Articles by Carlo Inglese

The paper presents the first results of the Cecilia Metella Project, at the ‘Parco dell’Appia Antica’. The prominent monument is dedicated to the noble Roman woman, whose life can only be deduced from what can be read from the epigraph carved in marble. Although the monument is probably the most famous and characteristic one of the regina viarum near the city, even today the knowledge of the mausoleum – at least from the point of view of digital acquisition and analysis of the graphic documentation – appears incomplete and therefore deserves to be deepening. The new technological frontiers and their integrated use in the field of cultural heritage allow scholars to have more accurate and complete tools at their disposal. These multidisciplinary applications make it possible to acquire, in a rapid and quick way, the physical and spatial dimension of very complex and stratified archaeological contexts such as the mausoleum of Cecilia Metella. In this context, the richness of the graphic evidence of the mausoleum allowed for in-depth comparative analyses regarding the iconographical documentation and its relationship with the physical monument acquired with modern survey techniques. This study therefore aims to update the state of the art of the tomb and to define a methodological protocol for the acquisition and critical analysis of the monument.

The paper presents the first results of the Basilica Julia Project, aimed at the analysis and reconstruction of the transformations affecting the southern side of the Forum Romanum. In the excavation campaigns conducted between 1960 and 1964 beneath the Augustan building, the remains of the basilica of Julius Caesar, the Basilica Sempronia (169 BC), a large house with an atrium dated to the 4th cent. BC, and traces of a 5th cent. BC building were brought to light. During the first phase of the work, the stratigraphic sequences were reconstructed according to the archive documentation and the study of the archaeological materials. In the second phase, a wide-ranging survey campaign was undertaken. The paper examines the methods of acquisition, connected to conservation demands, the lack of natural light and the complex physical configuration of the site. Surveying was undertaken by integrating topographical survey with massive data collection through 3D Laser Scanner and Structure from Motion. The paper also focuses on the process of integration of all these different data-sets into a single model, which produces a considerable quantity of information already translated into a unique system. Finally, thanks to the possibility to explore the 3D model in the restitution phase, the model made it possible to produce a 2D plan and sections in a process that ensured the correct reading of the data.