Articles by Gian Pietro Brogiolo

The most radical change in human history, which occurred rapidly within a few decades, is leading to a loss not only of historical memory, but also areas of expertise and thus socio-economic alternatives to the new globalized society. At the same time, the holistic approach to the study of historical evidence has finally dealt a blow to the system of protection that uses inadequate tools. As practiced by the specialized Superintendencies, it is no longer able to deal with the unending proliferation of material data which is now considered useful for the understanding of our past. This dual crisis challenges the redesign of the system of protection implemented by Dario Franceschini, current Minister of the MiBACT (Ministry for Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism), launched with the Prime Minister’s Decree of August 2014 and continued with the new proposal of January 2016. Redesign, however, will not improve the current situation, without a real polycentricy able to involve a plurality of actors and to propose new meanings of the past for the man of the twenty-first century.

The utilisation of airborne laser scanning (Light Detection And Ranging, LiDAR) technology in archaeological research has developed signifcantly in recent years. The application of specifc algorithms to appropriate software can provide an accurate digital model of the Earth’s surface from LiDAR datasets, which helps to identify archaeological objects by the use and comparison of different visualisation techniques of the digital terrain model (DTM). Besides using LiDAR data, the application of various methods (e.g. documentation by terrestrial laser scanner and Total Station, aerial photographs, modern and historical maps, archaeological information, historical documents, on-site examination of earthwork features) helps to assure a more precise identifcation and interpretation process of the archaeological features. In addition, the Geographical Information System (GIS) offers a good solution for managing together all these various types of information in the same coordinate system. In this paper, the application of LiDAR analysis in GIS environment will be discussed and compared in two different research programmes. The HiMAT programme (History of Mining Activities in the Tyrol and adjacent areas) investigates the history of mining in the Eastern Alps and the APSAT project (Environment and Landscapes of Upland Sites of Trentino) focuses on the study of the upland anthropic system in Trentino area. In both research projects, LiDAR surveys were applied to investigate the archaeological areas such as mining regions and hilltop sites of upland areas. Some of the results from the sites surveyed by LiDAR and additional methods are presented in this paper including the discovery of new sites and the detection of new structures at known sites as well as the mapping of archaeological settings.