Reuse and sharing of archaeological data are tied to ethics in data practice, research design, and the rights of Indigenous peoples in decision-making about their heritage. In this article, the authors discuss how the CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics) principles and Indigenous data governance create intellectual space for archaeological research. We show how archaeologists can use this framework to highlight hidden costs and labor associated with the “data ecosystem,” which are often borne by Indigenous nations and communities. The CARE framework gives voice to Indigenous peoples’ concerns around data sharing, curation, and reuse; ways we can redress these issues; and strategies that facilitate Indigenous nations and communities in deriving collective benefit from research. In archaeology, these efforts include greater work on heritage legislation and policy, repositioning Indigenous peoples as active stewards of their data, and building capacity in digital methods and ethical data practice. Each Indigenous nation and community has its own interests, values, and protocols, and we suggest paths to bring data practice into alignment with the CARE framework., La reutilización y el intercambio de datos arqueológicos están vinculados a la ética en la práctica de datos, el diseño de la investigación y los derechos de los pueblos indígenas en la toma de decisiones sobre su patrimonio. En este artículo, los autores discuten cómo los principios CARE (Por sus sigla en inglés: beneficio Colectivo, Autoridad para controlar, Responsabilidad y Ética) y la gobernanza de datos indígenas crean un espacio intelectual para la investigación arqueológica. Mostramos cómo los arqueólogos pueden usar este marco para resaltar los costos ocultos y el trabajo asociado con el “ecosistema de datos” que a menudo corre a cargo de las naciones y comunidades indígenas. El marco de CARE da voz a las preocupaciones de los pueblos indígenas sobre el intercambio, la conservación y la reutilización de datos, cómo podemos solucionar estos problemas y las estrategias que facilitan que las naciones y comunidades indígenas obtengan un beneficio colectivo de la investigación. En arqueología, estos esfuerzos incluyen un mayor trabajo en legislación y políticas de patrimonio, el reposicionamiento de los pueblos indígenas como administradores activos de sus datos y el desarrollo de capacidades en métodos digitales y práctica ética de datos. Cada Nación y comunidad Indígena tiene sus propios intereses, valores y protocolos, y sugerimos caminos para alinear la práctica de datos con el marco de CARE.
A geological, chemical and petrographical study of the Campanian ignimbrite, a pyroclastic flow deposit erupted about 30,000 years ago on the Neapolitan area (Italy), is reported. The ignimbrite covered an area of at least 7,000 km2; it consists of a single flow unit, and the lateral variations in both pumice and lithic fragments indicate that the source was located in the Phlegraean Fields area.
Backed by an unparalleled military force, Sargon II outwitted and outfought powerful competitors to extend Assyrian territory and secure his throne. As Sarah C. Melville shows through a detailed analysis of each of his campaigns, the king used his army not just to conquer but also to ensure regional security, manage his empire’s resources, and support his political agenda. Under his leadership, skilled chariotry, cavalry, and infantry excelled in all types of terrain against an array of culturally diverse enemies. This book represents the first in-depth military study of the great Assyrian king. Drawing extensively from original sources, including cuneiform inscriptions, the letters of Sargon and his officials, archival documents, and monumental art, Melville presents Sargon’s achievements as king, diplomat, and conqueror. Contrary to the stereotype of the brutal Assyrian despot, Sargon applied force selectively, with deliberate economy, and as only one of several possible ways to deal with external threat or to exploit opportunity.The Campaigns of Sargon II demonstrates how Sargon changed the geopolitical dynamics in the Near East, inspired a period of cultural florescence, established long-lasting Assyrian supremacy, and became one of the most influential kings of the ancient world.
In the third millennium B.C.E., the Oman Peninsula was the site of an important kingdom known in Akkadian texts as "Magan," which traded extensively with the Indus Civilization, southern Iran, the Persian Gulf states, and southern Mesopotamia. Excavations have been carried out in this region since the 1970s, although the majority of studies have focused on mortuary monuments at the expense of settlement archaeology. While domestic structures of the Bronze Age have been found and are the focus of current research at Bat, most settlements dating from the third millennium B.C.E. in Oman and the U.A.E. are defined by the presence of large, circular monuments made of mudbrick or stone that are traditionally called "towers." Whether these so-called towers are defensive, agricultural, political, or ritual structures has long been debated, but very few comprehensive studies of these monuments have been attempted.Between 2007 and 2012, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology conducted excavations at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bat in the Sultanate of Oman under the direction of the late Gregory L. Possehl. The focus of these years was on the monumental stone towers of the third millennium B.C.E., looking at the when, how, and why of their construction through large-scale excavation, GIS-aided survey, and the application of radiocarbon dates. This has been the most comprehensive study of nonmortuary Bronze Age monuments ever conducted on the Oman Peninsula, and the results provide new insight into the formation and function of these impressive structures that surely formed the social and political nexus of Magan's kingdom.
Twenty years after the consolidation of a true professional archaeology in search of a "scientific" dream, mathematics and computers made their appearance in the discipline. In the same way, the first essays dealing with "automatic archaeology" appeared in the 1950s, looking for standardization of archaeological description and statistical reasoning, but we had to wait for another 30 years until the appropriate technology was available. At the end of the 1970s and beginning of the 1980s, Expert Systems were considered as a true promise towards the independence of archaeological reasoning from subjectivity. Nevertheless, the rise of postmodernism and the radical critique, with its emphasis on subjectivity and situational context of the research effort generated considerable turmoil that, in appearance, buried the dream of an automatic archaeology. Research efforts in these domains of computational intelligence continued, however, especially in the domains of remote sensing and archaeometry. Modern technological developments like 3D scanning are responsible for a revival of interest in computational intelligence methods. Today, we are still far from the early dream of an automatic archaeology, but it is no longer a "nightmare". It is a technological reality that will contribute to a more professional and scientific-based archaeology.
Historians, geographers and archaeologists have long debated the changing relationship between people and landscape in the Mediterranean. What was this relationship like in the past; and what can we learn from it for the future? The present study is the companion volume to A Mediterranean Valley: Landscape Archaeology and Annales History in the Biferno Valley, and together they make up the largest and most detailed interdisciplinary case study in Mediterranean landscape archaeology and history. A Mediterranean Valley documents the long-term landscape history of the Biferno Valley (in central-southern Italy) as it has been pieced together by a team of archaeologists, geographers and historians. The Biferno Valley Survey presents the specialist supporting data collected by the survey team - materials collected, full details of the sites located, observations made in the field, and their interpretation.Archaeologists have a professional obligation to make their data accessible to other archaeologists and not simply present their conclusions. Unlike historians, they cannot simply refer their readers to the library or archive which they have consulted. Archaeologists have an obligation to publish the data on which their conclusions are based because the research questions posed by a project determine the methodologies applied and the kind of data collected. A Mediterranean Valley and The Biferno Valley Survey together set a new standard in the publication of Mediterranean landscape archaeology and are designed to make the results of this important project accessible to both general reader and speicalist alike.
The author offers a summary of the research work carried out over the last decade at the Beazley Archive, which consists of two inter-related parts: a traditional paper archive and electronic programs. The electronic programs began in 1979 with a database of Athenian figure-decorated pottery. The structure of the database was based on extensive “catalogues”, which Beazley had compiled and published in many editions from the 1920s through the 1960s. Since 1992 the Beazley Archive has been able to include in its electronic services other types of objects Sir John Beazley had recorded in his personal archive, for example, sculpture and engraved gems. In 1998 the Beazley Archive was selected as a suitable site for testing new techniques of watermarking and digital finger-printing; with the availability of several means of image protection the Beazley Archive launched a multimedia version of the pottery database on the Web. With the experience gained from adapting the pottery database for the Web, the Beazley Archive has taken the decision to use this platform for programs about other types of classical archaeology and art.
In recent years, archaeologists have become increasingly aware of the added interpretability that can be gained if they adopt a model-based approach to their statistical analyses. In this paper we encourage the use of just such an approach for the investigation of dimensional data from the Sardinian corbelled structures known as Nuraghi. We highlight the fact that the experts who surveyed these domes have gained extra information (other than the basic structural measurements) which is not usually included in statistical investigations in any formal manner. Here we advocate the adoption of the Bayesian statistical framework within which the model, the data and the expert knowledge can be combined in a consistent manner and thus all permitted to influence our final inferences. By using examples we are able to demonstrate that, for at least some of the domes surveyed, the inclusion of the expert knowledge has a marked effect on the result obtained.
Pottery is of fundamental importance for understanding archaeological contexts. However, recognition of ceramics is still a manual, time-consuming activity, reliant on analogue catalogues created by specialists, held in archives and libraries. The ArchAIDE project worked to streamline, optimise, and economise the mundane aspects of these processes, using the latest automatic image recognition technology, while retaining key decision points necessary to create trusted results. The project has developed two complementary machine-learning tools to propose identifications based on images captured on site. One method relies on the shape of the fracture outline of a sherd; the other is based on decorative features. For the outline-identification tool, a novel deep-learning architecture was employed, integrating shape information from points along the inner and outer surfaces. The decoration classifier is based on relatively standard architectures used in image recognition. In both cases, training the classifiers required tackling challenges that arise when working with real-world archaeological data: the paucity of labelled data; extreme imbalance between instances of the different categories; and the need to avoid neglecting rare types and to take note of minute distinguishing features of some forms. The scarcity of training data was overcome by using synthetically-produced virtual potsherds and by employing multiple data-augmentation techniques. A novel way of training loss allowed us to overcome the problems caused by under-populated classes and non-homogeneous distribution of discriminative features.
Pottery is of fundamental importance for understanding archaeological contexts. However, recognition of ceramics is still a manual, time-consuming activity, reliant on analogue catalogues created by specialists, held in archives and libraries. The ArchAIDE project worked to streamline, optimise, and economise the mundane aspects of these processes, using the latest automatic image recognition technology, while retaining key decision points necessary to create trusted results. The project has developed two complementary machine-learning tools to propose identifications based on images captured on site. One method relies on the shape of the fracture outline of a sherd; the other is based on decorative features. For the outline-identification tool, a novel deep-learning architecture was employed, integrating shape information from points along the inner and outer surfaces. The decoration classifier is based on relatively standard architectures used in image recognition. In both cases, training the classifiers required tackling challenges that arise when working with real-world archaeological data: the paucity of labelled data; extreme imbalance between instances of the different categories; and the need to avoid neglecting rare types and to take note of minute distinguishing features of some forms. The scarcity of training data was overcome by using synthetically-produced virtual potsherds and by employing multiple data-augmentation techniques. A novel way of training loss allowed us to overcome the problems caused by under-populated classes and non-homogeneous distribution of discriminative features.
The most authoritative illustrated reference book on the urban history of ancient RomeThe Atlas of Ancient Rome provides a comprehensive archaeological survey of the city of Rome from prehistory to the early medieval period. Lavishly illustrated throughout with full-color maps, drawings, photos, and 3D reconstructions, this magnificent two-volume slipcased edition features the latest discoveries and scholarship, with new descriptions of more than 500 monuments, including the Sanctuary of Vesta, the domus Augusti, and the Mausoleum of Augustus. It is destined to become the standard reference for scholars, students, and anyone interested in the history of the city of Rome.The Atlas of Ancient Rome is monumental in scope. It examines the city's topography and political-administrative divisions, trade and economic production, and social landscape and infrastructure—from residential neighborhoods and gardens to walls, roads, aqueducts, and sewers. It describes the fourteen regions of Rome and the urban history of each in unprecedented detail, and includes profiles and reconstructions of major monuments and works of art. This is the only atlas of the ancient city to incorporate the most current archaeological findings and use the latest mapping technologies.Authoritative and easy to use, The Atlas of Ancient Rome is the definitive illustrated reference book on Rome from its origins to the sixth century AD.Fully updated from the Italian edition to include the latest discoveries and scholarshipFeatures a wealth of maps, illustrations, and 3D reconstructionsCovers Rome’s topography, economy, urban infrastructure, and moreIncludes profiles of major monuments and works of artDraws on the latest archaeological findings and mapping technologiesTwenty years in the making by a team of leading experts
Two major features have emerged lately in the communication patterns of archaeological research: (a) an increasing use of the Web as a channel of information transfer, to complement or occasionally replace printed publications; (b) an exploration of new forms of archaeological discourse related to that trend. The Arkeotek project combines the two approaches in a specific domain of archaeological research described as 'the archaeology of techniques' (hence its acronym). The present paper exposes the objectives and status of the European association recently set up under that name (2002), as well as its initial works and plans for the coming years. A comprehensive introduction deals with the origins and guiding principles of the project. The paper ends with a square review of the problems that lie ahead.
Research e-infrastructures, digital archives, and data services have become important pillars of 21st-century scientific enterprise. The archaeological research community was an early adopter of digital tools for data acquisition, organization, analysis, and presentation of research results of individual projects. However, the provision of services and tools for data sharing, discovery, access, use and re-use has lagged behind. This situation is being addressed by ARIADNE, and its follow-on project ARIADNEplus. This volume introduces ARIADNE and provides national perspectives from ARIADNE and ARIADNEplus partners on the current and anticipated impacts of this international collaboration in their own countries and beyond. The publication was funded by the European Commission under the H2020 Programme, as part of the ARIADNEplus project.
In The Archaeology of the Caucasus, Antonio Sagona provides the first comprehensive survey of a key area in the Eurasian land mass, from the earliest settlement to the end of the early Iron Age. Examining the bewildering array of cultural complexes found in the region, he draws on both Soviet and post-Soviet investigations and synthesises the vast quantity of diverse and often fragmented evidence across the region's frontiers. Written in an engaging manner that balances material culture and theory, the volume focuses on the most significant sites and cultural traditions. Sagona also highlights the accomplishments of the Caucasian communities and situates them within the broader setting of their neighbours in Anatolia, Iran, and Russia. Sprinkled with new data, much of it published here for the first time, The Archaeology of the Caucasus contains many new photographs, drawings and plans, many of which have not been accessible to Western researchers.
Abstract A broad range of data concerning political systems is embedded in the archaeological record. The present survey is general in nature but suggests that demographic, cultural, societal, geographical and iconographic approaches, especially when employed in combination, will further an understanding of the political organization of text‐free archaeological societies. This in turn ought to facilitate the use of archaeological data for testing more general theories of cultural evolution.
Evidence for the disposal of the dead is one of the most common classes of archaeological data; in both prehistoric and historic contexts, archaeologists have long used the remains of death and burial as a source for interpretations of society, culture and ethnic identity. This volume, bringing together studies on the disposal of the dead, explores the frontiers and potential of research and presents critical appraisals of theory about social organisation and culture change. It contains case studies from both North America and Europe and themes include the complex social factors behind burial in monuments and cemeteries, the relationship between status, diet, disease and mortality, the use of differential burial practices to define rank and the underlying reasons for major changes in burial patterns.
Since 2011 the Archaeological Geographical Information System of Verona, SITAVR, has been implemented based on the existing and well-consolidated Archaeological Information System of Rome, SITAR, developed since 2008. The main objective of the two projects is collecting information about the archaeological findings regarding the two Italian urban centres with the aim to support a complete archaeological analysis and allow for easy data reuse. The purpose of this research is twofold: (i) archaeological studies, aimed to collect data and contents, and (ii) information systems applied to cultural heritage, aimed to organize, use and preserve the data on the basis of the innovations related to methodologies, technologies and standards. In this regard, the first step in SITAVR project was to create a domain model of archaeological data, by applying standard methodology for producing an abstract conceptual schema. Next steps were the definition of web services and a common format for data exchange; further in this direction was the creation of a mapping between this model and other international standards. The definition of the conceptual schema and the metadata, the common format for data exchange and the mapping on international standards have supported and encouraged the cooperation between SITAVR and SITAR projects. Moreover also some practical tests of interoperability between the two systems have been performed, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach. In particular, an experiment regarding the integrated execution of some queries on the two systems (funerary contexts and the road network of the two towns) was successfully implemented. In conclusion, our work further demonstrates that interoperability requires an initial large investment of resources, but allows to achieve results in terms of data analysis that by means of non-integrated systems cannot be easily accomplished.
Monte Bibele is an archaeological settlement of the 4th and 3rd century BC with a village, a necropolis and a votive deposit. Earlier, during the 14th and 13th century BC, in the same area there was a small village of sub-Apennine facies attributable to the late Bronze Age. The Second Iron Age settlement is just a part of a larger demographic reorganization of the Apennines, as is also proved by the recent discovery of the Monterenzio Vecchio necropolis and votive deposit, on the opposite side of Idice Valley. These are small settlements located close to the main routes of both sides of the Apennines and populated by Italic (Etruscans, Umbrians, Ligurians, etc.) and transalpine peoples (Celts) allied to control the surroundings. Of the architectural structures of Monte Bibele, the best known are those of the village, in the part of the massive called ‘Pianella di Monte Savino’. It has an Etruscan foundation, over an area of about 7,000 m2, in part still to be explored, and documented in its final phase in the late 3rd century BC, when the village was sealed by a sudden fire. Archaeologists of Te.M.P.L.A. (Research Center for Multimedia Technologies Applied to Archaeology of Bologna University’s Department of History and Cultures) over the last decade, have made many models of houses at Pianella. Reconstructions are based on direct feedbacks (archaeological data) and indirect comparisons (historical sources, traditional architecture). The first model was virtual, followed by a real one made near the Museum of Monterenzio, and by the two new houses made directly in situ, thanks to EU funds for the development of Emilia Romagna used for renovating the archaeological and naturalistic area of Monte Bibele (Por Fesr 2007/2013).
The Assyrian empire was in its day the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Building on the expansion of the Middle Assyrian state in the late second millennium BC, the opening centuries of the first millennium witnessed a resurgence which led to the birth of a true empire whose limits stretched from Egypt to Iran and from Anatolia to the Persian Gulf. While the Assyrian imperial capital cities have long been the focus of archaeological exploration, it is only in recent decades that the peripheral areas have been the subject of sustained research. This volume sets out to synthesise the results of this research, bringing together the outcomes of key investigations from across the empire. The provincial archaeology of the empire is presented in a new light, with studies of the archaeological imprint of Assyria in present-day Israel, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. A wide range of methodological and interpretive approaches are brought to bear on the data. Analyses of environmental zones and ecofactual datasets, material culture and architectural traditions, the permeation of literacy and the use of para-literate systems form the platform for innovative and integrative evaluations and lead to a new appreciation for the diversity of local responses to the Assyrian expansion.
PAThs project is aimed at creating an online archaeological atlas of Coptic literature by providing for the very first time a detailed catalogue of ancient books and their archaeological and cultural context, following a multidisciplinary approach and cutting edge methodologies
The experience described in this paper concerns a research activity carried out by a multidisciplinary team. The research is aimed to increase the in-depth knowledge of the castle of Fossa (L'Aquila), part of a small fortified medieval village, seriously damaged by the earthquake in 2009, and currently unusable due to partial collapses of some vertical structures, small portions of buildings and roofs. The investigative path planned by the team, composed of archaeologists, architects and engineers, started from the architectural survey (direct and indirect) of the artefact, from the collection and cataloguing of the published and archive documents, to arrive at an archaeological analysis of the structure and the creation of a parametric digital model of the object of the study with multiple levels of information. The aim of the research is the consideration of the asset in its entirety, that will be interpreted in its restoration project, in order to restore the correct and original architectural interpretations of its constructive style. The project has also presented the opportunity to experiment, in the form of a research laboratory, how well coordinated multidisciplinary contributions can achieve objectives of protection, conservation and use of the asset. In this regard, the HBIM model has constituted a tool for the convergence of the objectives, skills and the different viewpoints of the multidisciplinary team.
The paper deals with the development of a novel methodology, named ArchaeoBIM, aimed at the creation of digital models representing no longer existing buildings, starting from the available information collected from the archaeological contexts. The process is inferred by the Building Information Modeling used in the contemporary building industry, where different disciplines converge into digital models. The achieved models meet some of the cutting-edge issues of the Virtual Archaeology, i.e. validation, management of data, simulation. These products answer to important needs in the fields of research, conservation and dissemination and could be considered as archaeological records themselves.
Archaeological knowledge can be formally divided into object and method knowledge. The former consists of the knowledge of the concrete nature of the individual research objects, and is based on analysis. The latter means the knowledge about how to evaluate the object knowledge with the help of interdisciplinary methods, and leads to historical knowledge as the synthesis. Object knowledge is based on individual observation, and method knowledge on comparison. ARBOR consists of a formal language able to represent textual object knowledge in a computer readable way. A PC-based implementation allows the retrieval on ARBOR-coded objects descriptions in different tree-structure-specific query-modes.
Since the early 1970s, the Arabian Gulf has been one of the most promising new areas of research in ancient Near-Eastern archaeology. Until now, however, there has been no attempt to synthesize the archaeology and history of this region from the beginnings of human settlement to the rise of Islam. The first volume of this comprehensive study covers the Pleistocene to the Achaemenian period. It includes almost all the published evidence for the prehistory and history of the Arabian Gulf. The period from Alexander the Great to the coming of Islam, including full discussion of the history of Christianity in the area, comprises the second volume, in which Potts combines the literary evidence from Greek, Roman, Syriac, and Arabic sources with an overview of the relevant archaeological evidence. , Since the early 1970s, the Arabian Gulf has been one of the most promising new areas of research in ancient Near-Eastern archaeology. Until now, however, there has been no attempt to synthesize the archaeology and history of this region from the beginnings of human settlement to the rise of Islam. The first volume of this comprehensive study covers the Pleistocene to the Achaemenian period. It includes almost all the published evidence for the prehistory and history of the Arabian Gulf. The period from Alexander the Great to the coming of Islam, including full discussion of the history of Christianity in the area, comprises the second volume, in which Potts combines the literary evidence from Greek, Roman, Syriac, and Arabic sources with an overview of the relevant archaeological evidence.
An objective of archaeology is to describe and understand past human behavior through examinations of cultural variability and cultural trajectories. Since cultures operate within an environmental context, one can argue that it is necessary that we be able to identify and characterize the ecological niches that past populations exploited and take these ecological parameters into consideration when interpreting material culture variability, especially across periods of climate change. Here, the approach termed Eco-Cultural Niche Modeling is briefly reviewed in order to describe how it can be used to explore culture-environment relationships and allow us to better understand the mechanisms that served to shape the cultural trajectories observed in the archaeological record.
The discovery of a Neolithic dolmen in Switzerland with inhumations, dating between 3500 and 3000 BCE, was an exceptional finding. To provide best conditions for subsequent studies on the archaeological remains our interdisciplinary team decided to apply 3D documentation. Depending on different factors, two scanning systems with four scanners and photogrammetry were applied and the obtained data was combined. Detailed excavation plans and simultaneously a reduction of excavation time without loss of information were the result. A virtual animation of the dolmen in its reconstructed ancient appearance combined with the context of the grave goods was created. The 3D documentation provided initial data for anthropological and paleogenetic analyses. The individuals buried in the dolmen might provide novel information to the Neolithic research of central Europe. Additionally, with the help of the 3D data, the dolmen was rebuilt to make this archaeological heritage accessible to the public.
The logistics of time-efficient yet accurate documentation of archaeological features are a challenge within the context of pedestrian survey. Here we present results of two case studies documenting the use of photogrammetry under field conditions within the Great Plains. Results demonstrate the ease with which high quality models can be obtained with minimal training and by using standard field cameras and computers. Different models of pit hearth and architectural features are presented to demonstrate the versatility of model output formats in terms of their accessibility to broad audiences and the variety of display options available. Comparison with more traditional field measurements indicates the suitability and superiority of this approach in terms of time investment and mapping detail and accuracy. Combined, these efforts demonstrate the potential of this technique to be incorporated into the standard practices of academic and professional field projects with minimal interruption. , La logística para documentar elementos arqueológicos de manera eficiente y precisa constituye un reto dentro de los recorridos de superficie peatonales. Aquí, presentamos los resultados de dos estudios de caso, para los cuales se utiliza la fotogrametría como parte del trabajo de campo realizado en las Grandes Llanuras de los Estados Unidos. Los resultados demuestran la facilidad con la que se pueden obtener modelos de alta calidad en el campo, con un entrenamiento mínimo y con el uso de cámaras y computadoras. Se incluyen diferentes modelos de fogones y elementos arquitectónicos para demostrar la facilidad con la que se les puede presentar bajo distintos formatos, tanto en términos de su accesibilidad a una amplia audiencia, así como las distintas opciones existentes para su presentación. En comparación con otras mediciones tradicionales de campo, este acercamiento resulta ser mucho más apto y excelente en términos del tiempo que se invierte y en el mapeo detallado y preciso. En combinación, estos esfuerzos demuestran el potencial que tiene esta técnica para ser incorporada en las prácticas estándares de proyectos académicos y profesionales, con una mínima interrupción durante el trabajo de campo.
Digital Archaeology is predicated upon an ever-changing set of apparatuses – technological, methodological, software, hardware, material, immaterial – which in their own ways and to varying degrees shape the nature of Digital Archaeology. Our attention, however, is perhaps inevitably more closely focused on research questions, choice of data, and the kinds of analyses and outputs. In the process we tend to overlook the effects the tools themselves have on the archaeology we do beyond the immediate consequences of the digital. This article introduces cognitive artefacts as a means of addressing the apparatus more directly within the context of the developing archaeological digital ecosystem. It argues that a critical appreciation of our computational cognitive artefacts is key to understanding their effects on both our own cognition and on the creation of archaeological knowledge. In the process, it defines a form of cognitive digital archaeology in terms of four distinct methods for extracting cognition from the digital apparatus layer by layer.
This paper aims to explain the creation of the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of Kainua, an Etruscan city founded, following a rigorous urban plan, at the beginning of the 5th century BCE. This DTM was used as the basis for the virtual reconstruction of Kainua landscape from an urban to an architectural scale in a three-dimensional digital model, visualized in an interactive and immersive approach. The DTM was developed using different sources of elevation data, in order to take into account the geo-morphological transformations occurred in that area from the Etruscan period to the present day. The causes of these changes were natural (due to erosion phenomena) and anthropic (due to excavations for construction of transport infrastructure as well as those which occurred partly due to improvements made by landowners and partly to archaeologists who first began a systematic campaign of site studies). On positioning on the DTM, an analysis of the metrology and of the infrastructure of the ancient city (streets and sewers) made it possible to create a renewed vision and to propose a hypothesis for reconstructing the incomplete, or as yet unstudied, parts of the city, which only further excavations will confirm.
It has been shown in the frame of the Ancient Charm project that neutron based methods have a great potential for the investigation of cultural heritage objects. Several measurements on replicas and real objects have been performed, some still being under analysis. The main disadvantage of the 3D methods compared to their bulk counterparts is their reduced statistics, which limits sensitivity and increases the measurement time that is needed to get meaningful results. If one limits oneself to 2D space this drawback is reduced. As was shown for the 2D-PGAI the combination with a beforehand performed neutron tomography, together with some reasonable assumptions about the sample, can be used to deduce the 3D elemental distribution for not too complex objects. For relatively flat objects, like the belt mount that was shown here, the additional information obtained from a real 3D measurement may be negligible compared to the information gained from increased statistical significance. For the future the results of a full 3D scan of the real fibula and the 3D reconstruction from a NRT tomography can be expected.
Digital techniques and cultural heritage connect, in an innovative way, new and old within the Humanities. In this new project, an Etruscan townscape will be recreated; modelled results created by the 4D Research Lab will be integrated in an Archaeological Park and Museum in such a way that international scholars and visitors can acknowledge and study 3D reconstructions of a series of Etruscan houses within their successive phases of creation, function, reception, destruction, and reconstruction. Acquarossa is an Etruscan town near Viterbo, Italy. Excavations carried out by the Swedish Institute in Rome revealed a series of Etruscan houses, inhabited from the 8th century BC until the middle of the 6th century BC, when the town was suddenly and inexplicably abandoned. The houses were left to crumble and the remains of the foundations, the walls and the decorated roofs, as well as the thousands of household utensils, were all found in situ. It is one of the very few examples of an intact Etruscan townscape, with a unique set of family dwellings from the past. The remnants of the houses were partially reconstructed in the 1980s and covered with soil, but others were left to be destroyed by weather conditions. The site was left to vanish completely. Since 2014, the 4D Research Lab of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam has been involved in an interdisciplinary research project, in collaboration with the private partner Azienda Agrituristica Raffaele Rocchi, the proprietor of the site, which focuses on the reconstruction of a set of houses in annotated 3D models. The 3D models will be used to build ‘actual’ guesthouses at the site itself, for which permission from the Soprintendenza per i Beni archeologici del Lazio e dell’Etruria Meridionale has been granted. The project aims to analyse the house architecture, roof decoration and building processes through 3D modelling and scanning.
The Abade Artificial Archaeological Site Project (AAASP) employed computer simulations to recreate a 19th -century Brazilian mining village that was destroyed in an environmental conflict. The simulations integrate laser scans of ruins, 3D modeling, historical data, and material evidence to reconstruct the site in a virtual environment accurately. After researching 31 simulation programs, the project utilized AnyLogic software (https://www.anylogic.com/) for the final phase. One base model was the ‘Serial Killers’ simulation in AnyLogic, modeling criminal behavior in an urban setting. This laid the groundwork for the more extensive historically accurate ‘Abade 10’ simulation, precisely replicating the Lavras do Abade conflict within set parameters. The ‘Abade 10’ model incorporates system dynamics, agent behaviors, connections, and an experiment simulating the 3-day conflict timeline in 1887. Preliminary findings indicate all victim agents were fatally assaulted within 30 minutes in the simulations, aligning with historical records of intermittent attacks before the village’s destruction. Upon completion, the AAASP aims to be an open repository that allows other researchers to validate, adjust, and enhance the model with new data. The project demonstrates the potential of virtual archaeology to test hypotheses, plan fieldwork, share models globally, and inspire public engagement by immersing users in accurate ancient environments.
We present an algorithm for separating the local gradient information and Lambertian color by using 4-source color photometric stereo in the presence of highlights and shadows. We assume that the surface reflectance can be approximated by the sum of a Lambertian and a specular component. The conventional photometric method is generalized for color images. Shadows and highlights in the input images are detected using either spectral or directional cues and excluded from the recovery process, thus giving more reliable estimates of local surface parameters.
Three-dimensional (3D) image acquisition systems are rapidly becoming more affordable, especially systems based on commodity electronic cameras. At the same time, personal computers with graphics hardware capable of displaying complex 3D models are also becoming inexpensive enough to be available to a large population. As a result, there is potentially an opportunity to consider new virtual reality applications as diverse as cultural heritage and retail sales that will allow people to view realistic 3D objects on home computers. Although there are many physical techniques for acquiring 3D data—including laser scanners, structured light and time-of-flight—there is a basic pipeline of operations for taking the acquired data and producing a usable numerical model. We look at the fundamental problems of range image registration, line-of-sight errors, mesh integration, surface detail and color, and texture mapping. In the area of registration we consider both the problems of finding an initial global alignment using manual and automatic means, and refining this alignment with variations of the Iterative Closest Point methods. To account for scanner line-of-sight errors we compare several averaging approaches. In the area of mesh integration, that is finding a single mesh joining the data from all scans, we compare various methods for computing interpolating and approximating surfaces. We then look at various ways in which surface properties such as color (more properly, spectral reflectance) can be extracted from acquired imagery. Finally, we examine techniques for producing a final model representation that can be efficiently rendered using graphics hardware.
This open access book aims to provide an overview of state-of-the-art approaches to 3D documentation from a practical perspective and formulate the most important areas for future developments. Bringing together a wide range of case studies, examples of best practice approaches, workflows, and first attempts to establish sustainable solutions to pressing problems, this book offers readers current practical advice on how to approach 3D archaeology and cultural heritage. Divided into five parts, this book begins with an overview of 3D archaeology in its present state. It goes on to give insights into the development of the technology and recent cutting-edge applications. The next section identifies current challenges in 3D archaeology and then presents approaches and solutions for data management of a large number of 3D objects and ways to ensure sustainable solutions for the archiving of the produced data. This book will be of interest to researchers working in the fields of archaeology, heritage management, and digital humanities in general.
The paper provides an overview of the digital tools developed as part of the Ebla Digital Archives Project, which aims to offer a digital edition of roughly 3,000 cuneiform tablets from ancient Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh, in western Syria), dated to the middle of the third millennium BCE. The Ebla archive is the oldest one in the history of mankind, for which extensive information concerning the primary setting of the documents is available. The archaicity of the writing system, combined with the inherent difficulties in reconstructing languages from the remote past (Sumerian, Akkadian, Eblaite), pushes us to rethink the strategies to properly digitally capture the complexity of these sources, of invaluable historical significance: administrative documents, literary texts, vocabularies, letters, etc. We tackled the problem through the development of a PostgreSQL database, which is populated by ad hoc Python scripts that parse input transliteration files, which in turn are encoded using a shallow mark-up language. The individual steps in such workflow are discussed, as well as the benefits in terms of advanced queries for information retrieval that such approach offers.
The project described in this paper was started in 2012 and concerns the study of the relationship between the urban and suburban districts of the Phoenician and Punic city of Tharros (Cabras, Oristano). The structures of Phoenician and Punic Tharros have been largely cancelled by the Roman occupation. For this reason it is very difficult to determine the original function of many of the neighbourhoods during the Carthaginian period. The archaeological excavation primarily involved the southern necropolis of Capo San Marco. The cemetery must still be fully explored and understood under several aspects, mainly because of the devastation of the site caused by the repeated plundering of the ancient tombs which occurred during the 19th century. In addition to the new dig activities, a 3D topographical survey aimed at the complete documentation of the site and at the virtual rebuilding of the Phoenician and Punic funerary landscape was completed. Another goal of the project is the insertion of this sector of the promontory into the usual tourist route, in order to foster the public fruition of Capo San Marco, while continuing to adopt proper scientific methods and modern techniques. In this direction, geophysical prospecting surveys were carried out in the southern sector of the Capo San Marco, near the so-called ‘Rustic Temple’, in order to assess human presence in the farthest point of the Sinis peninsula (characterised by the presence of the Late Punic ruins of a probable light-house with sacred functions), and across the whole isthmus Sa Codriola towards the hill of San Giovanni, with the aim of analysing the northern boundary of the cemetery and its relationship to the city. The Punic-Roman settlement is now enclosed in the archaeological park, which is a fraction of what was supposed to be the administrative capital of Carthage in Sardinia. 3D modelling and virtual reconstructions were focused also on the residential Punic and Roman area inside the park. The integrated application of the most advanced topographical and geophysical techniques to the site greatly contributed to the recording and understanding of the ancient landscape.
Textes grecs et latins relatifs à l'histoire de la peinture ancienne : recueil Milliet. T. I / publiés, traduits et commentés... par Adolphe Reinach,... ; avant-propos par S. Reinach,... -- 1921 -- livre
The discussion of digital photogrammetry and/or 3D laser scanning for recording the geometry of rock art sites is not new, but the production of high-quality 3D models requires great expenditure and specialized personnel that are not accessible to everyone or applicable to all sites. While the use of low-cost cameras and photogrammetry has been suggested as an alternative for fast visualization of rock art, do the results have enough quality for the metric and visual analysis of the art? This paper explores the potential of low-cost Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry performed by non-professional surveyors, with no camera calibration and no tripod to speed the process, as an alternative cost-effective tool for quantitative and qualitative analysis of rock art. The innovative aspect of this paper is that we have verified the metric accuracy and graphic quality of low-cost 3D models and shown that they can be used as an effective low-cost tool for detailed analysis and tracing of rock art.
Conflicting archaeological evidence has generated conflicting theories about Israel’s origins. This work assembles all the theories into four categories and tests each category using computational tools borrowed from bio-mathematics. The bio-mathematical tools are models of diffusion, contagion and epidemics adjusted by various researches to study cultural transmission, ethnic borders and justice administration. The mathematical tools help reconcile known conflicting archaeological evidence and examine two aspects of the evidence that have not been considered so far: the alignment of the borders between material cultures and the conflict between sedentary and egalitarian lifestyles. Theories of immigration of pastoralist nomads passed the test.
In the last decade portable devices for the analysis of Cultural Heritage (e.g. laser-scanners, spectroscopes, XRF) have reached levels of reliability that can replace benchtop instruments and enable in situ survey. One of the most effective application is the digitization and diagnosis of artworks preserved inside museums. Indeed, moving art objects or finds from the place of preservation to specific laboratories can often be difficult for several reasons such as fragility, large size, risk of damage, lack of authorizations etc. The paper shows the results of a collaboration between the IPCF-CNR of Messina and the Archaeological Museum of Lipari aimed at creating a ‘mobile laboratory’ for chemical analysis and 3D digitization of artefacts presenting different challenges. The activities have been carried out using two high-performing and non-contact tools: a laser-scanner arm by Faro (sometimes in combination with an external camera) and a handheld Raman spectrometer by Bruker. The test was performed to plan more extensive and systematic analyses of other materials preserved in Lipari, which will be soon examined as part of an ongoing agreement between the two institutions. The results of this test clearly demonstrate the advantages, both in terms of scientific results and dissemination, that can be achieved when science and the humanities dialogue for a common goal.
For about ten years this research team has been experimenting with techniques of spatial and visual perceptual analysis using GIS on the Nuragic landscapes (Middle and Late Bronze Age) of different areas of Southern Sardinia. Over time, various field campaigns have been developed on the monumental complexes built by the Nuragic communities. Towers, fortresses, villages, tombs of giants and sacred wells suggest a marked attention to the display of a message of power, strength and monumentality by the human group studied. An aspect often emphasized by these researches is the relationship of monuments with mobility and with the routes and strategic points of the territory, often verified through matches of different Least Coast Path Analyses (LCPA) that cross the territory by connecting different patterns of points. However, the real efficiency of the paths predicted by the GIS has never been directly tested on the ground. The paper presents the result of field analyses conducted by our group of archaeologists on the paths resulting from the GIS analysis in the Marmilla territories: travel times, energy expenditure and the real possibility of a path to actually cross a given territory are provided. Working with the LCPAs is still to be explored, however it remains a valid tool for territorial research, if an analysis unrelated to preconceptions and with a holistic evidence framework is carried out.
A project undertaken by the University of Padua has developed the new database system TESS for mosaics. This database system meets the national standards required by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione – ICCD. The database is available on-line thanks to the project «Cultural heritage in the Adriatic area: knowledge, preservation and enhancement», co-financed by the Community Initiative INTERREG III A – Adriatic Cross Border Programme. In detail, the database TESS includes informative files regarding Building and Rooms, Location, relevant Bibliography and Mosaic Pavement. Each file contains plans, designs and photographs. Furthermore, all the fields have a list of univocal and exhaustive terms in the Italian language. The mosaics database aims to provide a key working tool for the identification of the origins of iconographic themes, their geographic distribution and the development of local fashions which vary according to the context. The software was developed on a FileMaker client/server environment to achieve these key goals: multiplatform availability (Windows/Macintosh), multiuser capability and remote connectivity. Making wide use of the latest tools included in FileMaker 8, the development group created a smart and complete GUI to access the complex data structure, and at the same time implemented a stringent control of user privileges by setting data-related group policies. The result is a powerful middleware application that allows data entry, analysis and publication to geographically distributed operators and will provide data consultation to other users through normal web browsers.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Paolo Liverani, Termini muti di centurazione o contropesi di torchi ?, p. 111-127. Da circa cinquant'anni vengono identificati corne termini muti di centuriazione dei blocchi di pietra di grandi dimensioni, per lo più troncoconici, con una coppetta scavata al centro della faccia superiore e due incassi a coda di rondine sui lati, rinvenuti soprattutto nel Veneto e dintorni, ma di cui sono stati segnalati un paio di esemplari anche in Campania. Si tratta invece di contrappesi di torchi, per lo più d'età médiévale e moderna e oggi non più in uso, ma derivati da un tipo risalente all'età classica molto diffuso in tutto il Mediterraneo. Il riconoscimento délia loro reale funzione permette di eliminare un (v. retro) equivoco negli studi di topografia antica (che aveva tra l'altro portato a ipotizzare una centuriazione nella Val Belluna in realtà inesistente) e ad arricchire le carte di distribuzione redatte dagli studiosi di tradizioni popolari per questi torchi.
ItLo sviluppo delle tecniche di modellazione ha scardinato lo schema concettuale che ha sempre considerato la figurazione come un semplice attributo e/o parte del sistema conoscitivo. Tali progressi permettono ora di focalizzare l'attenzione sull’impiego di modelli digitali 3D come matrice e nucleo aggregativo dei sistemi informativi, in grado di permette, da un lato, un facile accesso a strutture di dati estremamente complesse e, dall'altro, una costante guida dell’utente attraverso informazioni tipologicamente eterogenee.Questo articolo descrive un sistema informativo su web messo a punto con l'obiettivo di rendere disponibile su una piattaforma 3D GIS modelli tridimensionali di reperti archeologici ottenuti dal reale e con un dettaglio tipico della scala architettonica. All'interno dei siti di complessi archeologici vasti e complessi, i diversi tipi di artefatti devono essere modellati da differenti operatori, usando differenti metodologie e tecnologie ed elaborati in tempi e luoghi differenti; da tutto ciò scaturisce la necessità che i metodi per costruire i modelli 3D devono essere definiti a-priori, condivisi in maniera ampia e verificati a-posteriori.Il caso di studio riguarda il sito di Pompei, all'interno di un progetto di cooperazione con la Sovrintendenza di Pompei, finalizzato alla realizzazione di un archivio in grado di rendere disponibile la lunga storia di quell'area archeologica, la cui stratificazione storica porta indietro fino al 1738.I punti principali del progetto sono: (a) l'intero sistema informativo è accessibile via web e collegato ad GIS che permette la mappatura completa delle informazioni; (b) sono stati sviluppati differenti approcci conoscitivi e percettivi all'interno della matrice complessiva al fine di consentire l'accesso al patrimonio di informazioni che risale fino alla scoperta di Pompei; (c) sono stati definiti standard metodologici e tecnici con l'obiettivo di proporre linee guida comuni per la realizzazione di modelli 3D di un'area archeologica; (d) è stato reso possibile un impiego scientifico della modellazione tridimensionale quale strumento di supporto alle attività di scavo e per la conservazione dei dati per il progetto di un "sistema conoscitivo"; (e) i modelli digitali dei reperti archeologici sono collegati al loro insieme di informazioni eterogenee attraverso un sistema semantico di suddivisione e organizzazione degli elementi che li compongono e dei dati ad essi collegati.EnThe development of digital modeling techniques has undermined the conceptual scheme that has always regarded the representation as a simple attribute and/or part of the cognitive system. These advances allow us to focus on the use of 3D digital models as a matrix of aggregation, and core of information systems, able to allow an easy access to extremely complex data structures and a constant guide for the user through typologically heterogeneous information.This paper describes a web-based information system designed with the aim to make available on a 3D GIS platform reality-based 3D models representing archaeological finds at an architectural scale. In wide and complex archaeological sites, different artifacts need to be modeled by different operators, using different methodologies and technologies, working in different places and times, so that the methods to build them need to be defined a-priori, widely shared and verified a-posteriori.Our case study is the site of Pompeii, within a project of cooperation with the Soprintendenza of Pompeii, aimed at a restructured global archive of Pompeii to make the long history of the site accessible, crossed by the knowledge on the archaeological Vesuvian areas (since 1738) that has caused a stratified corpus of data.Main points of the project are: (a) the whole information system is WEB based and referred to an on line GIS for totally mapped information; (b) different perspectives of knowledge and perception have been developed within the global information system in order to also access the knowledge of the representations of Pompeii since its discovery; (c) definition of methodological and technical standards in order to propose common guidelines to design 3D models within an archaeological setting; (d) a scientific usage of 3D modeling to support excavation and conservation data designed as “systems of knowledge”; (e) the digital models of the finds are then linked to their related heterogeneous information using a semantic fragmentation and organization of elements and data.
Prendendo in esame un caso studio puntuale ma indicativo della vasta produzione storiografica di Manfredo Tafuri (1935-1994), l’articolo vorrebbe offrire una lettura alternativa, per quanto parziale, del contraddittorio rapporto che lo storico dell’architettura di origini romane ha avuto con l’architettura e gli architetti a lui contemporanei, spesso interpretato estremizzando elementi di continuità o di rottura, o collocando su piani equiparabili e alternativi critica dell’ideologia e filologia
Data management plans (DMPs) are documents accompanying research proposals and project outputs. DMPs are created as free-form text and describe the data and tools employed in scientific investigations. They are often seen as an administrative exercise and not as an integral part of research practice. There is now widespread recognition that the DMP can have more thematic, machine-actionable richness with added value for all stakeholders: researchers, funders, repository managers, research administrators, data librarians, and others. The research community is moving toward a shared goal of making DMPs machine-actionable to improve the experience for all involved by exchanging information across research tools and systems and embedding DMPs in existing workflows. This will enable parts of the DMP to be automatically generated and shared, thus reducing administrative burdens and improving the quality of information within a DMP. This paper presents 10 principles to put machine-actionable DMPs (maDMPs) into practice and realize their benefits. The principles contain specific actions that various stakeholders are already undertaking or should undertake in order to work together across research communities to achieve the larger aims of the principles themselves. We describe existing initiatives to highlight how much progress has already been made toward achieving the goals of maDMPs as well as a call to action for those who wish to get involved.
