 5700 BP (about 14,000-4500 BC) in an area extending from the Sinai to Turkmenistan and from Anatolia to the Arabian-Persian Gulf. Its objective is to propose consistent information concerning a wide area and a long period of time, based on evidence which is often difficult to access, and to free this information from the compartmentalization of knowledge. This corpus, which was published in 1994 in book form, and is now out of print, has recently been made available online in an interactive cartographic interface, at the following address: http://www.mom.fr/Aspro/login.jsp. The objective of this development is to sustain consultation of the corpus, to increase its diffusion, while offering new functionalities with more flexibility: consultation through different entries, including the cartographic entry. Thus, it will now be possible to respond to requests on the different tables which compose the base (sites, periods, bibliography, dating), and to display the results in the form of an interactive list (access to files) and in cartographic form. The display is presented in different scales and the sites may be visualized on several thematic maps (hypsometry, pluviometry, bio-geographic zones). The latter also enable selection by spatial intersection. The technical system is now in place, and the project can proceed to a new stage: the updating of the corpus through sharing of information, then validation by a group of specialists.
The paper presents the use of the Free OpenSource Software uMap-OSM as a solution for the online implementation and dissemination of the Community Archive of Monte Baldo, a project consisting in the participatory identification and cataloging of Cultural Heritage from this territory located in the provinces of Trento and Verona. The paper offers a concise comparison of user-friendly alternatives and evaluates strategies for database creation using uMap-OSM. The final section validates the selected methods and customization plans, aimed at fulfilling divulgation, accessibility and sustainability goals, while adhering to archaeological documentation standards. The Community Archive of Monte Baldo also aligns with the objectives of local authorities and stakeholders in land-use planning and human development, contributing to the preparation of a UNESCO candidacy dossier for the Monte Baldo territory.
When performing restoration work, it is not only the technical elements that come into play, but also social, economic and cultural aspects. This approach sees restoration as one continuous flow of ideas and operational plans, based on a fusion of disciplines and on collaboration between multiple players. These players, in various ways and for different motives, all take part in a restoration project, from diagnostics and planning to construction site management and even until the final result can be enjoyed by users, and they do so by constantly respecting the uniqueness of each individual situation. The collaborative relationships and partnerships formed on a restoration site foster a sense of belonging and mutual responsibility. The pro- cess of restoration may present a valuable opportunity for the community to come together, offering chances to raise cultural and civil awareness whilst encouraging people to collectively reflect on rediscovering and safeguarding local history. After all, a region may be embodied in a monument which the community can look to in order to identify and recognise themselves. The training of restoration architects is of particular importance in regions frequently affected by natural disasters or where local construction practices are being gradually left behind and traditional ways of living are undergoing radical transformation. If a restoration policy is to be considered conscientious and respectful of local communities, it must actively involve local people in restoration work. Attention should be paid to how these communities may dynam- ically evolve over time, as well as to the stresses and strains they are under. As such, projects must take account of a multitude of aspects: local cultures, the teaching of co-existence, the evolution of concepts regarding the conservation and restoration of historical and cultural sites and, finally, the remembrance and appreciation of traditions, as these traditions may be both unique and useful in imparting knowledge and providing first-hand evidence of traditional construction techniques.
Cette synthèse sur l'architecture romaine comportera deux tomes, le second étant consacré aux palais impériaux, à l'habitat urbain et aux monuments funéraires. Elle est, en langue française, la première du genre. Les anciens manuels en italien, en anglais et en allemand, qui furent en leur temps fort utiles, s'avèrent aujourd'hui sur bien des points incomplets ou insuffisants. La réflexion sur l'architecture romaine s'est, au cours de ces dernières décennies, enrichie de nouvelles connaissances, élargie à de nouveaux domaines, lestée de nouvelles problématiques. Les conquêtes de l'analyse monumentale et de l'archéologie urbaine ont remis en question beaucoup d'idées reçues : de Rome à Mérida, d'Arles à Jerash, de Bath à Carthage, les acquisitions sont multiples. Non seulement l'éventail des édifices identifiables s'est beaucoup élargi, mais la typologie des principaux monuments, la genèse de leur forme et leur évolution ne peuvent plus être présentées selon les méthodes mises en œuvre dans les précédentes synthèses. Ce premier volume, qui tire parti des découvertes les plus récentes, est consacré à l'architecture publique des villes et des sanctuaires. L'auteur y traite des principales composantes du paysage urbain aux trois derniers siècles de la République et aux deux premiers siècles de l'Empire, envisageant successivement : les éléments de définition et d'articulation de l'espace urbain (enceintes et portes de ville ; arcs honorifiques et triomphaux ; portiques et quadriportiques) ; les composantes des centres monumentaux (temples ; forums ; basiliques ; curies) ; les édifices du spectacle et du loisir (théâtres et odéons ; amphithéâtres ; cirques et stades ; bibliothèques et auditoriums ; sièges d'associations) ; les monuments des eaux (thermes ; fontaines et nymphées ; latrines publiques) ; les monuments du commerce et du stockage (marchés ; greniers et entrepôts). Echappant aux simplifications et ne négligeant aucune des variantes provinciales, cette typologie systématique s'apparente, pour chaque monument, à une histoire architecturale développée sur la longue durée. Elle porte une attention particulière à la définition des prototypes, à leur monumentalisation progressive et aux modifications induites par les besoins spécifiques des communautés, la diversité des aires culturelles et l'évolution des climats politiques.
This volume deals with the very current issue of prevention and protection of the historical buildings from seismic risk, offering a methodology of investigation, called “archaeoseismology”, developed within university environments and refined by several discussions with professionals and experts of the field. The text is not only intended for an audience with an archaeological background, but also for the different people operating in the field of cultural heritage and seismic risk, be these architects, restorers, structural engineers, historians or seismologists. The book, therefore, aims at acting as a first step towards the affirmation of a news discipline, analysing and enhancing its applicability and potential, and providing unpublished and indispensable data for the knowledge, enhancement and protection of cultural heritage.
Following the elaboration in Italy of numerous works regarding the archaeology of architecture; with the present contribution we wish to propose a reflection upon the relationship between the horizontal and vertical stratigraphy and, in particular, on the relationship between the investigation of the material evidence (vertical structures) and its interpretation. In light of this consideration,we present case studies co-ordinated by the teaching of Archeologia Medievale (University of Siena) concerning finalised projects with regard to the development and growth of hill fortifications, with particular emphasis on centromeridional Tuscany.
The mapping and the analysis of geoarchaeological markers of sea-level changes at Torre Santa Sabina and Torre Guaceto/Scogli di Apani is instrumental in doing a reconstruction of the coastal landscape of Adriatic southern Apulia in late Holocene. The two chronological targets are the II millennium B.C. (Bronze Age) and the I century B.C. – V/VI century A.D. (Late Republican Roman Age – Late Antiquity)
The archaeological research at Leopoli-Cencelle (Tarquinia, VT) has enabled the definition of the urban structure and the network of infrastructures. In particular, water infrastructures were investigated by recording their physical remains, their position in the urban topography, manner of construction and technical solutions pursued. A GIS dataset was then set up incorporating the GPS tracks obtained from field surveys, integrated by their geo-referenced points.
La scelta è stata di inserirci nel dibattito tanto intenso nel nostro tempo sulle politiche per i beni archeologici con alcune esperienze di azioni concrete che presentiamo senza la pretesa di proporre un metodo o un esempio da seguire. L’intenzione è stata di coniugare ricerca, didattica e lavoro sul campo, mettendo insieme idee e forze per individuare strade diverse da quelle che hanno visto nel settore dei beni archeologici concentrare risorse su alcuni siti, grandi attrattori, e lasciare altri, pure riguardevoli, nell’abbandono. Le esperienze che illustriamo sono maturate nell’ambito della Seconda Università di Napoli, nel corso di Conservazione dei Beni Culturali. Sono state volte a rispondere a responsabili richieste degli studenti, da noi condivise, di superare i limiti di una preparazione universitaria che le briglie delle riforme degli ordinamenti precipitosamente susseguitesi hanno teso a comprimere in numeri e crediti formativi. Ci ha mosso il convincimento che non si possono formare giovani incentrando la loro preparazione solo sulla conoscenza e conservazione, separandole dalla valorizzazione, fruizione e comunicazione dei beni: operazioni tutte che riguardano la cultura prima che la commercializzazione.
Analysis of prehistoric art is inseparable from the study of its supports, movable or on walls. Increasingly, this topic is included among the research aims of modern studies. The contribution of several techniques of restoration in 3D (scanner/laser, photogrammetry, microtopography, etc.) makes it possible to approach different graphic productions and their areas. Beyond the virtual modeling of wall, or decorated artifacts, it is interesting to make use of an adapted numeric support to incorporate and analyze natural, graphic and archaeological information (nature of area, engravings, paintings, flagged items, etc.). We propose here to make a comparison of each technique, to describe in detail its contribution and complementarity in the research of paleolithic art, using two examples. First, the Blanchard cave (Indre), now being studied as part of the MADAPCA research program subsidized by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, second, the site of la Marche (Vienne).
Il volume conclude la serie dedicata al censimento completo e aggiornato dei siti archeologici dell’intero territorio modenese. I due tomi, che compongono il terzo volume, raccolgono i dati relativi ad una serie di comuni tra i più rilevanti per estensione e densità di popolazione, aree a vocazione assai diversificata che comprendono tutta la cintura circostante il comune di Modena con l’eccezione della parte settentrionale (compresa nel vol. I relativo alla pianura) e la parte terminale delle due vallate del Panaro e del Secchia. Si tratta di un’area con una lunga tradizione insediativa, che risale alla preistoria più antica, per cui in alcuni siti nel corso del tempo è stato possibile il recupero di reperti risalenti addirittura al paleolitico. L’impegnativo progetto, promosso dalla Provincia in collaborazione con il Museo Civico Archeologico di Modena e la Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Emilia Romagna, con un lavoro durato oltre sette anni ha costruito una Carta archeologica del territorio modenese che fotografa oltre tremila siti, mettendo in luce un quadro complesso e articolato del suo popolamento nell’antichità.
The contribution aims to understand the architectural development of the Roman amphitheater of Venosa (Potenza, Italy), conducted through an analytical study of published sources combined with the technical analysis of archaeological evidence, achieved thanks to the support of metric acquisitions combined with laser scanners and photogrammetry from drone. The technical/constructive deductions allowed the development of a 3D reconstruction hypothesis, which was itself part of that cognitive process aimed at verifying those architectural solutions defining the original morphology of the monument.
This paper illustrates a research project aimed at testing a method of GIS-based evaluation which was conducted using specific criteria and an "objective point of view" during an archaeological impact assessment. The authors tested the use of a database, linked to a GIS platform, to assign fixed values in order to evaluate the "potential", the "value of the context" and the "risk" of single archaeological sites affected by new projects of urban development. Based on the application of the same methodology and language used by the scholars involved in the environmental impact studies and coming from other scientific fields (natural sciences, economics, etc.), the assessment idea is proposed in order to stimulate archaeologists to use not only qualitative, but also quantitative values, like the procedures for the environmental impact assessment. Some case studies relative to the Venetian Lagoon, Mestre and Comacchio (FE) conclude the paper.
A case-study is examined concerning the location/allocation strategies of the High Taro Valley (Parma-Italy) during the Middle to the Late Bronze Age and a predictive analysis is performed on the basis of a locally-sensitive application of T. Higuchi's (1998) model. The current work derives from a PhD project carried out by the author at the University of Padova. First, the research project database is presented, then three different analyses performed in mountainous environment are illustrated: two viewshed-based and one distance-based. The first is intended to analyze the visual control of each site on the surrounding landscape and to propose the clustering of sites in different geographical districts following the datum of their intervisibility inside a given buffer. The second seeks to highlight the high rate of overall control of Bronze Age sites over the entire landscape. The distance-based analysis shows a high correspondence between Bronze Age sites and ophiolites formations, known in academic literature as geological formations rich in chalcopyrite and possibly related to bronze metallurgy.
L’area vaticana, nell’odierna accezione e le sue immediate vicinanze, era attraversata dalla via Cornelia/ Aurelia e dalla via Trionfale, perdendo ogni importanza nel VI secolo d. C. All’inizio di questo secolo, inoltre, papa Simmaco realizza un ingresso secondario alla basilica di S. Pietro che, attraverso la Rotonda di S. Andrea, immette nel transetto della basilica per chi proveniva dall’Aurelia. Gli edifici sepolcrali su questi tracciati vanno dal I al III sec. d. C. ; più tardi sono noti rifacimenti e restauri o deposizioni povere e poco evidenti. Qualche traccia di utilizzo potrebbe attestare l’uso della necropoli della via Trionfale fino al V sec. Le fonti ci mostrano indizi che fanno pensare che già nei secoli V e VI si sia formato un gruppo di abitazioni, destinate probabilmente ai mendicanti che vivevano attorno a S. Pietro, che costituisce verosimilmente il primo nucleo del borgo medioevale attorno alla basilica.
The author illustrates a research project aimed at making an important contribution to the topographical knowledge of the urban area inside the city walls of Roman ‘Telesia’, located near Benevento (S. Salvatore Telesino). The urban survey has involved topographical and archaeological research and a selected coverage of the western area of the city, near Porta Volturno, using satellite images and low altitude aerial photography. A Geographical Information System, based on the integration of aerial data, maps and the digitization of several negative cropmarks, has allowed the author to develop a database for the visualization and comprehension of the complex ancient site of Telesia and to interpret the urban planning of the Roman city.
Il contributo focalizza l'attenzione sul progetto territoriale, promosso dall’autorità catepanale bizantina in Daunia nei primi decenni dell'XI sec., mirato a coniugare le esigenze difensive di rafforzamento del confine a quelle di popolamento e sviluppo del comprensorio interno. Si trattò, di fatto, dell’ultimo progetto insediativo di una certa ambizione realizzato dai Bizantini in Puglia, ovvero dell’atto finale del processo di “istituzione della Capitanata”, anche come “frontière artificielle”. Nel contributo sono esaminate le forme e i caratteri insediativi attraverso i quali il programma fu realizzato, il ruolo esercitato anche dalle istituzioni diocesane e dagli stanziamenti religiosi.
The use of a scanner in archaeological excavation is a powerful tool for electronic documentation. A precise method to take advantage of this new hardware peripheral has been documented. There are four essential components: a camera, a portable personal computer, one handy-scanner (at least) and good software for image processing (bitmap and vector). The main advantages offered by this collection are that one obtains high metric precision, quick recording times and wide flexibility in data manipulation. A very complex structure (a knapping floor) from the archaeological excavation of Riparo Tagliente (VR), dating to the Epigravettian (late Upper Palaeolithic), was used to conduct the test. Starting with a mosaic of photographic images, it was possible to obtain the morphology of the paleosurface in an electronic format. After the automatic electronic input it is then possible to modify the shapes and qualities (thickness, colour, position . . .) of single objects like flints, bones, stones and so on. It is also possible to enhance the images with the application of filters to optimise contrast, brightness or clarity, to zoom into particular areas or to magnify a single object, and to work on different layers. The output on paper may be the partial or total restitution of the final image, or the print of a single group of objects in different formats and scale drawings. However, the main advantage is that of obtaining documentation during the excavation and building a complete database of alphanumerical, statistical and distribution data and object images.
Italy ratifies the Faro Convention: what are the implications for domestic law of cultural heritage? The present contribution has the purpose of analyzing the effects determined by Italy's ratification of the Faro Convention on domestic law of cultural heritage. As regards the notion of cultural heritage, introduced in Italian law by Law No. 133/2020, authorizing the ratification of the Faro Convention, the difference existing with the definition previously accepted in domestic law is emphasized, trying to enucleate the relationship between the two definitions. Through the ratification of the Faro Convention, the previously unknown definition of "patrimonial community" is transposed into Italian law. The role attributed to persons is therefore underlined, which also implies the existence of an important role of the community in the process of identification, safeguarding and promotion of cultural inheritance. The article finally focuses its attention on the nature and substance of the right to cultural heritage.
Una magistrale sintesi delle fasi evolutive che nell'arco di meno di duemila anni - dal III al I millennio a.C. - hanno portato il territorio italiano dal pullulare di comunità instabili costituite da gruppi di parentela di poche decine di individui all'emergere di élites aristocratiche e al sorgere di vere e proprie forme di organizzazione protostatale: in una parola, alla nascita di quella particolare entità geografico-culturale che prenderà il nome di Italia.
The traditional long-standing identification of the hypogeum under the Church of San Nicolò dei Cordari at Syracuse (Sicily) is questioned by architectural and topographical analysis. The hydraulic function is no longer tenable and a reappraisal as suspended granary is suggested by comparison with similar buildings at Monte San Basilio (Sicily) and Paestum (Lucania).
Pierre Lévy nous invite dans ce livre à ne plus penser en termes d'impact des techniques sur la société, mais de projet. Forme sociale inédite, le collectif intelligent peut inventer une " démocratie en temps réel ". La magie des mondes virtuels est désormais à la portée du grand public: le nombre d'utilisateurs des réseaux mondiaux de communication informatisé augmente de 10% par mois. Le réseau Interne et le multimédia interactif annoncent une mutation dans les modes de communication et l'accès au savoir. Il émerge un nouveau milieu de communication, de pensée et de travail pour les sociétés humaines : le cyberespace. Comment notre culture en sera-t-elle affectée ? N'aboutirons-nous qu'à une super-télévision où renouvellerons-nous le lien social dans le sens d'une plus grande fraternité ? Pierre Lévy nous invite dans ce livre à ne plus penser en termes d'impact des techniques sur la société, mais de projet. Les nouveaux moyens de communication permettent aux groupes humains de mettre en commun leurs imaginations et leurs savoirs. Forme sociale inédite, le collectif intelligent peut inventer une " démocratie en temps réel ". L'auteur situe le projet de l'intelligence collective dans une perspective anthropologique de longue durée. Après avoir été fondés sur le rapport au cosmos, puis sur l'appartenance aux territoires, et finalement sur l'insertion dans le processus économique, l'identité des personnes et le lien social pourraient bientôt s'épanouir dans l'échange des connaissances.
Un Colloque 'Epigraphie et Informatique' s'est tenu à l'Université de Lausanne les 26 et 27 mai 1989 sous le haut patronage de l'AIEGL (cf. compte rendu in Epigraphica LI, 1989, p. 275-279). A l'issue du colloque, le bureau de l'AIEGL et les partecipants ont désigné une commission chargée de recueillir des reinsegnements sur l'utilisation de l'informatique dans les recherches conduites acutellement en épigraphie grecque et latine.
Three different scripts, Hieroglyphic, Linear A and Linear B are attestated in the Aegean between 2200 and 1200 BC The first two of these scripts, Hieroglyphic and Linear A are still undeciphered. The best possibilities of decipherment seem to be linked with Linear A, a script which is very near to the Linear B deciphered by M. Ventris in 1952. In fact more than 80% of the syllabic signs of Linear A are common to Linear B.A systematic comparison between the position of each sign common to Linear A and Linear B will probably give us the possibility to improve the phonetic value of the Linear A signs and so permit to read Linear A. Such a work can only be done with the assistance of the computer.
Negli ultimi anni le applicazioni dell’informatica all’archeologia hanno contribuito a delineare scenari nuovi nei quali la pratica stessa della ricerca archeologica risulta profondamente trasformata. Il volume ripropone gli Atti del Workshop che ha rappresentato, per alcuni ricercatori italiani esperti in differenti settori dell’informatica applicata all’archeologia, l’occasione per avviare un confronto interdisciplinare sul ruolo che tecniche e metodologie hanno oggi nel processo archeologico. Da quella esperienza sono emersi numerosi spunti di riflessione che investono in modo particolare il rapporto tra stratigrafia e informatica: dal 3D alla gestione del dato spaziale, dalla documentazione digitale all’integrazione semantica. L’obiettivo è quello di allargare il dibattito concentrando il focus sull’importanza e sul rilievo metodologico che gli strumenti informatici assumono nel quadro delle indagini archeologiche sul campo: dalla acquisizione dei dati (alfanumerici, spaziali, etc.) alla loro elaborazione. Negli ultimi anni le principali novità metodologiche nella ricerca archeologica sono arrivate dallo sviluppo delle applicazioni informatiche, che hanno dato vita ad uno scenario vario e contribuito a rendere più complesso il già articolato mondo delle metodologie di dominio. Non è facile estrarre delle linee di tendenza ed evoluzione in uno scenario così variegato; è evidente però un percorso che, senza apparentemente un filo logico o una guida unitaria, si contraddistingue per l’incessante sviluppo di soluzioni informatizzate di supporto all’attività archeologica. Esso conduce verso una diffusione delle metodologie informatiche in tutti gli aspetti della pratica archeologica, cosicché accanto ai più diffusi sistemi di ausilio alla gestione della documentazione si iniziano ad affermare esperimenti finalizzati ad un uso più avanzato degli strumenti informatici. Nella pratica dello scavo archeologico in particolare, a parte alcune punte di eccellenza, in Italia la situazione è invece più frammentata e disorganizzata. La stagione dei DB ha senza dubbio avviato e quindi reso più proficuo il dialogo fra tecnologi e archeologi, ma negli altri settori, ed in particolare nel supporto all’attività di scavo e documentazione le esperienze diffuse sul territorio non hanno ancora portato a riflessioni metodologiche di più ampio respiro. Al giorno d’oggi la situazione è ancora definita da un accesso diretto delle équipe archeologiche a strumenti e metodi innovativi, senza una precisa prospettiva. La situazione dell’archeologia computazionale rispecchia fedelmente in definitiva quella più generale delle metodologie della ricerca, che sembrano quantomeno “distratte” nei confronti del metodo stratigrafico, che pure ad oggi, nella realtà come nell’immaginario collettivo, rappresenta ancora l’attività principale nell’ampio “ventaglio” delle metodologie. Una metodologia aggiornata, che faccia uso di strumenti innovativi, deve innestarsi profondamente su tutte le tappe del processo conoscitivo, dalle fasi preliminari a quelle di raccolta analitica, fino ai momenti di sintesi dell’interpretazione e della comunicazione. Importanti e suggestivi spunti vengono dal campo delle applicazioni 3D. In via di esaurimento la concezione che immagina visioni più riduttive e ormai anacronistiche che identificano la Virtual Archaeology come sinonimo di ricostruzione di monumenti e siti, si fanno strada punti di vista più ampi che ricollegano a questo il più ampio settore della virtualizzazione dell’intera realtà archeologica. Anche grazie a tecnologie innovative quali il laser scanning e la fotomodellazione la tridimensionalità in archeologia si sta affrancando dalla veste riduttiva che la vedeva classificata fra gli strumenti per la comunicazione divulgativa e per la produzione di ricostruzioni architettoniche, che non hanno nulla di particolarmente innovativo a parte la tecnologia che oggi permette di realizzarle con maggiore facilità ed efficacia.
The paper examines the applications of some software technologies in archaeological research and discusses a number of errors that may derive from a naïve approach. In considering databases, relational databases have strict requirements that are fulfilled in most cases when dealing with archaeological records, but cannot be given for granted without further investigation. It is suggested that XML technology may solve many of these issues. Digital Elevation Models generated automatically by GIS software may create undesired or unrealistic terrain features and introduce errors, as well as GPS data acquisition. The frequent absence in archaeological GIS papers of an error analysis confirms the lack of a critical approach to these mathematical tools. Finally, computer visualisation is examined in the paper, with a similar criticism to an exclusively visual interpretation of Virtual Reality reconstructions. Since all the tools examined in the paper were created within other applicative contexts, it is hoped that a more conscious approach may better integrate them into archaeological method and theory.
The author illustrates the activity of Istituto Beni Culturali (IBC), the cultural institution of Regione Emilia Romagna with regard to the use of new technology in cultural heritage. IBC, a unique example in Italy, has created in 1990 a public company to manage the public resources and to coordinate the computerized cataloguing of the regional cultural heritage: the Centro Regionale per il Catalogo (CRC). Since 1993 IBC administers a regional museum fund (L.R. 20/90) and holds a major role in programming the regional policy in the field of local authority museums and cataloguing of museum objects. The Documentation Centre of IBC has elaborated the guidelines for recording information about objects preserved in local museum: our main aim is to provide every museum with a system to perform some essential activities; administration and cataloguing over all. As regards to cataloguing rules we follow the ICCD directives (precataloguing cards) in order to create a regional archive of cultural heritage conserved in museums. As regards software we have chosen an information retrieval system, Odysseus, very flexible and developed in a modular way. Actually Odysseus is used to catalogue museum cultural heritage, to realize data bases for the Internet and to realize archaeological maps.
In Hirpinia l’agro pubblico del popolo Romano fu costituito a seguito della guerra annibalica, a punizione delle comunità irpine ribelli. Esso fu principalmente adoperato nel tempo per stanziare, attraverso assegnazioni viritane, veterani di Scipione, assegnatari graccani, forse veterani sillani e beneficiari della lex Iulia agraria del 59 a.C. A loro beneficio fu inviato un prefetto (o più) del pretore urbano per amministrare la giustizia. Intorno alla metà del I secolo a.C., gli assegnatari stanziati nell’alta valle del Calore e dell’Ofanto furono attribuiti al municipio di Compsa, mentre quelli presenti nella valle d’Ansanto organizzati in comunità cittadina autonoma, la cui identità rimane ancora ignota
Il volume è il catalogo della mostra di Pisa (Arsenali Medicei, 13 settembre 2003 - 9 dicembre 2003). Nato sulla scia del ritrovamento nel 1998 di un antico porto di Pisa, interrato dopo il V secolo d. C., e di un grande numero di relitti, il volume documenta la continuità del rapporto tra Pisa e i diversi paesi del Mediterraneo attraverso oggetti e opere d'arte provenienti dal bacino del Mediterraneo dai reperti di epoca tardo-etrusca al XVIII secolo.
Starting from the remark that scientific progress and cultural background proceed in a dialectical way, this paper seeks to deepen the relationship between scientific thought, archaeology and information technology. The still rationalist approach of information technology presses archaeologists toward applications where the quantity of data to manage and manipulate is dominant. The importance of quantitative methods is not balanced by an adequate reflection about the connection between archaeological theory, information technology and mathematical formalism. In archaeological field rules, as in other scientific areas, an attitude within the common expectation of confidence towards information technology seems deterministic; in this view technology is neutral and independent in comparison to the changes of the society. This is the dominant framework of archaeological computing closed within autarchy, self-reference and productive myth. The paper examines the possibility to define a different way of formal description and then analysis of archaeological objects. These different approaches, borrowed from other disciplines, are not dependent only from the theoretical model that the archaeologist selects for the digital reproduction of reality. They are a reflexive attitude and research experience which enables archaeologists to articulate in a flexible way data description and formalization without falling into the trap of the true/false opposition and the presumed neutrality of quantitative methods in archaeology.
The Second University of Naples has been working, for the last three years, on a cultural heritage atlas of the most interesting areas of the Caserta district, for the first time considering this region as a single unit, in terms of archaeological and historical evidence, from antiquity to modern times. Therefore, the data model - designed to classify the evidence - permits the virtual repatriation of cultural resources that have either been transferred or destroyed throughout the last centuries. It also permits the expansion of the scale of investigation, from the reading of the landscape through time to the archaeological excavation of the most significant areas, such as Calatia (Maddaloni, Caserta). Nevertheless, the object of the research was a multi-faceted reality, in terms of quality, spatial and temporal dimensions and chronology. For that reason, the information system developed has a complex architecture, structured on the usual four dimensions, including the temporal level. Great importance has been given to the development of a multi-medial information system, supporting all the different experts involved in research (archaeologists, experts in ancient topography, art historians, architects) and the different sources, such as aerial photographs, ancient cartography, files, images, both ancient and new. The hardware is also innovative: it enables the user to integrate both Intranet and Internet solutions and to use both fixed and mobile equipment, as well as to acquire images both through scanners and digital cameras. The engine for data base processing is SQL Server at the moment, even if a future exploitation of Oracle is considered; the input/output clients are carried out through Microsoft Access 2002. The GIS engine is ESRI and it is fully integrated with the applications through a viewer, designed to allow bidirectional queries, both from cartography to database and vice versa. This information system is structured to run on Intranet at the moment; meanwhile a consultation and input data pilot project of image files has been started up, before sending the information collected on Web. The viewer GIS has been set up for use in a Web GIS context.
