Articles by Alessio Arnese

In 1998 the Laboratory for History, Archaeology and Topography of the Ancient World of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa began an experiment with archaeological databases and GIS. Initially, we made a GIS for the Entella survey. Since then, the experiment on this sample-survey has become a more structured system for the management of archaeological data (excavations, surveys, pictures, artefacts, etc.). In particular, we have focused our attention on data normalisation. Since 2002 we have also used a GPS receiver for the Kaulonia survey in order to geo-reference the sites. At the moment, the GIS manages only survey data, but it could also include excavation data. Using this system we are able to create chronological maps, and analyse infra- and intra-site artefact distribution.

The aim of this project has been to create a GIS for the archaeological survey in Contessa Entellina (Palermo) that was conducted in 1998 by the Historic-Archaeological Topography Laboratory of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. The survey covered an area (about 42 km2) of the territory of Contessa Entellina. Like the survey, the GIS was also a model for research. During the survey Topographic Units (UT) were located with large concentrations of finds and other zones labelled “Sporadic Material” (MS) were also identified. The GIS includes only the Topographic Units. With the software ArcView GIS 3.1, UTs have been located as points on a raster map at a scale of 1:5000, the same as used for the survey. The survey data has been recorded in a relational database that holds information about the finds, the documents, the relationship between UTs, the chronology, the vegetation, etc. We focused our attention on the representation of temporal information. However, it is very difficult to represent archaeological dates in a database scheme because their limits are uncertain. Therefore, to represent this uncertainty every Topographic Unit is characterised by several periods. Each period has a beginning (field “Inizio”, meaning “Start”) and an ending (field “Fine”, meaning “End”). These two limits have a symmetrical tolerance (for example ±50 years). In the future, this system will be completed and used to analyse the spatial relations between UTs and their visibility.