Articles by Eliana Iorfida

During the 2008-2009 season the Archaeological Superintendence of Emilia Romagna began an emergency archaeological excavation under the city of Bologna, very close to the complex of an Etruscan sanctuary attributed to the ancient city of Felsina. For the systematic management of all the mostly paper documentation gathered during the excavation an information system within the scope of GIS technology was planned and setup. At first , we focused our attention on data normalization; afterward, our attention was drawn to the advantages obtained by using GIS technology, which makes it possible for complex phenomena and spatial-temporal relations to be represented and analyzed at multiple levels, as well as acting as a support for objective interpretative evaluations. Using this system we were able to create thematic and chronological maps, and analyze all the intra-site phenomena. This project provides an effective example of how GIS technology can also be applied retrospectively, when the excavation has already been concluded and the data were recorded in the traditional way; it therefore represents a valuable instrument for implementing the knowledge of an archaeological context.