Articles by Saverio Giulio Malatesta

Detecting archaeological features from satellite images is an increasingly vital tool in archaeology, offering a non-invasive means to discover and protect ancient structures. Among these, nuraghes, which are tower-shaped stone structures from the Bronze Age unique to Sardinia (Italy), present a significant challenge due to their varied sizes, forms, and environmental contexts. This paper introduces a pioneering approach employing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven method for detecting nuraghes in satellite images, specifically employing a Deep Learning (DL) model based on Vision Transformers (ViT), which is an advanced neural network architecture that excels in processing image data. The system, called ‘Artificial Intelligence Operator for Heritage’ (AIOH), is trained on custom data retrieved for this work: the dataset, NuragAI, includes thousands of satellite images from Google Maps with manually annotated nuraghe presence. It is designed to train the model to identify subtle and complex characteristics of nuraghe structures. The effectiveness of this approach was quantitatively assessed through extensive validation, with very high results on the training and testing set and interesting results also on data, detecting nuraghes in various terrains and under different lighting conditions. A preliminary on-site field campaign, to test results, was also carried out, confirming the model efficiency.

Introduction to the XII ArcheoFOSS Workshop Proceedings (Roma, 19-22 febbraio 2018).

The paper provides a brief overview on the cultural open data status in Italy, taking into consideration also the economic factor arising from data reuse. From a quick survey of Italian portals, and from European and national reports on this topic, a rather diversified and fragmented situation is discerned: this explains why there are significant limits to the further development of open culture, the actual availability of usable data and the triggering of economic activities.

The remains of the medieval town of Castelmonardo (Calabria, Italy) are located on a hill, a few kilometers SE from the modern town of Filadelfia (Vibo Valentia). Since the 1970s archaeological excavations have been carried out in selected areas of the hill. However, a systematic archaeological investigation of the whole archaeological site has never been conducted before. The paper presents the preliminary results of the first archaeological prospection conducted in Castelmonardo by means of advanced remote sensing techniques, with the goal of achieving a first GIS-based digital mapping of the archaeological site. The recently developed UAV LiDAR technology, consisting in the use of high precision laser scanners mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), commonly known as drones, was applied to realize a high resolution digital terrain model (DTM) of the site. Integrating the LiDAR data with web GIS based aerial images, a preliminary archaeological interpretation of the whole archaeological site was conducted, offering a suitable base for further analysis and virtual reconstructions. The work presented here was conducted as part of a recently initiated research project focused on Castelmonardo, led by the Department of Art History and Performing Arts - Sapienza University of Rome, and conducted in cooperation with DigiLab Research and Services - Sapienza University of Rome, Istituzione Comunale Castelmonardo - Filadelfia (Italy), the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology - Vienna (Austria), Virtutim srls and the Italian company OBEN s.r.l.

Wiki Loves Monuments is an international photo contest for monuments, organized by the national chapters of Wikimedia Foundation. Wikimedia is the movement behind several projects like Wikipedia, the most famous among them, through a global collaboration authored by volunteers. Cultural heritage is an important part of the knowledge Wikipedia collects and disseminates. Everybody can contribute sending images: an image is worth a thousand words, in every language at once and local enthusiasts can (re)discover the cultural, historical, or scientific significance of their neighbourhood. Wiki Loves Monuments Italy could be more than a simple contest. Our country, in fact, although it is so rich in historical heritage that it is called a widespread museum, is suffering from disaffection by the general public, partly because of the shortage of funds that makes it difficult to take advantage of this heritage. To protect and enhance it, you have to flip the perspective with which you face the problem from the bottom up, considering the shortage of funds: WLM Italy may therefore be an opportunity to familiarize the common user with archaeological themes and history in general, becoming the main protagonist, promoter of knowledge and defender of the past.