Il testo offre un sintetico panorama della storia, lunga duemila anni, di un monumento universalmente noto, affascinante sia per la complessa struttura sia per le vicende di cui è stato protagonista.
Tra il 2016 e il 2018 l’Università di Genova ha condotto una serie di indagini archeologiche a Pompei, nell’area di alcune botteghe della regio VII, insula 14. All’interno di una di queste aree, il vano 1 del civico 3, le analisi stratigrafiche si sono potute approfondire maggiormente ed hanno consentito il riconoscimento delle tracce di una serie di piccole strutture, per lo più edificate in terra e legno, nelle quali sembra possibile riconoscere delle antiche latrine. La rapida successione di questi allestimenti, cronologicamente inquadrabili nell’ambito del II secolo a.C., e le variazioni nel loro posizionamento consentono di formulare alcune ipotesi sulle modalità di gestione dello spazio nelle fasi precedenti l’edificazione delle botteghe.
Since 1995, F. Giudice, professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Catania, has donated a corpus of published and unpublished Attic figured vases (about thirty thousand files). The progressive updating of the archive and the stylistic analysis of the new vases (Post-Paralipomena Project) has allowed prof. Giudice’s team to study the new data of trade of Attic figured pottery across the Mediterranean. According to the method presented in 1993 («Archeologia e Calcolatori» n. 4), the Mediterranean area is divided in 13 areas and 47 sub-areas; for each of them a system of histograms shows the presence of Attic pottery in the whole area and in the single cities with particular attention paid to the chronology. As an example, this paper analyses the distribution in the Iberian peninsula.
Ce volume aborde un domaine où les connaissances ont le plus progressé ces dernières années : celui de l'habitat, demeures des villes et de la campagne, palais et villas du domaine impérial. Les différentes sections retracent la genèse et l'évolution des formes et cherchent à comprendre les modalités de la diffusion d'un art de vivre dont les caractères essentiels présentent du détroit de Gibraltar aux rives de l'Euphrate, d'étonnantes similitudes malgré la diversité des substrats et des traditions. Troisième édition de ce manuel devenu un classique.
Nouvelle orientation disciplinaire, l'archéologie de la construction se définit comme l’étude de toutes les traces matérielles qui informent sur la conception, la construction et la gestion d'un édifice. Elle permet d’élargir l'approche de l'architecture romaine, jusqu'alors envisagée principalement du point de vue des typologies monumentales et décoratives. L'objectif de cette contribution est d'en caractériser les différentes spécificités et les apports. Si l'archéologie de la construction entretient des liens méthodologiques évidents avec l'archéologie du bâti, notamment par la stratigraphie verticale des élévations, elle s'en distingue par son échelle d’étude, celle du chantier de construction, dont elle entend restituer le contexte de production et toute la dynamique. Sept composantes sont considérées, éclairées par des recherches archéologiques récentes : le projet initial de l’édifice, la préparation du site, la mise en place des infrastructures, la production des matériaux, leur transformation, leur mise en œuvre dans la construction, les opérations de finition et de décoration. Les données recueillies permettent d'associer l'archéologie des techniques et l'histoire socio-économique, en considérant le chantier de construction comme un système de production et d’échange, dans toutes ses interactions avec la société romaine., Representing a new disciplinary orientation, the archaeology of construction is defined as the study of all material traces furnishing information about the design, the construction, and the management of a building. It thus offers a way of broadening our approach to Roman architecture, until now considered mainly from the point of view of monumental and decorative typologies. This article aims to set out its various specificities and potential contributions. While the archaeology of construction has clear methodological links with the archaeology of standing structures, notably through the vertical stratigraphy of elevations, it is distinguished by its scale of study, which covers the entirety of the building site and seeks to restitute its context of production and its dynamics. Seven elements are considered, illustrated by recent archaeological research: the initial project of the building, the preparation of the site, the setting up of infrastructures, the production of materials, their transformation, their implementation in the construction, and finally the finishing and decorative operations. The data collected make it possible to combine an archaeology of techniques with socio-economic history, considering the building process in all its interactions with Roman society as a system of production and trade.
L'archeologia in architettura offre a chi restaura orizzonti di analisi e di conoscenza innovativi, fornendo gli strumenti concettuali e operativi per interpretare i "segni" lasciati dagli uomini sul costruito nel corso del tempo. Non solo. Affronta anche una questione cruciale: nell'adottare la conservazione come filosofia dell'intervento, quaI è l'oggetto della conservazione? che cosa intendiamo realmente e concretamente conservare?
The author presents the project NiKita (Navigation interactive - Kit pour l'archéologie), established with the aim of creating a tool for the interactive processing of archaeological bibliographical documentation. NiKita is a database of easy and intuitive utilisation, developed for Macintosh using the program Hypercard. The principal characteristics of this program are: availability of an “object oriented” programming language; possibility of organizing data in files or stacks, autonomous but correlated; capacity of processing eterogeneous data and different types of graphical formats; availability of a transparent and intuitive interface. The different stacks contemplate: graphical and textual documents related to sites, contexts and objects; Greek and Latin sources related to archaeological units considered; bibliographical references. At present, the file “Bibal” contains about 4500 titles.
Cette édition de correspondances inédites est une contribution importante à l'étude des transferts culturels et scientifiques franco-allemands, auxquels les spécialistes de l'Antiquité classique et orientale ont apporté un concours décisif tout au long du me siècle. Les archives personnelles de K.B. Hase et de D. Raoul-Rochette, collègues à la Bibliothèque nationale et membres de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, constituent un matériau fondamental pour rendre compte des échanges entre communautés savantes européennes qui s'appliquent à l'élaboration de sciences et de méthodes nouvelles, dans un contexte historique et politique complexe. Les deux éditeurs ont non seulement respecté le bilinguisme des documents épistolaires mais ils l'ont aussi adopté pour leurs commentaires, rédigés dans la langue des lettres. Leur travail partagé prolonge du XIXe siècle à notre temps les échanges entre Allemagne et France dont témoignent ces correspondances, et a suscité la collaboration de nombreux collègues et institutions dans les deux pays.
The state of the art concerning intrasite spatial analysis is given here, with the potentialities and the limits of the methods. In the first part, the interpretability of the spatial structures is questioned, focusing on the influence of cleaning and deserting of sites, and also the existence of post-depositional process, which can more or less cancel the expected spatial structures. Subsequently, the different methods of intrasite spatial analysis are described, following a brief history of their introduction into archaeology: the research of clusters in a spatial distribution, the association between two spatial distributions, and finally, the multidimensional spatial analysis actually used. Two important complementary methods are also described: the reassembling of spatial analysis and the chronological spatial analysis.
The application of quantitative analysis techniques, widespread in prehistory, still appears little used in the study of historical archaeology. For the most part their application concerns the field of morphometry and typometry of archaeological objects, and especially of ceramic artefacts. A survey of the projects carried out, with emphasis on the analysis of Etruscan artefacts (e.g. stone urns and bronze mirrors), outlines the methodological tendencies and the most used methods and verifies the results obtained through the application of mathematical and statistical analyses.
The trend in the use of computers in the Humanities, unlike taught or social sciences applications, seems to be the coexistence and exchange of many small or medium-size databases (both textual and “factual”) rather than larger ones, developed in big institutions. This requires two main conditions: a common operating environment and standards in the organisation and encoding of data. In archaeology, as in other disciplines, Unix offers a convenient solution for problem 1, and relational database theory for problem 2. An example is given of how a database may be organised and managed exclusively with the native tools of Unix and plain ASCII files.
This work reports the state of the art in the accessibility of mobile learning. It is aimed at researchers, teachers, trainers, and hardware and/or software developers who are involved with the application of ICT in education. As a basis for this contribution, a literature review on mobile learning accessibility was performed, covering both Italian and international literature. This study has shown that the field of mobile learning accessibility is still in its infancy internationally, and almost nonexistent at the national level. After providing a definition of mobile learning and accessibility, we present the two main approaches to mobile learning accessibility identified in the literature, and present some major projects dedicated to the subject.
Riportato in luce tra il 1994 e il 1998 nell'area alle spalle del cimitero suburbano, nei terreni in fregio a via San Jacopo, il monumentale tumulo della prima età orientalizzante e la serie di monumenti ad esso correlati realizzati tra la metà del VII secolo a.C. e gli anni attorno al 450 a.C. costituiscono l'unica realtà oggi visibile del passato etrusco di Pisa e una delle più sensazionali scoperte degli ultimi decenni. Il volume offre una prima presentazione del complesso, illustrandone gli aspetti storico-archeologici e quelli relativi ai rituali che attorno al monumento furono realizzati, inquadrandoli nel contesto della più antica vicenda di Pisa e, più in generale, dell'Etruria e dell'Italia preromana.
As part of the introduction to the ARC volume 35.2 on ‘knowledge-scapes’, this paper introduces the concept, its components and its application in archaeology. The origins, development and use of knowledge-scapes in the fields of cognitive theory and archaeology are explored and contextualized within current archaeological thinking. Practical approaches to the study of knowledge-scapes are also presented by using the papers published in this volume as case studies. These papers offer a variety of methods, datasets and approaches to identify, explore and interpret past landscapes of knowledge. We argue that the study of the dynamic transmission and transformation of knowledge in the past, including the related socio-cultural and material aspects, should be a core aspect of archaeological research.
In the last decade, the paradigm Historical Building Information Modeling (HBIM) was investigated to exploit the possibilities offered by the application of BIM to historical buildings. In the Cultural Heritage domain, the BIM-oriented approach can produce 3D models that are data collector populated by both geometrical and non-geometrical information related to various themes: historical documents, monitoring data, structural information, conservation or restoration state and so on. The realization of a 3D model fully interoperable and rich in its informative content could represent a very important change towards a more efficient management of the historical real estate. The work presented in these pages outlines a novel approach to solve this interoperability issue, by developing and testing a workflow that exploits the advantages of BIM platforms and Semantic-Web technologies, enabling the user to query a repository composed of semantically structured and rich HBIM data. The presented pipeline follows four main steps: (i) the first step consists on modeling an ontology with the main information needs for the domain of interest, providing a data structure that can be leveraged to inform the data-enrichment phase and, later, to meaningfully query the data. (ii) Afterwards, the data enrichment was performed, by creating a set of shared parameters reflecting the properties in our domain ontology. (iii) To structure data in a machine-readable format, a data conversion was needed to represent the domain (ontology) and analyze data of specific buildings respectively; this step is mandatory to reuse the analysis data together with the 3D model, providing the end-user with a querying tool. (iv) As a final step in our workflow, we developed a demonstrative data exploration web application based on the faceted browsing paradigm and allowing to exploit both structured metadata and 3D visualization. This research demonstrates how is possible to represent a huge amount of specialized information models with appropriate LOD and Grade in BIM environment and then guarantee a complete interoperability with IFC/RDF format. Relying on semantically structured data (ontologies) and on the Linked Data stack appears a valid approach for addressing existing information system issues in the CH domain and constitutes a step forward in the management of repositories and web libraries devoted to historical buildings.
The paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary project related to the 3D documentation, dissemination and valorisation of archaeological sites. The project has two goals: to test a novel and economic pipeline for the acquisition of survey data, and to promote the study and appreciation of archaeological areas, among public and scientists, using the HBIM workflow. The 3D survey of archaeological sites is still an expensive and time-consuming task. In this project, a low-cost approach to 3D survey is presented and compared to a standard photogrammetry pipeline based on high-resolution photographs. The pipeline is based on a consumer-level hand-held RGB-D sensor as Microsoft Kinect. The quality of the digitized raw 3D models is evaluated by comparing them to a photogrammetry-based reconstruction and then the acquired data is elaborated in software BIM in order to create a semantically enriched model of the archaeological site. This method has been verified on the archaeological park of Liternum (Campania, Italy), a Roman forum that includes a capitolium, a theatre, a basilica and some others commercial spaces. Using a reflex camera for the photogrammetric survey, it was compared to the Kinect acquisition. In this way, we obtained a 3D model that is imported in a BIM software such as Autodesk Revit. Every element is modelled as a parametric object so the final model is enriched with additional information: geometric dimensions, material, text documents, CAAD reconstruction hypotheses, drawings, photos, etc. These methods allowed us to better understand the site, perform analyses, see interpretative processes, communicate historical information and promote the heritage location.
In actual archaeological projects, there is a push towards embracing open science principles, which involves the transparent sharing of raw data and research protocols to facilitate knowledge dissemination. This emulation fosters technical innovation in the field of software development applied to archaeology, to diffuse large amount of data. However, implementing open science effectively poses significant theoretical challenges to consider when selecting a technical solution. This paper investigates the historiography of pottery kiln research - a field that remains relatively underdocumented - to identify inherent biases in the construction of knowledge, in order to guide the creation of a sustainable and widely accessible body of knowledge on the subject. It details the systemic conceptual framework, decision-making process, and technical implementation of an open-access database designed to record data on pyrotechnology and related archaeological contexts, thereby facilitating comparative analysis and identification of firing structures on the field. Although the database is currently in an early stage of development, it is essential to critically assess theoretical and methodological project requirements, consider how data structuring shape knowledge, and ensure that the chosen software infrastructure aligns with the FAIR and CARE principles, to achieve in the near future, the creation of a robust and enduring data repository.
A new archaeological project started its research at the site of Çuka e Ajtoit, near Konispol (district of Saranda), in September 2021. It was made possible thanks to a scientific cooperation agreement between the Albanian Institute of Archaeology and the Sapienza University of Rome.
The paper discusses the evidence for the harbors, trading posts, and/or administrative centers called kāru in Neo-Assyrian documentary sources, especially those constructed on the frontiers of the Assyrian empire during the ninth to seventh centuries BC. New Assyrian cities on the frontiers were often given names that stress the glory and strength of Assyrian kings and gods. Kār-X, i.e., “Quay of X” (X = a royal/divine name), is one of the main types. Names of this sort, given to cities of administrative significance, were probably chosen to show that the Assyrians were ready to enhance the local economy. An exhaustive examination of the evidence relating to cities named Kār-X and those called kāru or bīt-kāri on the western frontiers illustrates the advance of Assyrian colonization and trade control, which eventually spread over the entire region of the eastern Mediterranean. The Assyrian kārus on the frontiers served to secure local trading activities according to agreements between the Assyrian king and local rulers and traders, while representing first and foremost the interest o f the former party. The official in charge of the kāru(s), the rab-kāri, appears to have worked as a royal deputy, directly responsible for the revenue of the royal house from two main sources: (1) taxes imposed on merchandise and merchants passing through the trade center(s) under his control, and (2) tribute exacted from countries of vassal status. He thus played a significant role in Assyrian exploitation of economic resources from areas beyond the jurisdiction of the Assyrian provincial government.
Kariz (Qanat or Roman Aqueduct) is an old knowledge that has been used in more than 35 countries. Kariz, previously recognized as a water management technology, involves horizontal subsurface galleries and vertical monitoring shafts, which works based on natural gravity force. This paper reviews various geoengineering and environmental impacts studies that have been carried out on Kariz networks during recent decades. Geoengineering studies aim to figure out the location, geometrical structure, depth and path of Kariz galleries, which characterize a major hazard particularly in sites located in cities. Among the geoengineering studies, geophysical methods such as electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic (EM) methods are very common methods in exploring underground tunnels and other structural parameters related to Karizes. Defining the location and size of un-mapped Karizes also help to estimate the risk of subsidence and to develop plans for restoration and safety. Further, remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques, which have been recently applied in a number of fields, are discussed. These new techniques help to map the positioning of networks in regions. Other emerging impacts of Kariz systems as an environmentally-friendly technology, its impacts on tourism attraction, land subsidence, and water management have been explored here. Due to modern lifestyle and demand for clean water as a result of population growth, especially in semi-arid or arid climates, this review study aims to explore the important role of Kariz system as a sustainable way of underground water management.
When a spatial point process is observed through a bounded window, edge effects hamper the estimation of characteristics such as the empty space function F, the nearest neighbor distance distribution G and the reduced second-order moment function K. Here we propose and study product-limit type estimators of F, G and K based on the analogy with censored survival data: the distance from a fixed point to the nearest point of the process is right-censored by its distance to the boundary of the window. The resulting estimators have a ratio-unbiasedness property that is standard in spatial statistics. We show that the empty space function F of any stationary point process is absolutely continuous, and so is the product-limit estimator of F. The estimators are strongly consistent when there are independent replications or when the sampling window becomes large. We sketch a CLT for independent replications within a fixed observation window and asymptotic theory for independent replications of sparse Poisson processes. In simulations the new estimators are generally more efficient than the "border method" estimator but (for estimators of K), somewhat less efficient than sophisticated edge corrections.
The paper aims to analyse the Etruscan city of Marzabotto, the ancient Kainua, with an integrated approach which considers all the aspects, from the urban layout to sacred and domestic architecture, to handcraft production, as a reflection of community, identity values and social structure. With the aid of theoretical and methodological perspectives on production of ancient urban places, the most recent achievements are included in an archaeological framework which has now been completely revised.
The use of virtual reconstructions is an approach which has already been applied for past projects in the Etruscan city of Marzabotto. The Kainua Project, which aims at the virtual recreation of the whole Etruscan city, is based on the principles of the London and the Seville Charter. The modelling process of the virtual Kainua is based on a rigorous archaeological analysis. The ArchaeoBIM method, formed within the project, has been used to confirm the validation of the models and is therefore an important step towards a more detailed architectural analysis of non-preserved structures. The unexcavated areas of the Etruscan city were involved in a campaign of geophysical surveys, which were the basis for the recreation of wide areas of the city with a good approximation thanks to an interpretative scheme of the modules of the buildings and their allocation within the blocks. The virtual Kainua is first of all an analysis tool. As a matter of fact, through forms of interactivity and simulations the virtual model allows us to formulate important considerations about historical and social issues. The model, however, is also the base for an updated system for the fruition of the archaeological area by a wider audience, chiefly onsite and it becomes a decoding key that visitors can use during their visit.
This volume brings together leading scholars of Etruria to provide up-to-date findings from the key archaeological site of Kainua. Located in what is now the Italian town of Marzabotto, Kainua is the only Etruscan site whose complete urban layout has been preserved, making it possible to trace houses, roads, drainage systems, cemeteries, craft workshops, and an acropolis.Under excavation since the 1850s, Kainua offers a trove of insights into Etruscan culture and society. The volume’s editor, Elisabetta Govi, and her fellow experts examine the material evidence underlying our understanding of the history, economy, religion, and social structures of Kainua, including trade routes that linked the city with the wider Mediterranean. Particularly exciting are recent discoveries of sanctuaries dedicated to Tinia and Uni, analogous to the Greek Zeus and Hera, which provide new information about Etruscan cults. Kainua (Marzabotto) also draws on the latest research to reconstruct the city’s foundation rites, a sacred charter, and urban plan. Finally, the authors explore the site’s archaeological history, discussing new knowledge made possible since the introduction of modern techniques of remote sensing and 3D modeling.
The seventh century B.C.E. was a period of economic prosperity, for which several lines of evidence for trade and settlement expansion have been found along the coastal plain, in the Judaean desert and the Negev. The discovery of Judahite wheat in Ashkelon, together with other available archaeological evidence of trade and data on the local geographical conditions, enables us to reconstruct the well-integrated economy of the seventh century. Ashkelon, the site of a huge Mediterranean port, was at the heart of the local economic system. Ashkelon's immediate vicinity was used primarily for the production of the most profitable economic product of the time-wine. The inner coastal plain and the Shephelah, farther to the east and best represented by Ekron, were used mainly for the production of olive oil. Judah and the Negev formed the third and fourth zones of production (for grains and grazing). The growing need for these products was behind Judah's expansion to the previously un-/under-exploited regions of the Judaean desert and the Negev. This complex economic system was peripheral to the Mediterranean economic system of the seventh century, the driving force behind which was Phoenician maritime trade.
