Articles by Subject
Subject field
Theoretical and methodological problems
Funerary archaeology and digital technologies: history and development of a successful cross-disciplinary approach
Abstract
The paper explores the successful merging of expertise in ‘funerary archaeology’ and ‘digital archaeology’ research domains. The Author first conducts a terminological analysis to establish a framework for both subjects based on their unique theoretical and methodological backgrounds and then highlights common methodological issues from the 1960s up to today. The result is a complex scenario in which the main applications include spatial analysis techniques and the GIS-based approach for the study of the relationship between cemeteries, settlements and territory; computer graphics and Virtual Reality techniques for the reconstruction of specific funerary structures and burial typologies; multivariate statistical analyses for the automatic classification of grave goods and their chronological ordering; modelling and simulation techniques to mimic features and behaviours of past ritual practices.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.1, 15-30; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.1.2024.02
The necropolis as a landscape of power: some reflections
Abstract
This paper focuses on some methodological approaches specific to digital archaeology in the analysis of a particular type of landscape, namely Etruscan-Italic necropolises. First, it highlights the interpretation of a necropolis as a landscape of ancestors and the importance of material and immaterial practices in the formation of such a space. Then it addresses the theoretical framework of phenomenological landscape analysis, developed in recent decades by C. Tilley, as a privileged way to address both aspects. In order to reconcile the phenomenological approach to landscape with the use of digital spatial technologies, which according to Tilley are insufficient because they are at best ‘representations’ of landscape, A. De Guio’s reading of the Powerscape concept is introduced. De Guio presents various spatial analysis algorithms, as fundamental ‘hammers’ to shape our knowledge of multifaceted landscapes such as powerscapes (an example of which is funerary landscapes). The reconciliation between the phenomenological approach to landscape and GIS-based spatial analyses of perceptual fields (especially vision and hearing) allows us to confidently rely on new perspectives, such as J. Ortoleva’s recent research on auditory perception in Etruscan necropolises or the latest approaches to viewshed analysis.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.1, 31-40; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.1.2024.03
Le TAL pour les appellations d’œuvres figurées de l’antiquité classique: évolution des ressources numériques du projet MonumenTAL
Abstract
The NLP tools for the automatic recognition and annotation of titles of figurative artworks from The Classical World, developed by the MonumenTAL project, have evolved through the digital modeling of linguistic patterns. These have helped to broaden the focus from the titles of specific artworks to the naming of generic iconographic types, and to add old and recent expressions specific to art historians and archaeologists. Thanks to this work based on a diachronic approach, a thesaurus of artwork titles (OEUVRE) gathering reference terms, variants and cacographies has been created and is now linked to the online LIMC-France database (corpus of Ancient artworks). The text corpus (Gold standard), from the 18th to the 21st century, and its annotations can now be exploited for statistical analysis or deep learning experimentation.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.1, 193-214; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.1.2024.14
CQArchaeo: a Python package for Cosine Quantogram Analysis and Monte Carlo simulations
Giancarlo Lago, Lorenzo Cardarelli, Nicola Ialongo
Abstract
Cosine Quantogram Analysis (CQA) is a statistical analysis employed in archaeology for the study of numerical datasets with hypothesized quantal distribution. To verify thesignificance of the results, the analysis is often combined with the execution of Monte Carlo simulations. In this article, we present a freely downloadable Python package (CQArchaeo) that integrates CQA and Monte Carlo simulations in the same environment, making the analysis customizable in the main parameters. We provide a guide that enables the use of this tool even for researchers with limited experience in Python programming and demonstrate the applicability, functioning, and main limitations of the analysis on some archaeological datasets.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.1, 215-232; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.1.2024.15
Extended Matrix Manager: an open tool for EM based knowledge graphs management
Simone Berto, Emanuel Demetrescu, Enzo Cocca
Abstract
The following contribution aims at presenting a new free and open source software, EM Manager, created to assist archaeologists at approaching virtual reconstruction projects with the Extended Matrix (method developed at the Digital Heritage Innovation Lab - DHILab - of the CNR-ISPC of Rome). EM Manager is a free and open source standalone software, already available on GitHub, that allows to convert a table into an Extended Matrix. The software represents a remarkable update of the Extended Matrix Framework and, due to its features, it will expand the user base, since it helps EM users to cover one, or more, of the ‘7 key roles’ considered by the Extended Matrix method. In addition, the fact that EM Manager is Python based ensures the possibility for future implementation with other platforms (such as QGIS and Blender) based on the same language.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 167-176; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.18
Simplifying contextualization of 3D model archives in webGIS: 3DModelCommons
Marco Montanari, Lucia Marsicano
Abstract
This paper presents a transformative approach that allows for the utilization of existing 3D models from diverse sources within a geographic context. It introduces the concept of external metadata, which describes these models, making them searchable, accessible, and seamlessly intergrated in webGIS environments using Three.js and MapLibre GL. This paper addresses the demand for the reuse of three-dimensional data representation in the geospatial domain and acknowledges the wealth of 3D models available from various sources. By introducing a standardized metadata schema, it establishes a structured framework for the incorporation of these models into webGIS systems. A central theme of this work is the development of a metadata standard that acts as a bridge between 3D models and webGIS environments granting it all information that can be used to correctly locate, scale and orient the models. It enables efficient searching, rendering, and utilization of these models within geographic contexts. Leveraging MapLibre GL JS and Three.js, the paper showcases how external metadata can significantly enhance the integration of 3D models into webGIS, thereby fostering a more versatile and comprehensive geospatial data exploration experience.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 255-262; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.27
Labels and symbols: using text on maps to investigate the antiquities on the ordnance survey maps of Great Britain
Valeria Vitale, Katherine McDonough
Abstract
This paper discusses the application of a machine learning pipeline to automatically digitise text on historical maps and make it searchable, as explored by the ‘Machines Reading Maps’ project. Looking at the Ordnance Survey Maps of Great Britain as a case study, we will suggest ways in which this new kind of open datasets, of both a textual and spatial nature, offers the unprecedented opportunity to study maps at scale, analysing map collections as digital corpora. These new approaches facilitate the use of map as historical sources in humanities research, and their investigation as complex cultural objects that combine heterogeneous knowledge. In particular, we will focus on the uncommonly detailed representation of ancient sites on the Ordnance Survey maps, and how a further layer of information around them is delivered not by the words’ literal meaning but by their appearance. We will propose ways in which this peculiarity could be digitally leveraged to retrace, investigate, and perhaps re-interpret the archaeological information on the Ordnance Survey maps. We will conclude by reflecting on the need for new, more sophisticated workflows that take into account the richness of information delivered by visual clues in words printed on maps.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 355-362; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.37
Legacy data or just archaeological data?
Abstract
The world of research is currently undergoing a profound transformation, characterized by the extensive use of digital data available online. To optimize the utilization of these resources, artificial intelligence offers researchers several tools capable of aggregating both structured and unstructured information. The need to train algorithms to enhance the use of artificial intelligence techniques in data classification has led to the creation of structured datasets. However, it is not always possible to fully automate the transfer of data to more modern environments without substantial human intervention, aimed at extracting the implicit knowledge present in digital data. The category of CAD data appears to be particularly challenging in terms of automated management of spatial resources. The use of graphical entities for digital drawings, without semantically identified components, makes automatic conversion into GIS extremely complex. The paper is based on a partial test conducted on a cartographic archive that has been formed over 70 years of field research, aiming to demonstrate the importance of prioritizing legacy spatial data, both digital and non-digital, as archaeological data.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 381-386; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.40
Concluding remarks: looking back and moving forward to the openness and interaction of knowledge
Abstract
Concluding remarks
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 455-460; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.47
Verso la costituzione di linee guida per l’esposizione di risorse visuali negli aggregatori europei
Francesca Buscemi, Leonarda Fazio
Abstract
By exploring the importance of archeological images databases in the history of studies, the article presents the digital archiving activities initiated within the PNRR Changes, Spoke 8, Project. The objective of the activities is the attribution of metadata to this type of images, for the purpose of their dialogue with European infrastructures. This process represents a tool for supporting different knowledge paths and maximizing the accessibility of the Cultural Heritage, according to the goals of the Project. The article therefore presents the activity carried out so far, namely the development of a metadata table, developed following the recognition of the main national and international thesauri and taxonomies, as well as a first metadating experiment conducted on a dataset of approximately 600 images from A&C Journal.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 483-502; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.50
Reconstruction of Epipaleolithic settlement and “climatic refugia” in the Zagros Mountains during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)
Anooshe Kafash, Masoud Yousefi, Elham Ghasidian
Abstract
The Iranian Plateau is an important geographical unit located in a key potential region for the Pleistocene population dispersals across Eurasia. Despite its important location and a long history of archaeological investigations, the Epipaleolithic sites distribution pattern and connectivity remained less explored compared to the Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods. In this study we used ecological niche modelling (Generalized Linear Models, Generalized Additive Models, Generalized Boosting Models, Maximum Entropy Modelling and Random Forest), together with corridor mapping methods, to reconstruct the Epipaleolithic settlements and their connectivity in the Zagros Mountains. We showed that the central parts and the western slopes of the Zagros Mountains were the most suitable areas for Epipaleolithic settlement during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Topographic complexity was the most important variable in shaping Epipaleolithic settlement distribution with a positive association. The niche model and corridors maps developed for the Epipaleolithic humans show areas potentially suitable for the presence of Epipaleolithic settlements but no site has been discovered in this area so far. Thus, these areas are having high priority for future field excavations.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.1, 217-224; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.1.2023.24
Balancing between biases and interpretation. A predictive model of prehistoric Scania, Sweden
Abstract
Southern Sweden, and especially the area around Malmo in southwestern Scania, is perhaps one of the most archaeologically investigated areas in the world. Our knowledge of the local Prehistory has greatly increased in the past decades although it is also the product of centuries of agricultural practices, urban expansion and a relatively early (18th-19th c.) interest for prehistoric monuments (e.g. burial mounds and megaliths). However, despite the deluging amount of available information (over 50,000 ancient sites recorded in Scania), their distribution is not homogeneous and archaeologists are restlessly trying to explain this pattern and its underlying causes. In addition, post-depositional factors (infrastructure works, agricultural practices, etc.) heavily affect site distribution and preservation, blurring the global interpretation. The aim of this paper is to reduce the impact of post-depositional factors on our interpretations on site distribution. In addition, the results can be used as a starting point for further and more elaborate analyses (spatial statistics and simulations). All the models presented here were computed in a reproducible way, relying on FOSS and open data only, in order to allow anyone interested to replicate the model and adapt it to their own purposes and study regions.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.1, 225-236; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.1.2023.25
Developing a digital archaeology classification system using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning techniques
Alessandra Caravale, Nicolau Duran-Silva, Berta Grimau, Paola Moscati, Bernardo Rondelli
Abstract
The Authors propose a knowledge map to analyse and access scientific contents related to Digital Archeology by leveraging various Machine Learning (ML) techniques. The case study concerns the articles published in our international journal «Archeologia e Calcolatori» in the decade from 2011 to 2020 and, as a benchmark, the publications in the ‘Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology’ (CAA) conference proceedings and journal. The titles and abstracts of the publications featured in these two data sets were analysed using a supervised classification approach into the subfields of computer science, based on the ACM’s taxonomy, and by applying topic modelling techniques to discover emergent topics, Named Entity Recognition to identify specific archaeologically relevant entities, and geotagging techniques to link articles with the geographical locations they discuss. The results achieved, although preliminary, provide some methodological suggestions: i) the opportunity to build custom analyses by taking advantage of the increasing availability of open data and metadata; ii) the scope of the contribution of archaeology, and in particular of computational archaeology, to the Heritage Science interdisciplinary domain; the heuristic and predictive role of different ML techniques to gain a multi-faceted access to data analysis and interpretation.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.2, 9-32; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.2.2023.01
ArchaeoBIM ed Extended Matrix. Analisi e potenzialità di due processi per l’elaborazione di modelli informativi
Abstract
The article systematically explores two processes of virtual reconstruction of archaeological contexts: ArchaeoBIM and Extended Matrix. The focus is on the theoretical frameworks behind their development, the proposed operational processes, and the products derived from both methodologies. The informative potential of the virtual models resulting from these reconstruction processes will be discussed, as well as the application-related issues. A substantial part of the article will be dedicated to the development of an integrative protocol aimed at incorporating the informational structure of the Extended Matrix within an ArchaeoBIM model. The process has been applied to the case study of House 1 in Regio IV, Insula 2 of the Etruscan city of Marzabotto, which was excavated in recent years (1988-1998) and thoroughly documented. Final considerations are then directed towards future development prospects and the integration of this virtual product within a Geographic Information System.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.2, 123-142; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.2.2023.07
Sustainability of 3D heritage data: life cycle and impact
Abstract
In recent years, the exploit of 3D data use in Archaeology and the Cultural Heritage sector in general has caused an exponential multiplication of digital content that can be viewed on the web. Nevertheless, web platforms can display a concerning dualism: on one side some contents are over-represented with the same models uploaded dozens of times even inside the same platform; on the other, the inaccessibility or absence of proper 3D documentation for certain datasets limits the usefulness of the resources. As a result of substantial funding received (mostly from public institutions) and the volume of data produced by each digitization project, the final impacts on the broader scientific community remain limited. Starting from the analysis of data published about EU-funded projects by the European Union Commission on the platform CORDIS, this research approaches the delicate issue of the unsustainability of the current 3D data life cycle. The analysis of 110 selected projects revealed a disturbing pattern: even though the EU provided funds for many projects that approached in different ways 3D data diffusion or sharing, currently only 8 of them made the data accessible.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.2, 339-356; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.2.2023.18
Tra terminologia e lessicologia: un "ponte" informatico" nel percorso scientifico di Giovanni Adamo
Valeria Della Valle, Paola Moscati
Abstract
One year after his untimely passing, the Authors remember Giovanni Adamo and his original and impactful scholarly contribution to the field of terminology and lexicology, in the context of the close relationship with Humanities computing.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2022, 33.2, 7-12; doi: 10.19282/ac.33.2.2022.01
A postphenomenological perspective on digital and algorithmic archaeology
Abstract
Digital technologies are not neutral tools; rather, they mediate our knowledge of material evidence. This contribution stems from the reflections on the sidelines of the ArchAIDE project, which developed AI tools to recognise ceramics and attempts to answer questions, among others, on how technological intervention takes place in archaeology, particularly through AI, and if such effects are disruptive concerning epistemology and hermeneutics. Postphenomenology and material hermeneutics have been considered to describe the relationship between archaeology and digital technology. In the AI age, Archaeology’s challenge is to recognise technology as an actor (or maybe as an agent) on whom we depend on extracting meaning and, at the same time, as something that partially reflects our hermeneutic. The algorithms have digital technological intentionality that creates information, performs hermeneutics in our place, and finally directs archaeologists what to read. This act of knowledge is performed instead of ours. If, in Heidegger’s ontological inversion, science becomes dependent on technology and, in a sense, a tool of technology, in the same way, archaeology has become dependent on technology and entrapped by it.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2022, 33.2, 319-334; doi: 10.19282/ac.33.2.2022.17
Logic and computing: a historical background
Abstract
The history of archaeological computing has long been characterised by the distinction between the application of mathematical and statistical techniques, as part of the so-called movement of quantitative archaeology, and the use of databases and information systems for descriptive and documentary purposes. The intensity of the debate on the relationship between logic and computing, as well as between theory and applications, began to wave in the 1990s. Over time, data integration and new ICT tools have allowed archaeologists to address simultaneously all the issues raised by the archaeological research. This paper focuses on the evolution of methods and techniques in this specific research area, thanks to the analysis of literary sources, the Bibliography of Archaeological Computing, accessible via the Virtual Museum of Archaeological Computing website, and the scientific articles published in the open access international journal Archeologia e Calcolatori.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2020, 31.2, 121-132; doi: 10.19282/ac.31.2.2020.12
Modelling the past. Logics, semantics and applications of neural computing in archaeology
Abstract
The study of complex archaeological systems through the new Artificial Intelligence and Natural and Neural Computing is a research project which evaluates the historical meaning of the relationships between records of the past as an essentially human construction. It repeats a strong position of Analytical Archaeology, but updates it on the basis of the progress which neurosciences and physics have made in simulating the principles which regulate memory, orientation, classification and mapping of reality. Modelling and simulating the contexts of the past in integrated, parallel, distributed processing through machine learning methods, must make use of a precise encoding of the documents. It takes on an important role in empirical research only when the results produced become the hyper-surface of a network membrane to continue, update, refine or open the analysis itself. After some 30 years of such theoretical, analytical and experimental research, logics, semantics and applications of neural computing maintain their distinct value as a new theoretical approach for the study of dynamic and systemic cultural complexity. They provide a new analytical paradigm for computational modelling in archaeology and an advanced computational method for pattern recognition in archaeometry.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2020, 31.2, 169-180; doi: 10.19282/ac.31.2.2020.16
The ArchaeoBIM method and the role of digital models in archaeology
Simone Garagnani, Andrea Gaucci
Abstract
The paper deals with the development of a novel methodology, named ArchaeoBIM, aimed at the creation of digital models representing no longer existing buildings, starting from the available information collected from the archaeological contexts. The process is inferred by the Building Information Modeling used in the contemporary building industry, where different disciplines converge into digital models. The achieved models meet some of the cutting-edge issues of the Virtual Archaeology, i.e. validation, management of data, simulation. These products answer to important needs in the fields of research, conservation and dissemination and could be considered as archaeological records themselves.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2020, 31.2, 181-188; doi: 10.19282/ac.31.2.2020.17
Analisi delle reti e archeologia: il caso studio della Galilea
Paolo Cimadomo, Carla Galluccio, Giancarlo Ragozini
Abstract
The area of Northern Israel has been a region of interest for archaeologists. Textual materials are various and useful to reconstruct the history of the region, as well as a lot of data coming from the material culture. This way, archaeologists may shed light on the complex framework of cultures that developed in this territory. In the period between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE, the growing influence of the Romans generated a substantial integration of Galilee into a global context. Through the application of new types of analysis, it is possible to reconstruct cultural and commercial trades of the area. The application of network analysis to archaeological questions is a pivotal subject of scientific debate. In this work, we aim to reconstruct the dynamic connections between Jewish settlements in Galilee on the basis of consistent evidence, speculating on the presence of links whenever proof lacks. Data referring to many types of artefacts were derived from the analysis of scientific papers and archaeological excavation catalogues. This way we obtained a multiplex network in which the nodes are the sites and the links are given by the presence of the different artefacts. Here we present the first findings from an exploratory analysis. Visualization methods are exploited, such as multi-force embedding and multi-task network embedding algorithm. More specifically, the latter, which is based on link prediction, seems to be particularly suited for the data we are dealing with, in which the absence of a link could be due to missing data. Moreover, in order to consider how connections have changed over the reference period, a temporal approach is used. Multiplex network analysis can also be used to model dynamic networks where each layer corresponds to the network state at a given moment.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2020, 31.1, 77-96; doi: 10.19282/ac.31.1.2020.04
HBIM data management in historical and archaeological buildings
Andrea Scianna, Giuseppe Fulvio Gaglio, Marcello La Guardia
Abstract
Recent technological evolutions in the acquisition and management of building data are offering new opportunities for digital reconstruction. At the same time, the BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodology, based on the implementation of libraries composed of parametric objects provided by the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) standard, allows the design and management of data of existing buildings, and, in particular, historical and archaeological buildings. In the latter case, the great variety of Cultural Heritage (CH) distributed over the European territory, and the ability of BIM to cover the life of buildings or/and other artefacts from a geometric, descriptive, physical and static point of view, have stimulated the development of the HBIM (Historic BIM) modelling. The HBIM approach should consider the complexity of historical or archaeological buildings or artefacts, with particular attention to possible fragmentation or incompleteness of parts. In this work, different approaches regarding the survey, restitution and data management will be described, finalised to the construction of an HBIM model, considering different possible variables, emerging from different study cases.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2020, 31.1, 231-252; doi: 10.19282/ac.31.1.2020.11
Archaeology and computers: a long story in the making of modern archaeology
Abstract
The growing success, for more than fifty years, of the scientific contribution of computer applications and quantitative methods in archaeology may be now reviewed and analyzed from different technological and sociological points of view. This examination allows us to appreciate the material importance of such contributions and how the community of specialists in computational archaeology should play a major role in the future of 21st-century archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 13-20; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.02
Informatica archeologica e archeologia digitale. Le risposte dalla rete
Abstract
The article illustrates the most recent achievements of archaeological computing, through a systematic survey that starts with the very name of the discipline, as used at national and international levels. The aim is to examine if the distinction made between 'archaeological computing' and 'digital archaeology' can really be helpful in framing the discipline in its theoretical and methodological evolution. From the synthesis made, the dominance of technological aspects on the theoretical and methodological approach clearly emerges. For some time now, technology has governed the three main areas of archaeological practice: field work, laboratory analysis and cultural heritage management and promotion. Two other important aspects are today rapidly gaining ground: 'Communicating archaeological research' and 'European digital infrastructures for archaeology'. Finally, particularly significant is the sector of Digital Heritage or Heritage Science, which today seems to be the focus of all digital archaeology involvements.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 21-38; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.03
Archeologia e Calcolatori: un'esperienza pionieristica nel mondo dell'Open Access e dell'Open Science
Abstract
Online open access circulation of the journal «Archeologia e Calcolatori» started in 2005. International standards developed within the Open Archives Initiative paradigm immediately offered fascinating solutions to disseminate metadata describing the journal's content. The most relevant protocol for Open Archives implementation is OAI-PMH. Several software applications to support OAI-PMH have been proposed by different institutions and some enjoyed brilliant success. However, in certain situations the deployment of an OAI-PMH conformant repository remained problematic. For small research institutions and university departments, most of the existing OAI applications seemed difficult to implement. In this paper, the author recalls the main steps that guided the journal towards a simplified approach to the OAI implementation, one suited to small and medium-sized archives, creating a system operating now for 15 years.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 39-54; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.04
Lo stato dell'arte dell'innovazione tecnologica per le architetture web: presente e futuro per Archeologia e Calcolatori
Abstract
The paper illustrates the recent evolution of web architectures and the choices made for the web portal of 'Archeologia e Calcolatori'. The website needed an urgent restyling to update its ASP platform, even though for 15 years it had performed its interactive work very well. Today, the ASP language is no longer supported by Microsoft and the infrastructural choices of the CNR are and will be increasingly oriented towards the world of open source and LAMP architectures (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Phyton). For this reason, a transformation was not only suggested, but vital. It was therefore decided to completely renew the website, a task consisting of about 70 physical pages to be rewritten in PHP. This work transformation has helped to pave the way for new technologies that today are modifying the web architecture of the entire WWW and that will soon allow us to implement new services and functions. Particular attention was paid to the most significant phenomena in the innovative technological panorama of Web Information Systems, with particular emphasis on the Semantic Databases and the new RIA (Rich Internet Application) technologies, the latter a splendid evolution of client-side web architectures.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 55-74; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.05
Archeologia e Calcolatori. Accessibilità e diffusione della cultura scientifica
Alessandra Piergrossi, Irene Rossi
Abstract
Based on the case study of the journal 'Archeologia e Calcolatori', the authors investigate specific issues related to the promotion of Open Science in archaeology. The first part analyses the initiatives undertaken in order to foster the dissemination of the journal's digital resources on the web, such as the use of descriptive metadata (Dublin Core), the attribution of unique identifiers (DOI), the uploading of the full texts on institutional repositories for long term preservation (CNR-SOLAR), the collaboration with initiatives aiming at the aggregation of cultural and scientific digital contents (MiBACT-CulturaItalia). The second part illustrates many initiatives and projects promoted by the editorial committee to spread the principles of the 'open access' philosophy, nationally and internationally. The journal has thus become a record and memory of the progress in the theoretical, as well as applied, aspects of the Open Access movement. This study shows the relevance of the continuous experimentation of the practices for publishing scientific initiatives, adhering to and promoting the Open Access and facilitating the accessibility to its own resources.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 75-92; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.06
Archeologia e Calcolatori. Classificazione geografica e tematica per la condivisione della conoscenza
Francesca Cantone, Alessandra Caravale
Abstract
The 30th anniversary of Archeologia e Calcolatori has offered the chance to focus on its rich repository of scientific contents and to envisage further strategies to better classify the journals papers. Mapping web resources is crucial in organizing and managing cultural information in the Semantic Web and Internet of Things (IoT) perspective. In this context, the editorial board has decided to adopt geographical and chronological annotation strategies and to implement established gazetteers of geographical and historical entities. The first step in this annotation project was to experiment with the Recogito Pelagios tool, an international initiative aimed at facilitating better associations between online resources documenting the past. Furthermore, an analysis has been undertaken by means of Social Network Analysis techniques, which in the last years has been developed to cover a wide interdisciplinary field of study, including social and behavioral sciences, economics, psychology, anthropology. The paper illustrates the main results, to highlight connections between themes and technologies in the papers published over the last ten years.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 93-107; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.07
La banca dati bibliografica degli anni Novanta. Dati quantitativi e analisi statistiche
Alessandra Caravale, Letizia Ceccarelli
Abstract
Recent research work, carried out as part of the international project on 'The History of Archaeological Computing', jointly promoted by the Italian National Research Council and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, has created the premises by which to publish online the database of the Bibliography of Archaeological Computing. The database was regularly implemented during the first ten years of publication of the international scholarly journal 'Archeologia e Calcolatori' (1990-1999), and covers a period ranging from 1989 to 2000. The dataset was revised and made available online in the 'Virtual Museum of Archaeological Computing', featuring more than 2,700 titles. Data structuring and updating led us to re-appreciate the analysis of the results, published for the first time in the tenth issue of the journal, by also linking the period under investigation with the achievements of the previous decades and anticipating the challenges of the years to come. This article sets out both the research work now being carried out to classify bibliographical information and the results obtained from the statistical analysis of the dataset.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 109-122; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.08
Archaeology and Audience Development digital strategies: a research conducted with the team of Archeologia e Calcolatori
Abstract
An internship at the CNR-ISMA was the starting point for the Masters Graduation thesis Audience Development in Archaeology: Strategies Based on Digital Innovation (Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi). The three-month internship was linked to several different educational initiatives carried out by the Institute. A series of activities was designed expressly: namely, analysis of the database of the scholarly journal Archeologia e Calcolatori, with a special focus on the articles related to data dissemination and education in archaeology, as well as Virtual Reality and multimedia projects; field observation of Audience Development initiatives in archaeology through on-site multimedia projects, presented in the cultural itinerary for the Virtual Museum of Archaeological Computing (Virtual Journey at Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini); and finally focus-group interviews both with high-school students, taking part to the Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro (ASL) program, and with expert scholars.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 123-138; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.09
La fotomodellazione per il rilievo archeologico
Fabio Bianconi, Marco Filippucci
Abstract
The paper addresses the theme of photomodelling techniques supporting archaeological survey and of the role played by the contemporary archaeologist dealing with computing and information technology. In particular, photomodelling, being a simple and economical technique, for years has gained ground in the archaeological survey as an efficient instrument to respond to the needs for documentation, study, and communication, which are inherent to digitization. Likewise, in the enhancement of perceptive aspects and in computation automatisms, which are at the basis of the models' genesis, some pitfalls can be hidden that may lead to underestimate the centrality of interpretation. The critical analysis proposed aims at underlying the contribution of digital techniques, by analysing their reliability and their possible application to the traditional design. The paper compares some examples of archaeological data survey conducted in the Umbria region, in the last fifty years, from the point of view of experts involved in representation studies, and tries to capture the peculiarities that are still valid in the current transformation of graphic representation tools.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 205-228; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.13
Formally defining the time-space-archaeological culture relation: problems and prospects
Sorin Hermon, Franco Niccolucci
Abstract
Locating archaeological cultures in time and space is a major challenge of archaeolog-ical research. Despite more than a century of scientific research in archaeology, a satisfactory solution has yet to be proposed. Past attempts to look into the problem focused on sharpening the definition of types of material culture artefacts, a more accurate chronological dating of such objects, various probabilistic methods or GIS solution for defining the time-space borders of archaeological cultures. However, the proposed approaches did not fully consider how the nature of archaeological cultures and their consequent dating and geographic positioning play a crucial role in assigning spatio-temporal borders. We propose to shift the operating logical paradigm in archaeology, from a crisp, Aristotelian-based logic, to fuzzy logic, in our opinion more suitable for reasoning in archaeology. We also introduce the rough sets theory to deal with chronological and geographic positioning of archaeological cultures. Both concepts have, in our opinion, substantial advantages over the traditional algebra and logic rules (implicitly) applied so far.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.1, 93-108; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.1.2017.06
Testing competing archaeological theories of Israel’s origins using computation techniques
Abstract
Conflicting archaeological evidence has generated conflicting theories about Israel’s origins. This work assembles all the theories into four categories and tests each category using computational tools borrowed from bio-mathematics. The bio-mathematical tools are models of diffusion, contagion and epidemics adjusted by various researches to study cultural transmission, ethnic borders and justice administration. The mathematical tools help reconcile known conflicting archaeological evidence and examine two aspects of the evidence that have not been considered so far: the alignment of the borders between material cultures and the conflict between sedentary and egalitarian lifestyles. Theories of immigration of pastoralist nomads passed the test.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.1, 109-128; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.1.2017.07
Archeologia e Web 2.0. Verità e dinamiche di potere nell’era digitale
Abstract
The development of new media for use as tools to collect, register and create data has opened innovative and original mediascapes where several forces are involved in an effort to provide a historical explanation of the past. Augmented reality is not a simple virtual object but is also a historical fact, which has modified the offline world. The huge amount of data poured into cyberspace have multiplied the actors involved in the construction of historical and archaeological interpretations and produced different discourses in competition with each other about the past. The ‘democratization’ of knowledge conveyed by the web has opened new semantic spaces and challenged the old rules about authority of knowledge. Today, archaeology must deal with the logic inherent in these new rhetoric spaces and with its particular way of making discourse about the past through the web.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.1, 291-310; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.1.2017.17
From ruins to reconstruction: past and present
Abstract
Keynote speech introducing the Session ‘Ancient Cities: Past and Current Perspectives’.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.2, 27-45; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.2.2017.02
Archaeological computing and ancient cities: insights from the repository of «Archeologia e Calcolatori»
Abstract
Opening speech in the Session ‘Ancient Cities: Past and Current Perspectives’.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.2, 47-66; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.2.2017.03
Kainua Project Special Session: conclusioni
Abstract
General conclusions of the ‘Kainua Project’ Special Session.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.2, 177-185; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.2.2017.12
Un’illogica retrospettiva
Abstract
In this short essay, the Author reflects on what the prospects were for the Technical Tables for the coordination and integration of the National Archaeological Territorial Information System at different spatial scales, and the subsequent outcomes. This leads the Author to critically analyze the role of technology and induces him to think about a change in the point of view and to focus on a new perspective.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, Supplemento 9, 151-155; doi: 10.19282/ACS.9.2017.14
Spunti di discussione dalla lettura degli Atti del III Convegno di Studi SITAR
Abstract
This paper presents the proceedings of the SITAR III edition, held in 2013. Two previous conferences have been held, the first in 2010 and the second in 2011 and proceedings of both have been published, thus offering an example of continuity and assiduity in their cultural and scientific involvement. This third volume shows how the experience has evolved, how it has spread, and its main features, in comparison with other similar initiatives. The volume is composed of seven parts and contains 33 articles, but only a few of the papers are mentioned here. Essentially, the second section on the spread of the SITAR model, the seventh section, and the last section are considered, choosing some of the cases developed within the SITAR itself. Summing up, some general considerations concerning three indispensable goals to be achieved in the future are cited: the rooting of the territorial laboratory in the structure of the Superintendence, the construction of the digital heritage; the contextual vision of cultural heritage.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, Supplemento 9, 189-198; doi: 10.19282/ACS.9.2017.17
Il SITAR: verso la conoscenza condivisa
Abstract
Sharing and communicating archaeological knowledge and heritage as a whole has been, and still is, one of the main points of strength of SITAR. It is possible to argue that this goal has been achieved not just thanks to technological tools but by moving from a cultural premise based on a prevalent contextual concept of archaeology and cultural communication.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, Supplemento 9, 199-208; doi: 10.19282/ACS.9.2017.18
OpenArcheo2. An archaeological knowledge base
Abstract
The paper deals with a brief description of OpenArcheo2, a wholly new archaeological information system currently being developed. The system subverts the usual perspective of solutions dedicated to the management/analysis of ‘raw’ archaeological data, focusing entirely on interpreted information. Representation of archaeological knowledge becomes, therefore, the primary objective of the system, as can be clearly seen from the conceptual model and the ontology concisely presented in this paper.
Quantitative methods in Italian archaeology: a review
Abstract
The use of quantitative graphs began, in Italian archaeology, between the end of the Fifties and the beginnings of the Sixties in the last century, thanks to the work of Renato Peroni (Bronze and Iron Age) and Alberto Broglio (Palaeolithic). In 1976-1977 Amilcare Bietti and Alberto Cazzella published the first important article on the subject in the journal Dialoghi di Archeologia. The Eighties began with Amilcare Bietti publication of the first monograph on the use of mathematical and statistical methods in archaeology, that were to become very popular in many works inspired by processual archaeology. In 1987 the monograph Archeologia e Calcolatori, by Paola Moscati, was published; three years later the first issue of the homonymous Journal was edited. The last 'chapter' of this history is the introduction of new methods (functional analysis of objects and GIS) between the end of the Nineties and the beginnings of Twenty-first century. From that period onwards, the use of quantitative methods became daily routine practice in archaeology in our country.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, 26, 45-58; doi: 10.19282/ac.26.2015.17
The quantification of spatio-temporal distributions of archaeological data: from counts to frequencies
Katia Francesca Achino, Giacomo Capuzzo
Abstract
Traces of past social actions, detectable in the archaeological record, are the material evidence through which we can infer social and economic patterns of ancient societies. These categories can be investigated in both time and space using a probabilistic statistical approach. In an attempt to quantify the results of archaeological processes we distinguish the terms of count and frequency, which is not common in archaeology, focusing particularly on the latter. In this framework we are able to calculate the number of times a certain event took place in relation to the length of the time interval during which the event is repeated. In addition, the statistical tools allow us to understand if the observable material evidence is the result of a particular archaeological phenomenon (accumulation) that can fit a statistical distribution or process (Poisson process and multivariate normal distribution).
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, 26, 59-75; doi: 10.19282/ac.26.2015.18
Al di là della morte del disegno archeologico. I Massive Data Acquisition Systems (MDAS) in archeologia
Abstract
Drawing is a fundamental activity in all archaeological praxis. The emergence and spread of the Massive Data Acquisition Systems (MDAS) have completely revolutionized this documentation area, so that someone has announced his death. Not surprisingly the MDAS have radically changed the concept that we have about archaeological drawing. But this change has been made without planning or without a discussion of what should be his objectives. In this article we try to explain the problems and advantages of using MDAS and above all to reflect on what role they can play in archaeology in order to make them really useful and effective.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, 26, 189-208; doi: 10.19282/ac.26.2015.25
Sistemi digitali di documentazione e analisi archeologica. Verso quale direzione?
Stefano Bertoldi, Vittorio Fronza, Marco Valenti
Abstract
This paper explores some issues related to recording and analyzing archaeological datasets. After making our (neo-)processualist approach clear, some key digital technologies (relational databases) and methodologies (conceptual modelling) are discussed as examples to assess the actual state of archaeological information systems and reflect upon possible future directions. This brings us also to define the limits of quantitative (and especially predictive) analyses. Variability of parameters and, above all, the extensive lack of reality tests are heavy hindering factors. Precisely defining the variables and attractors based on specific questions can help us to relativize complex systems, bending the analyses to our needs.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, 26, 233-243; doi: 10.19282/ac.26.2015.28
Nuove linee di ricerca fra archeologia pre-dittiva e post-dittiva
Abstract
This paper focuses on a survey of the Predictive Archaeology domain, including a review of its key developments since the 1960s. A working and minimalist definition of Predictive Archaeology (P) - which becomes Preventive Archaeology in its application, that is, when it is expressed through the quantification of the risk of archaeological impact - may be that of a prediction technique for locating archaeological sites in terra incognita, based on a sample of known sites (terra cognita) or on assumptions about human location/allocation behavior in the past. A prospective view of possible short-term evolutionary scenarios is also illustrated.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, 26, 301-313; doi: 10.19282/ac.26.2015.34
A review of case studies in archaeological least-cost analysis
Abstract
The application of least-cost analysis (LCA) in archaeology has considerably increased in recent years. Modern Geographical Information Systems provide the tools for generating least-cost site catchments, least-cost paths and route networks as well as accessibility maps. Recently, published case studies present LCA results for very different time periods and parts of the world. Consequently, it seems that the technology for generating these results is readily available and reliable. However, the quality of the LCA outcome depends on the accuracy and the resolution of the geographical data used, and on the cost model itself. Varying the parameters of the cost model allows assessing the stability of the modelled catchments, routes or accessibility maps. Without validation, the LCA results remain exploratory and should not be used as a basis for building an even more complex model. The technical aspects of the case studies considered will be discussed with respect to these issues.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2014, 25, 223-239; doi: 10.19282/ac.25.2014.12
Parcours culturels pour une histoire de l’informatique appliquée à l’archéologie
Abstract
The Author illustrates an international research project on the history of archaeological computing which was promoted by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and the Italian CNR. As part of this project, a website dedicated to the virtual museum of archaeological computing is currently under construction, with the purpose of retracing the roots and reconstructing the development of this recent and evolving discipline. Along with a more traditional navigation method into the subject matter, which is presented in chronological order, some cultural itineraries have been planned: scholars will be invited to share stories, illustrate the establishment of institutions or laboratories dedicated to computer applications in archaeology and propose innovative research paths.
Simuler une “artificial society”: organisation sociale, gouvernance et attitudes sociétales
Abstract
The attempts to model past societies by the latest techniques, such as multi-agent systems, are limited by the difficulties in modeling the processes of Human and Social Sciences: social organization, social rules, management, societal attitudes. While addressing this problem, the archaeologist is often led to select the climatic change and the economic processes, which are easier to quantify and model and therefore to find only “eco-systemic” explanations for changes in societies. We are here trying to initiate work on the modeling of such processes, the foundations of which are found in the work of earlier authors (history, anthropology, sociology).
Analytical Archaeology and Artificial Adaptive Systems
Abstract
The study of complex archaeological systems with the support of the philosophy of Artificial Intelligence is a research project that evaluates the historical meaning of the relationships between archaeological documents, intended as an essentially human construction, reaffirming, in this way, the importance of Analytical Archaeology, and updating it on the basis of the progress made by Cognitive Science, Neuroscience and Cybernetics through the simulation of the principles regulating memory, orientation, classification and interpretation of reality. It is important to highlight that these models, unlike others, require a precise encoding of the documents and acquire an important role in the research only when the results they produce become the hyper-surface to continue, update, refine or open the analysis itself. In the time of techniques it is still too predictable that the last perceptible limit is still that of the relationship (metaphorical, nuanced or allusive) between 'mind and machine'. Besides, in this age, it is almost instinctive to replicate the function of knowledge, to retrieve its origin and to postulate a backstory for it. On the other hand, the models seeking a place in this discipline, by drawing their inspiration both from other dissimilar disciplines and from the theories that try to explain the cognitive function, would be absorbed by the recreation, even though minimal or impossible, of intelligences, first the Cybernetic and then the Artificial Intelligence. The other model they would be inspired by is reason as a tool and this becomes, today, the condition for interpreting and communicating the historical, archaeological and anthropological complexity of the human being.
The general philosophy of Artificial Adaptive Systems (AAS)
Abstract
This paper describes the philosophy of Artificial Adaptive Systems and compares it with natural language, revealing some striking parallels. Artificial sciences create models of reality, but their ability to approximate the 'real world' determines their effectiveness and usefulness. This paper provides a clear understanding of the expectations created by the use of this technology, an evaluation of the complexities involved, and expresses the necessity of continuing with an open mind to unexpected and still unknown potentials. Supervised and unsupervised networks are described here.
Analytical Archaeology and Artificial Adaptive Systems Laboratory (LAA and AAS)
Abstract
This contribution represents a further attempt to synthesise and to introduce the research activities of the Analytical Archaeology and Artificial Adaptive Systems Laboratory (LAA and AAS) recently instituted at La Sapienza University of Rome thanks to the award of the project ARCHEOSEMA and to the institutional collaboration of the Department of Antiquities and the Department of Intercultural and European Studies and Physic Department. The main didactic and empirical activities of the Laboratory are related to the applicative simulations of Artificial Adaptive Systems to the analysis of complex natural and cultural phenomena through the lens of Analytical Archaeology. These complex phenomena are essentially understood to be the product of cognitive behaviour, in other words models and ideal-types which represent it and can be analysed on a formal logical level. This introductory exploration leads to a significant syntactic diversification of logical inferences and a progressive human attempt to trace them back to the simulation of cognitive complexity. Artificial Adaptive Systems, as Natural Computation mathematical tools which express these emulative properties, are historiographically involved in the connectionist reaction to behaviourism and therefore they effectively form the social sciences’ attempts to ascribe the complexities developed by our brains to advanced, non-linear and dynamic computational models. The LAA and AAS results will be examined in a historical perspective, but it is of great importance to consider the epistemological implications of this new approach since it is moved by the idea that every kind of language can be studied after being transferred into a non-linear sequence of variables.
Artificial neural networks and complexity: an overview
Abstract
Understanding the world around us is usually a hard task. All dynamically evolving phenomena in the natural world are produced by a strong interaction among a great number of causes and, often, only a few amounts of them are visible or measurable. Moreover, the phenomena may be so widely distributed over space and time, like the weather evolution, that only a small number of measurements can be taken, making the understanding of the overall system difficult and approximated. Some characteristics of systems can produce a very strange behaviour, even when the elements constituting the system are a small number. All these elements and their mutual interaction can produce the so-called complexity. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) form an interesting class of dynamic systems, as a paradigm of natural and spontaneous computation. ANNs are founded on bases inspired by the neurophysiological nature of neurons and their mutual connectivity. In this paper the historical reasons that led to the former mathematical models of neuron and connectionist topologies will be detailed. Over time, they have evolved through the feed-forward systems, Self-Organizing Maps, the associative memories up to the latest models in artificial cerebral cortex.
ANNs and geographical information for urban analysis evidence from the european fp7 secoa project
Abstract
The Artificial Adaptive Systems (AAS) have had several applications in different technical and scientific fields, in medical research, life sciences, and financial and insurance studies. These systems have had, so far, poor implementation in social sciences. Among the latter, the main examples can be found in research about urban models in which AAS are usually used together with GISystems. By their nature, neural networks are suitable for interpreting complex phenomena like the social ones. Their limited use is, therefore, surprising. It is just to explain a complex phenomenon that AAS have been used in the SECOA project. The project deals with the study of environmental conflicts in coastal areas. Environmental conflicts are, by nature, complex phenomena, multidimensional and multiscalar. In SECOA 26 conflicts in 17 regions were analysed. The AAS were used to generate an explanatory model that would allow to describe, through its essential elements, the relationship between conflicts and territories. AAS are not only an ordinary complement to the spatial analysis toolbox but a new paradigm for spatial analysis and mining. In particular Geo-SOM (Geo-Self-Organizing Map) is a tool to identify homogenous regions for which predictive analysis can be done using tools that make the visualisation of positive and negative correlation possible. Increased use of AAS and GIS, and the good results this method produced, contributed to a more precise identification of a GIScience in general and its research agenda in particular.
Computer science procedures for the Laboratory of Analytical Archaeology and artificial adaptive systems (LAA and AAS)
Abstract
In this paper the theoretical and methodological aspects of some of the tools applied to the archaeological, geographical and linguistic problems posed by ARCHEOSEMA project will be analysed. In particular, the single steps of the process of generation of outputs, from the initial analysis of the dataset, the subsequent procedures of pre-processing and encoding of the data to the characteristics of the processing algorithms will be described. For this purpose we will use a so-called toy dataset known in the literature. Using the same dataset, we will illustrate the main output produced, Minimum Spanning Tree maps. Along with the use of classical literature measurements, such as the Pearson linear correlation and Prior Probability, both used as metrics for the generation of these outputs, we have tried to show the innovative contribution of a new artificial neural network, the Auto-Contractive Map, designed by P.M. Buscema at the Semeion Research Center.
Adaptive systems and Geographic Information Systems in archaeology: retrospective and practical approaches in spatial archaeology
Abstract
For several years now archaeology has made use of methodologies based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial Adaptive Systems (AAS). However, there are still only a few experiments that involve the spatial aspect, and in particular spatial analyses of the territory. Moreover, we are often faced with theoretical approaches, procedures that cannot be used or repeated by the scientific community because they are based on proprietary or undivulged algorithms. The first part of the paper is focused on a short historical retrospective of the applicative experiences of AI and GIS, from the New Archaeology pioneers to the latest experiments in predictive approaches. Subsequently, we present an open source application, both from the software as well as the procedural point of view, oriented to the creation of predictive maps and focused in particular on the study of ancient settlements.
The author’s fingerprint. A computerised attribution method
Abstract
Methods borrowed from Information Theory are applied to the traditional text criticism. A critique of the raw cladistic methods and an interpretation of the dichotomy-phenomenon are offered. The same methods are applied to 13th century Italian poetry to determine authorship attributions and to verify commonly accepted literary taxonomy. Philology is a human science primarily applied to literary texts and traditionally divided into lower and higher criticism. Lower criticism tries to reconstruct the author’s original text and higher criticism is the study of the authorship, style, and provenance of texts. The use of methods borrowed from information theory makes it possible to bring together methodologically some of the sectors of the two fields. The outcome of the experiments in both text criticism and text attribution has been encouraging. In the former, the tests performed on three different traditions have provided results very similar to those obtained by traditional methods requiring a great amount of time. The experiments carried out both on 13th century Italian poets and schools have shown that it is possible to draw texts closer to one another. Furthermore, the method we have used makes it possible to attribute anonymous writings.
Artificial adaptive systems for philological analysis: the Pessoa case
Abstract
Fernando Pessoa represents an extreme case in the context of contemporary author’s philology. The breadth of his legacy, the large number of unpublished works at his death, the disorganisation and incompleteness of his materials and the entropy caused by the early processes of inventory produced an archive, now largely in the possession of the Portuguese National Library, partially refractory to the application of traditional text-criticism methods. This paper will demonstrate, through some application examples, that a careful study of material aspects concerning the originals of the Pessoa archive, made through the use of Artificial Adaptive Systems, will shed new light on the complex and multi-layered writing system created by Pessoa and identify new genetic relationships among his works, useful for the construction of an overall mapping of his literary output.
Analysis on the cuneiform texts of Ebla. An exploratory point of view
Abstract
A sample of administrative texts from the Early Syrian state archives of Ebla were coded and processed through the model known as Auto-Contractive Map (Auto-CM). The results of this study led us to focus on some basic issues related to the structure of the Eblaite administrative records which deal with transactions of textiles. This first step is oriented toward the development of a methodology which would allow us to outline some concrete proposals for reconstructing the content of badly preserved tablets.
Kohonen self-organizing Maps to unravel patterns of dental morphology in space and time
Franz Manni, Alfredo Coppa, Francesca Candilio
Abstract
The paper illustrates how the application of a specific version of Artificial Neural Networks, Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs), enabled a more accurate analysis of human dental morphology. SOMs enable the processing of individual samples (dentitions) because they can cope with missing data. In fact, in archaeological samples of human remains, teeth are often broken or missing making a complete set of morphological traits often impossible to achieve. Other classification methods like Principal Component Analysis, Multidimensional Scaling, Mean Measure of Divergence, Multiple Correspondence Analysis do not handle missing descriptors and incomplete data matrices have to be filled in, thus leading to a certain approximation in the outcome with a lack of geographical or temporal resolution, as many incomplete samples have to be merged into a virtual one that does not present missing descriptors. Our discussion about the proficiency of SOMs, and ANNs in general, in the exploration and classification of anthropological databases concerning morphology is based on a specific case study, that is the classification of a Neanderthal sample. Through this example we would like to attract the attention of anthropologists and archaeologists to a very flexible methodology that is seldom applied, despite being widely used in many other disciplines.
Investigating Mesopotamian cylinder seals iconography by using artificial neural networks. The Isin-Larsa period
Abstract
The analysis of a corpus of seals belonging to the period of Isin and Larsa, carried out through the use of the Artificial Neural Network Auto-Contractive Maps, allows us to understand the complexity of the relationship of the different elements of the visual domain and its variety. The point of view adopted here is that of reading the iconology and iconography of the so-called presentation scene by offering an interpretation that goes beyond the concept of standardised and homogeneous production without any special innovative connotations.
Investigating Greek painted iconology by using artificial neural networks. Maenads and satyrs on athenian red-figure pottery
Juliette Wayenberg, Massimiliano Capriotti
Abstract
This study aims at exploring both the identity of the maenads and their multiple interactions with the satyrs on Athenian red-figure vases by presenting the preliminary results of an ANN-based analysis applied to a dataset of 114 vases representing 478 figures (maenads and satyrs). The encouraging results seem to confirm the highly significant role of ANN-based methodologies as innovative tools for the organisation, visualisation and analysis of complex data in History of Art and Archaeology. Further explorations of these methodologies, associated with higher levels of data formalisation, should open new perspectives for the research on Athenian iconography and iconology.
Jean-Claude Gardin (Parigi 1925-2013). Dalla meccanografica all'informatica archeologica
Abstract
The article attempts to retrace some of the early years of the scientific activity of Jean-Claude Gardin, throughout a particularly fertile period of about five years that certainly affected all of his subsequent scientific endeavours. Starting in the mid 1950s, Gardin carefully followed the international evolution of documentation systems and tirelessly promoted the innovative methods of investigation that will eventually make him one of the undisputed pioneers of archaeological computing. At the same time, he founded and led highly specialised laboratories that have acted as a breeding ground for the formalisation of archaeological research associated with the process of data representation and classification, as well as the construction of scientific knowledge.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, 24, 7-24; doi: 10.19282/ac.24.2013.01
An R script to facilitate Correspondence Analysis. A guide to the use and the interpretation of results from an archaeological perspective
Abstract
Over the years Correspondence Analysis has become a valuable tool for archaeologists because it enables them to explore patterns of associations in large contingency tables. While commercial statistical programs provide the facility to perform Correspondence Analysis, a number of packages are available for the free R statistical environment. Nonetheless, its command-line structure may be intimidating for users and prevent them from considering the technique. This article describes an R script, written by the author, which aims to free the R user from manually entering long pieces of code. By discussing two worked examples, it shows how the script can provide the user with a body of graphical and textual outputs relevant to the interpretation of data structure. It is hoped that the script will allow the user to concentrate more on the analysis results rather than the syntax of the R environment.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, 24, 25-53; doi: 10.19282/ac.24.2013.02
SimulPast: un laboratorio virtual para el análisis de las dinámicas históricas
Jorge Caro Saiz, Débora Zurro, Bernardo Rondelli, Andrea Balbo, Xavier Rubio Campillo, Joan A. Barceló, Ivan Briz i Godino, Joaquim Fort, Marco Madella
Abstract
The use of Computer Simulation for the study of Physics or Biology has its roots in the 1940s. The Social Sciences and Humanities have recently become aware of the heuristic potential computational models have for the study of social dynamics, generating the new field of Social Simulation. Specifically, from the first applications of Computer Simulation to Archaeology, their complementary nature has been proved. Computer Simulation provides an ideal context as a virtual laboratory in which to experiment with dynamic processes and Archaeology provides the possibility of generating information about past social processes, both short and long-term. However, we need to make a profound epistemological and methodological reflection about the nature of this tool and the implications of using it in Archaeology. On this basis, SimulPast aims to develop a theoretical and methodological research platform, which is both innovative and trans-disciplinary. The Project aspires to improve the study of historical, social and ecological dynamics of human societies as well as to stimulate the debate on the scientific research process at large.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, 24, 265-281; doi: 10.19282/ac.24.2013.13
ARCHEOSEMA. Sistemi artificiali adattivi per un'archeologia analitica e cognitiva dei fenomeni complessi
Abstract
ARCHEOSEMA is the name of a metadisciplinary theoretical, analytical and experi¬mental research project which has recently been awarded a grant by the Sapienza University of Rome. The purpose of the research is to create a logical model based on the interaction between Geographical Information Systems and Artificial Adaptive Systems. The model is conceived as an epistemological and methodological instrument: epistemological because it requires an interdisciplinary dialogue that involves archaeology, physics, geography, linguistics and statistics, and methodological because it is intended to analyze solutions for problems of classification, seriation and organization of alpha-numerical data; to implement the dynamic simulation of the variables which compose organic and/or cultural systems; to identify new rules for spatial, economic and political organization and, moreover, to analyze physical, aes¬thetic and linguistic phenomena of the self-organization, entropy, learning and translation. This epistemological and methodological instrument which is technically programmed like a GIS combines the most advanced instruments of physics, mathematics, algebra and geometry and the first simulations made on three different databases (territorial, aesthetic, and linguistics), already show a series of preliminary results that open new possibilities for territorial archeology, cognitive archeology and computational linguistics.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, 24, 283-303; doi: 10.19282/ac.24.2013.14
ArcheOS 4.0 Caesar: novità e aspetti della distribuzione GNU-Linux dedicata all’archeologia
Alessandro Bezzi, Luca Bezzi, Fabrizio Furnari, Denis Francisci
Abstract
This article illustrates the fourth release of ArcheOS, the first GNU-Linux distribution developed for archaeological aims and released under GPL. Since the first version in 2005, this free operating system has attempted to satisfy all the needs of an archaeological project, covering every single step of the operating workflow, from data collection and storage to elaboration, publication and sharing. The main target of the project is to spread the use of Free and Open Source software and to apply the ideology of the Free Software movement to archaeology itself (a central postulation of the Free Software Foundation is the free circulation of data and ideas). The new release Caesar, based on Debian Squeeze 6.0, has some important changes in the organization of the structure of the entire project. In fact, the developer team focused more on the stability of the operating system and an on-line service to keep the different programs (APT deb-repository) up to date. Caesar ensures a better hardware integration and a more accurate selection of software. The research of new technological solutions is one of the most important aspects of the project, which, from this aspect, is strongly connected with innovation in archaeological methodology.
Relating archaeological chaîne opératoire and process mining in computer science
Ann Brysbaert, Laura Bocchi, Emilio Tuosto
Abstract
This paper investigates the potential for close methodological synergies between chaîne opératoire and cross-craft interaction, on the one hand, and an alternative use of the so-called process mining in Business Process Modelling, on the other. We use process mining and chaîne opératoire as an initial ground to bring archaeology and computer science closer. We suggest new theoretical models and methodological approaches fostering cross-fertilization between archaeology and computer sciences. The present paper gives an account of cross-cutting research inspired by these methodological approaches and we investigate our common methodologies and test them in case studies based on pottery making. Methodologically, we propose to adopt a formal approach inspired by the computer science notions of workflow and process mining. In fact, such notions have to be extended in order to model the complex chaîne opératoire envisaged by Brysbaert. As shown theoretically, this can be achieved by means of suitable ontologies. Consequently we have re-elaborated specific logs and shown that new notations for archaeological processes and algorithms are needed. In conclusion, we offer a list of requirements for an ontology of (workflows for) chaînes opératoires.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2012, 23, 165-186; doi: 10.19282/ac.23.2012.10
Introduzione
Abstract
Introduction to the Proceedings.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2012, 23, 211-212; doi: 10.19282/ac.23.2012.12
L'approche par les processus en archéologie
Abstract
The introduction of the concept of the Archaeological Information System (AIS) made it possible to propose the existence of an integrated generic applicative architecture, computerizing the functions of archaeological practice (Djindjian 1993). It also allowed us to rationalize the software architecture of the AIS, by limiting the amount of useful software for the archaeologists and by simplifying the interfaces between products. The following step, proposed here, is urbanizing the AIS, by defining precisely all the business processes of archaeological research and management, defining an organization of an archaeological professionalization and a more rational and interchanging realization of the AIS applicative and software architecture. Business processes are not the only processes encountered in archaeology. There are also: the processes of the archaeological method, which allow us to control the links between the recorded archaeological data and the target data of the society to be reconstituted; the systemic processes which are running the operations of the societies which the archaeologist is trying to reconstitute: technical systems, economical systems, culture change, etc. The progressive development of the process approach, will constitute a significant evolution in archaeology, not only for the archaeologist business and archaeological methods, but also for the systemic reconstitution capabilities of past societies.
Prise en compte de l’imperfection des connaissances depuis la saisie des données jusqu’à la restitution 3D
Eric Desjardin, Olivier Nocent, Cyril de Runz
Abstract
By questioning the past, archaeological information is naturally prone to imperfection. Through a series of examples, we will briefly present its various aspects (inaccuracy, uncertainty, vagueness, conflict, lack) which can apply to time, space and function. The first stage consists in the identification, characterization and recording of imperfection in the archaeological information system. At the second stage, the question arises of how the imperfection of knowledge in archaeological hypotheses should be taken into account in terms of analysis, production and restitution. In the SIGRem project, we have chosen to resort to the Fuzzy sets theory. At a final stage, although the promotion through the media of results can nowadays be carried out by a 3D modeling, realistic reconstruct being very often confusingly perceived as truth, we tend to lose the richness of confidence levels we have in our knowledge. Therefore, we will also describe how visual paradigms can be used to enable dynamic perception of uncertainty in dedicated 3D virtual environments.
From plan to volume: the need for archaeological analysis in 3D modeling
Jean-Claude Margueron, Jean-Olivier Gransard-Desmond
Abstract
Prior to 3D modelling, the volume of the remains of monuments was represented in two dimensions by means of drawings. The problem of analysing archaeological documents had already arisen with significant consequences on the final result, in particular when only the foundations of the structure had been found. Instead of an argued reconstruction, the reconstruction was an elevated projection of the plan drawn up by the excavator, the superstructure thus being merely a product of his imagination. Since then, the use of information technology has not changed the situation at all: the final document still lacks scientific value; the superstructure is still a product of the imagination. However, the authors point out, it could be obtained scientifically for any remains using the convergence of multiple indicators pointing in the same direction and towards the same conclusion.
Remote Sensing applications in archaeology
Pietro Orlando, Benedetto Villa
Abstract
In recent years Remote Sensing applications in archaeology have become increasingly frequent. This plurality of applications depends mostly on the rising interest of the scientific community in modern methods for surveying geographic data, which have become increasingly powerful, automatic and reliable. Remote Sensing, with its various techniques, offers the rapid acquisition of a huge quantity of metric and qualitative data in order to describe or to identify archaeological sites. For an appropriate and widespread use of these data, it is still necessary to have recourse to GIS techniques; as a matter of fact, only the combined use of both methodologies provides a full exploitation of their potential for an in-depth understanding and an effective utilization of data related to an archaeological site. The authors illustrate some case studies concerning use of remote sensed data for cartographic applications and detection of possible buried archaeological structures.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2011, 22, 147-168; doi: 10.19282/ac.22.2011.07
GIS applications in archaeology
Andrea Scianna, Benedetto Villa
Abstract
The diffusion of the use of Geographical Information Systems in archaeology has considerably increased in recent years. This multiplicity of applications is due mainly to the growing interest of archaeologists in modern methodologies for the management of archaeological data, surveyed by topographic, photogrammetric and remote sensing techniques. GIS have become a fundamental tool for managing, sharing, analyzing and visualizing spatially referenced data and they are completely substituting the traditional techniques used by archaeologists, based upon filling out forms, graphics and other paper documents. Besides in the modern global society, dominated by mass media such as Internet, the issue of utilization has become more and more important, and most of the more recent GIS applications (Multimedia GIS, WebGIS) take this aspect into consideration.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2011, 22, 337-363; doi: 10.19282/ac.22.2011.16
Quantifier les processus archéologiques
Abstract
Since 1950, in the history of Quantitative Archaeology, the data approach has been the essence of the mathematical and statistical applications in Archaeology. In the present paper, it is proposed to focus on the process approach and to point out new fields of mathematical applications in Archaeology. Several archaeological processes are shown, for example, archaeological business process, stratigraphy process, post-depositional process, taphonomic process, technological (manufacturing) process, building process, intersite spatial process (landscape archaeology), exchange process, cultural change process. The list is not exhaustive and has only the purpose of illustrating the interest of such an approach. Several examples of applications are given, which show the differences between the data approach and the process approach. The mathematical techniques, which are used, are mainly the description and the quantification of the processes, elementary statistics, data analysis, stochastic models and the simulation by multi-agent systems.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2010, 21, 233-247; doi: 10.19282/ac.21.2010.13
Fit for purpose? Archaeological data in the 21st century
Abstract
Archaeology continues to generate large amounts of data, in a growing range of formats and media. Old datasets have been or are being digitised, and there is increasing emphasis on the re-use of old datasets, and on preparing new datasets with re-use in mind. That being so, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the prevention and detection of errors in archaeological data, and in acquiring or developing robust methods of analysis. The sorts of errors that can be encountered in different types of data are approached and discussed through a series of case studies, dealing with counting errors, measurement errors, and classificatory errors. They are linked to another obstacle to the re-use of data: the lack of standardised terminology between different originators. Strategies for mitigating these problems (which cannot be totally overcome) are discussed.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2010, 21, 249-260; doi: 10.19282/ac.21.2010.14
Gli anni ’70 e la Scuola Normale
Abstract
The author focuses on the role played by the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa during the 1970s and 1980s in the development of computer applications in archaeology and art history. The roots of this activity can be traced to the post-war period in the 1950s; these were years full of constructive optimism which, during the 1960s led to the design and construction of the CEP (Calcolatrice Elettronica Pisana), to the first academic Degree in Computer Science at the University of Pisa, and to the creation of CNUCE (Centro Nazionale Universitario di Calcolo Elettronico). This latter was founded in order to coordinate the various scientific and educational activities and support computer-based research also in marginal and newly established fields. Several important initiatives resulted from the cooperation with the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione, directed by Oreste Ferrari. Computer Science was introduced at the Scuola Normale Superiore as an approach to the problems related to the automatic processing of archaeological and art history data and documents, thanks to Paola Barocchi and the creation of the Centro di Elaborazione Automatica di Dati e Documenti Storico Artistici, which established important international relationships with the Paul Getty Foundation, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti, the Warburg Institute, etc.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 11-15; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.02
Informatica archeologica e non archeologica
Abstract
What is the use of reflecting on the history of Digital Archaeology? Dividing the history of Digital Humanities in general into four stages, Digital Archaeology was born in the stage of “pioneers’ applications” (1960-70), and for some time it developed both in practice and in theory. The theory seemed especially interesting also for non digital Archaeology, but around 1990 technology suffocated the more complicated and difficult theoretical approach. The opportunity to go back to this approach is demonstrated in three special cases: the creation of databases, the encoding procedures, and the relations between archaeology and information science.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 17-26; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.03
From anarchy to good practice: the evolution of standards in archaeological computing
Abstract
This paper reviews the importance of standards in archaeological computing and traces their development, and the tensions surrounding their deployment. Three categories of standards are defined: technical, content and metadata standards. Standards are shown to be particularly important to current initiatives which seek to achieve interoperability between distributed electronic resources. If we are to achieve the potential advantages of a Semantic Web for heritage data over traditional search engine technologies, standards are essential. The paper introduces the Archaeotools project, which is seeking to create a faceted browse interface to archaeological resources. It concludes that data standards and ontologies are essential to the success of such projects.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 27-35; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.04
www.beazley.ox.ac.uk. From apparatus of scholarship to web resource. The Beazley Archive 1970-2008
Abstract
Over nearly four decades the Beazley Archive has developed from a personal archive, whose origins were rooted in 19th century classical scholarship, to a state-of-the-art electronic resource that can be used anywhere, at any time by anyone. The challenges along the way are noted and the ways they were met, in the hope of inspiring others to persevere. The first decade was "organisational", the second saw the adoption of ICT, the third was dominated by participation in EU R and D projects in telecommunications, and the fourth by the Vision of CLAROS - Classical Art Research Online Services. Since this lecture was given in autumn 2008 the CLAROS Vision has become a reality: by August 2009 more than two million records and images were integrated virtually using CIDOC-CRM. By adopting an ISO programme developed under the aegis of UNESCO for ICOM, the International Council of Museums, and by enhancing it with Open Source software, CLAROS offers a platform that any museum or research institute with digital assets can use free of charge for the public benefit. As the Beazley Archive approaches its fifth decade, it looks forward to collaborating for the advancement of scholarship and dissemination of results to the global community.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 37-46; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.05
Esperienze documentali sul territorio dagli anni ’80 ad oggi. Alcune considerazioni
Abstract
In the early 1990s the author brought attention to the fact that the Carta Archeologica d’Italia - due to the entity of the project which involved all of the national territory and the time required for the relative research - was in urgent need of a structural updating, through an effective system of access to the results. These demands were of a nature that only a correct use of computer technologies could guarantee in real operational time. In that period, only a few advanced experimental peaks of topographic research actually included the automatic transition of information from the phase of terrain reading to that of operational planning feasibility. Since then, many scientific projects have been devoted to locating and documenting tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Italy. However, we still have to deal with the problem of adopting common platforms to share information and make use of cartographic systems in a GIS environment, regardless of the symbols being used in the documentation phase as well as in the interpretive phase. The same information can be turned from geographical points into plan details, through an automatic scale conversion and with a scientific perspective available for the requirements of different user environments. The author concludes by remarking on the urgent need of a convergence of competences from specialised sectors. Nevertheless, modern research, while taking advantage of the co-operation of a wide range of experts, should always consider that results coming from different points of observation pertain to the observers’ specific field and should not be "invasive" but respectful of their methods.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 47-59; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.06
The golden years for mathematics and computers in archaeology (1965-1985)
Abstract
A major quantitative movement in all of the Social and Human Sciences known as Operational Research, started after the last world war with the application of mathematics developed for the optimization of war logistics. Since the 1960s, the fascinating progress of computer technology in the field of scientific research has amplified the movement which saw the first applications to Archaeology around 1966. At the time, the success of a Quantitative Archaeology was associated with the revolution in multidimensional data analysis, which occurred with computerisation and improvements in the algorithms, mainly Multidimensional scaling, Factor Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Correspondence Analysis and various Cluster Analyses. The Conference of Mamaia (Romania) in 1970, which may be considered as the first and most spectacular scientific event of this period of foundation, found expression in the book Mathematics and Computers in Archaeology by Doran and Hodson (1975). From 1975 to 1985, the quantitative movement experienced its finest period with the transition from the research field to the application field, both for algorithms and software, and the diffusion of Correspondence Analysis, Principal Component Analysis associated with Cluster Analysis and their use by archaeologists. Numerous papers and books were published during that period. After 1985, the quantitative movement fell into disfavour, probably due to the "deconstruction" paradigm and the passing fashion of expert systems. Nevertheless, it is also possible to state that Quantitative Archaeology had now definitively entered into the standard methods of Archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 61-73; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.07
Archaeological computing then and now: theory and practice, intentions and tensions
Abstract
This paper is a brief and personal historical overview of the development of archaeological computing and its relationship with changing archaeological theory. I outline the changes in theoretical approaches through the 1960s to 1980s and how these relate to archaeological data, methodologies, the use of models and interpretation. Two sub-themes within the paper are the importance of scale and the representation of qualitative, as well as quantitative, data and interpretations. Through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in archaeology, I discuss various aspects of recent theoretical approaches and how they have been represented through archaeological computing. Because this is not an easy relationship, I suggest that the intentions of an analysis will inevitably produce tensions between practice and theory. It is by confronting these tensions that the discipline of archaeological computing will move forward beyond technologically determined push-button solutions.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 75-84; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.08
Strumenti "tradizionali" e nuove tecnologie per la comunicazione in archeologia
Abstract
This paper illustrates the main research projects implemented by the LIA (Laboratory of Archaeological Computing) at the University of Salento (Lecce, Italy) in the field of computer application to archaeology. This activity started in 1983 with the first excavation data management system. Further developments are linked with the use of GIS in the field of settlement studies and, more recently, with the implementation of two web-based applications, which represent the on-line versions of the older systems. The paper also presents the results of a research project, LandLab Project, in the field of multimedia communication.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 85-94; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.09
The birth and historical development of computational intelligence applications in archaeology
Abstract
Twenty years after the consolidation of a true professional archaeology in search of a "scientific" dream, mathematics and computers made their appearance in the discipline. In the same way, the first essays dealing with "automatic archaeology" appeared in the 1950s, looking for standardization of archaeological description and statistical reasoning, but we had to wait for another 30 years until the appropriate technology was available. At the end of the 1970s and beginning of the 1980s, Expert Systems were considered as a true promise towards the independence of archaeological reasoning from subjectivity. Nevertheless, the rise of postmodernism and the radical critique, with its emphasis on subjectivity and situational context of the research effort generated considerable turmoil that, in appearance, buried the dream of an automatic archaeology. Research efforts in these domains of computational intelligence continued, however, especially in the domains of remote sensing and archaeometry. Modern technological developments like 3D scanning are responsible for a revival of interest in computational intelligence methods. Today, we are still far from the early dream of an automatic archaeology, but it is no longer a "nightmare". It is a technological reality that will contribute to a more professional and scientific-based archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 95-109; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.10
Representing knowledge in archaeology: from cataloguing cards to Semantic Web
Abstract
Knowledge has been the driving force behind the Italian National Catalogue of Cultural Heritage. In the first stage, when the catalogue was mainly based on hand written paper cards describing objects regardless of their complexity, and intended for manual access by humans, the expert’s tacit knowledge remained unexpressed, and the card had a simple structure. Computer based applications initially relied on the features of Information Retrieval Systems, and simply converted typewritten cards into electronic documents. As results were quite disappointing, it became evident that a more formal representation of information was needed. The Italian experience led to the definition of a model for objects (simple, complex, aggregation of objects) with quite a large number of fields. Even if the schema was often perceived as too rigid, it proved to be effective for data exchange, and long lasting (the present XML model is almost the same, just with a different syntax). However, its main drawback was the "object centred" approach, and the impossibility of representing significant semantic associations with other disciplines. In this sense, a major objective, the contextualization of objects, remained unattained. The web has been a "cultural revolution", because information is available everywhere, and users feel the need to combine different sources of knowledge. This semantic interoperability issue is often dealt with by adopting a metadata based approach (Dublin Core is the most popular). However, the metadata approach has the intrinsic limit that metadata are properties we "predicate" about items they refer to, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to derive new knowledge from the old. The Semantic Web perspective is much more ambitious, as the aim is to represent, export and share knowledge in a "machine understandable" way, and to allow intelligent agents to reason about it. In this light, scholars’ knowledge must be formalized and made explicit as ontology, and very probably we will have to agree on a different model to represent objects, in a distributed and multicultural environment. This is not the end of the traditional scholars’ knowledge, but a more effective environment for making this knowledge available to all users.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 111-128; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.11
Museo Virtuale dell’Informatica: un esempio emblematico
Abstract
The Virtual Museum of the History of Italian Computer Science is a project which was started in 1996 and, due to lack of funding, was never completed (and therefore is not available to the general public). The project, which presented a complete and, for that time, innovative "design", was carried out by the Politecnico di Milano and two CNR Institutes (now unified in the ISTI - Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell’Informazione "A. Faedo"). It includes an archive, where all basic information is stored, and two different interfaces: a direct search access to the archive, for specialised and expert users, and a navigation access via web, for extended public users. Information available includes documents and photographs, biographies, descriptions of achievements and innovations, etc. One special characteristic is the use of interviews to key persons, that recreates the heroic, pioneering atmosphere, typical of Computer Science in the 1950s. This use of first person narration as reported by the protagonists can be considered a precursor of solutions that became very common many years later (e.g. Web 2.0) and could be a model for archaeology in general.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 129-144; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.12
"Archeologia e Calcolatori": le ragioni di una scelta
Abstract
As Editor of the international Journal "Archeologia e Calcolatori", the author retraces the history of this editorial enterprise, which was established in 1989 by Mauro Cristofani and Riccardo Francovich. The Journal, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is devoted to archaeological computing, a research sector characterised by the combining of information technologies with traditional archaeological methods. The path followed in the formulation of the editorial plan and its scientific coordination is reconstructed through various main stages: the reasons for the choice of the Journal’s title, its field of application and chronological range; the description of the contemporary international panorama, still characterised by isolated initiatives; the members of the international Scientific Committee, all representatives of the major Italian and foreign institutions; the scientific contents, with particular emphasis on the publication of special thematic issues and international conference proceedings; the archaeological computing bibliography, an information tool as well as a practical approach to systematising this young discipline. The present-day editorial policy of "Archeologia e Calcolatori" is dedicated to increasing the visibility and on-line diffusion of the Journal, and in this way furthering its original purpose: acquiring sources of information, as well as providing them.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 145-154; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.13
Provando e riprovando: un quarto di secolo di applicazioni
Abstract
In the first part, the paper introduces the section that collects historical syntheses of some of the most relevant issues related to technological applications in archaeology. Databases, GIS, multimedia applications, cataloguing activities of archaeological heritage, museums, and the Internet are the fields chosen to illustrate more than 25 years of research, projects, realizations. The paper stresses common criticisms and recurrent difficulties in these sectors of research, but also important results and achievements for archaeology on the whole. In the second part, the paper briefly discusses the relationship between the Internet and archaeology. Web applications in archaeology started in the early 1990s. Initially, archaeologists were very suspicious of web reliability: the Internet was a useful tool for popularization purposes, not for scientific research. The paper discusses reasons for the failure of some archaeological applications - for example electronic publishing and limited area search engine - and success of others: museum web sites above all, with their effective use of visual and interactive web technologies. Nowadays the Internet is an almost unavoidable tool for every type of archaeological research and it seems to have become the comprehensive frame in which all other technological applications are expressed. Internet technologies could introduce a new communication structure in archaeological research with the use of interactivity and hypermedia. The last challenges in ICT are the so called Web 2.0, social computing and a radically innovative vision of hypertext structure: these research fields could change the way of archaeological culture communication and knowledge transmission.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 155-168; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.14
Punto di non-ritorno (Cartografia numerica, Sistemi Informativi Territoriali, Analisi spaziali)
Abstract
Around the mid 1980s, the Italian sector - at the time very limited - of the archaeological sciences interested in geo-topographical problems responded eagerly to the practical and theoretical solutions offered by computer science and by advanced technologies, and became one of the most developed sectors in the European panorama in this particular subject. Twenty years later, we can observe, on one hand, the notable success of this type of applications that has, among other things, contributed to drive towards territorial studies many sectors of Italian research that had not previously been interested in it; and, on the other hand, the extreme fragmentation of the initiatives, that remains an unsolved problem for future developments. Within a single decade in fact we lost those guidelines that would have been able to transform some high but still distant peaks of quality, into a systematically coordinated approach, and, especially, in a common cognitive base, which was perhaps primitive but for this reason, "basic", not only for the development of research, but also for a diffused and shared means of safeguarding our archaeological heritage.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 169-177; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.15
La catalogazione informatica del patrimonio archeologico
Abstract
The article presents a brief description of the principal institutions which, during the 1970s and 1980s, were in charge of the computer cataloguing of their respective national cultural heritages, with specific emphasis on archaeological heritage. Particular attention is dedicated to the Italian experience, with some reference to the situation in England and in France during the same period. The 1970s and 1980s are, in fact, two particularly remarkable decades, in which centralised national projects followed the first isolated experimentations, and developed tools, such as lexicons and thesauri, as well as techniques for indexing and information retrieval. The article focuses in particular on the activity conducted in Italy by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione (ICCD), as well as that of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. As far as England is concerned, the author describes the pioneer research work of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), founded in 1908, and, more recently, that of the Archaeology Data Service (ADS); for France, the author focuses on the work conducted since 1964 by the Inventaire général des monuments et richesses artistiques de la France.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 179-187; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.16
1984-2009. Da Te.m.p.l.a. al Centro di Ricerca per le Tecnologie Multimediali Applicate all’Archeologia. Un caso di studio nella storia delle applicazioni multimediali in archeologia
Abstract
By means of the NADIR network, designed by the Research Centre for Multimedia Technologies Applied to Archaeology (Te.m.p.l.a.), the Department of Archaeology of the University of Bologna organises, controls and develops the use of multimedia technologies in archaeological activities. The reach of NADIR covers a broad spectrum of activities that ranges from the management of the net and the working seats, to the organisation of the equipment logistics, to the realisation of special operational workspace and services (e.g., Unibook.it) and the experimental projects for the remote-control of workspaces and multimedia exhibition halls (e.g., the Multimedia and Multifunctional Museum of Onferno).
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 189-204; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.17
From artefact typologies to cultural heritage ontologies: or, an account of the lasting impact of archaeological computing
Abstract
Research in theoretical and computer-based archaeology, from the 1950s onwards, established important perspectives for the formal representation and analysis of tangible cultural entities such as complex artefacts, iconographic compositions and archaeological assemblages, and became a precursor for the emergence of knowledge-based tools, methodologies and standards for artefact-centred information systems in contemporary museums. One particular case in point is CLIO, a semantic information system intended for research use, developed by ICS/FORTH and the Benaki Museum in Greece in the early 1990s, which became a foundation for the definition of the Conceptual Reference Model of the International Documentation Committee of ICOM (CIDOC CRM), recently adopted as the ISO standard for cultural information representation. It is argued here that, as the capabilities of computer applications to provide access to complex, multimedia cultural information increase, so does also the validity and importance of earlier research advances in artefact-centred archaeological computing; and, conversely, that the advent of digital infrastructures for material culture disciplines such as archaeology highlights the pertinence, and potential benefits, of further work on archaeological formal analysis and knowledge representation.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 205-222; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.18
Man and sky: problems and methods of Archaeoastronomy
Andrea Polcaro, Vito Francesco Polcaro
Abstract
Archaeoastronomy is a discipline devoted to the study of the astronomical observations preceding the invention of the telescope. It is an interdisciplinary science, requiring the knowledge of astronomers, archaeologists, linguists, anthropologists and architects. It has highlighted the great importance that ancient civilizations attributed to celestial phenomena and demonstrated how the analysis of the testimonies of this interest can greatly help us in the understanding the past history of mankind. However, we must avoid the mistake of believing that it is possible to study the impact of celestial phenomena on ancient cultures without taking into account their context: unfortunately, this error is still common to date. This paper illustrates the evolution of Archaeoastronomy since the beginning of the 20th century, its basic principles and the modern methodologies for Archaeoastronomy measurements and data analysis. Moreover, the proofs needed to claim the actual intentionality of an astronomical alignment are discussed, showing the potential of Archaeoastronomy, as long as it is strongly linked to, and continuously compared with, excavation data, and combined with Archaeology in various cultural contexts, thus providing valuable assistance in the interpretation of material data.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 223-245; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.19
Digitization as a science
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to give answers to the following questions: can digitization be comprehended as a kind of scientific research? What is the possible object of scientific research on digitization? Can the science of digitization have a particular terminology and methods? The paper focuses also on the discussion about the object of digitization research which may be called emulativity, i.e. a specific phenomenon induced by digital technologies, the virtual world and the Internet which may be studied in many senses including personality psychology. Possible trends of scientific research on digitization, interdisciplinarity, terminology and methods of the science of digitization are also discussed, from the perspective of digitization as a science. In many countries digitization is basically perceived as just a practical field of activity and performed according to this perception. We suggest that a broader approach would be more suitable by investigating the scientific character of digitization, aimed at the empirical and experimental fixing of objective phenomenon of reality that could be investigated by the new science.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 247-259; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.20
Open Source in archeologia: ArcheoFOSS
Abstract
Introduction to the Supplement 2, 2009.
Il progetto IOSA cinque anni dopo: cambiamenti di prospettiva e indirizzi per il futuro
Silvana Costa, Giovanni Luca A. Pesce, Luca Bianconi
Abstract
Our paper describes the IOSA project experiment with the development of free software and documentation. The aim is to show that a “share early” policy for both knowledge and tools is an effective way to enhance the overall quality of archaeological research.
Open digital archives in archeologia. Good practice
Abstract
Raw data, the archaeological source code, that is, all the excavation and fieldwork recorded, should be published on digital on-line archives stored in recognizable format documents. This paper contributes to the discussion with the description of a project dedicated to the creation of an urban GIS about medieval Pisa.
Scanner 3D con hardware low cost e strumenti free/open source
Marco Callieri, Massimiliano Corsini, Guido Ranzuglia, Paolo Cignoni
Abstract
3D scanning technologies offer a lot of interesting possibilities for uses related to Cultural Heritage. Unfortunately, most of the current 3D scanning solutions are very costly and require a significant investment, both in terms of software and hardware. In this paper we discuss how to perform 3D scanning for the acquisition of Cultural Heritage objects using only low cost hardware and open source or free software tools.
Archeologia e Open Source, il prossimo passo: costruire e sviluppare progetti hardware
Alessandro Bezzi, Luca Bezzi, Rupert Gieti
Abstract
After years spent in developing FLOSS we have reached a high quality level in computational archaeology, and therefore, in 2008 we focused our research on OS hardware projects to develop our data acquisition methodology. In this article we present our experiments in building a drone for aerial documentation..
Staying still and moving on. Un GIS interattivo per il calcolo e la visualizzazione scientifica di rotte e percorsi nel Mediterraneo antico
Sabatino Laurenza, Simona Mancuso, Andrea Costantino
Abstract
The system uses GIS technology and the Dijkstra algorithm in order to calculate ancient maritime routes. Applied to the routes used by ancient Greek colonies, it gave results which corresponded almost entirely to ancient written sources. This kind of system will open the road to new research and investigation methods, aimed at the study and understanding of the development of urban centers and trade systems in ancient times.
Il sistema IIPImage: un nuovo concetto di esplorazione di immagini ad alta risoluzione
Abstract
Many pioneering imaging techniques have been used at the C2RMF in order to acquire artworks in digital form. These techniques are considered non-destructive and non-invasive analyses and they offer extensive and detailed information about works of art and include multispectral imaging, panoramic acquisition of objects, 3D laser scanning of painted surfaces, photogrammetry and 3D modeling. These techniques are widely used in the restoration and conservation world and are considered valuable tools that allow us to perform regular and accurate monitoring of works of art, in order to measure their state of conservation and compare them with previous analyses. Unfortunately, the level of accuracy in acquiring information produces huge quantities of data, which need to be visualized and disseminated in several different ways. The resulting images must also be accessible to various partners around the world via the Internet, but the data needs to be protected and, because of the vast quantity involved, requires careful handling and management. This paper describes several new developments that have been made at the C2RMF in order to make extremely high-resolution images available on-line using the IIP protocol. In this paper we are presenting a case study based on the use, the manipulation and the sharing of high-resolution colorimetric images among members of the museum research community. The resulting system is a lightweight client-server architecture that efficiently streams image data to the client, allowing the user to quickly view very large images even over a slow Internet connection. These developments have been released as open source software in the IIPImage project.
Un sistema web-based per la gestione, la classificazione ed il recupero efficiente della documentazione di scavo
Giuliano De Felice, Maria Giuseppina Sibilano, Giuliano Volpe, Eugenio Di Sciascio, Roberto Mirizzi, Giacomo Piscitelli, Eufemia Tinelli, Michelantonio Trizio
Abstract
The use of databases in archaeology is based mainly on the need for a kind of data storage that can both optimize techniques and times for the management of excavation documentation and allow integrated access to all the information collected. In this paper we have described the modelling and development of a web-based system allowing cataloguing, storage and retrieval of different information types. Specifically the system employs PostgreSQL 8.1 as open source Database Management System (DBMS) for repository deploying and managing and Web 2.0 technologies (AJAX, XHTML, etc.) for development of a graphical interface strongly oriented to improve effective user/system interaction.
Cloud Manager v1.0: un’applicazione open source per la gestione delle nuvole di punti
Abstract
Cloud Manager v1.0 is a web ASP application for basic manipulation of point clouds with or without RGB information embedded. It is intended as an easy tool for editing and attaching different point clouds to obtain a final unified 3D model through a reversible step by step semi-automatic process. Editing steps are manual, whereas attachment is semi-automatic.
Riccardo Francovich (1946-2007)
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2007, 18, 7-12; doi: 10.19282/ac.18.2007.01
Metodologia per la valutazione dell’impatto archeologico
Giovanni Campeol, Claudia Pizzinato
Abstract
This paper discusses the application of environment evaluation models, with regards to the Archaeological Component, in consideration of the rules in force for the protection and conservation of the archaeological heritage. The protection both of Cultural Heritage and of planning of infrastructures must follow the principles of «sustainable development». In the first part of the paper, the authors acknowledge the value of environmental and archaeological impact studies on the territory. These studies, which must be conducted in a preliminary phase, make it possible to acquire a more profound knowledge not only of places subject to archaeological risk, but also of the historical and environmental reconstruction that may be useful for carrying out a project. The second part of the essay tackles the methodological problem for the archaeological impact evaluation of a site; this can be developed with the following aims: a) to single out the historical periods of a territory, relevant from the archaeological point of view; b) to define the sensibility of a historical period; c) to define the level of risk. For the evaluation it is necessary to define a qualitative hierarchy of the different sensibility levels that the archaeological object can have. This hierarchy is based on the identification of the right pointers and relevant principles of interpretation. The last part of the paper is a synthesis of an applied study case, described after the explanation of the methodology of the archaeological impact evaluation. In this study case the “quali-quantitative” evaluation techniques are adopted.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2007, 18, 273-292; doi: 10.19282/ac.18.2007.14
Open source in archeologia. Nuove prospettive per la ricerca
Abstract
How can an approach that at first seemed looking like a confused bazaar, from which just a miracle could let come out a stable and coherent system, work? If open source is demonstrating its success in the IT sector, can this approach be successfully applied also to the Cultural Heritage field? Integration, interdisciplinarity, participation, data sharing are key words of an open project, together with web use. In fact the use of the Internet will increasingly become not only a medium to communicate, often marginally, final results, but a real working tool. The paper will analyze a possible use of open source in archaeology, describing pro and contra of its use and comparing the characteristics of an open project with those of an archaeological one, underlying similarities and differences. A specific and new type of application will be described: VRwebGIS that will open new perspectives such as the interactive reconstruction of shared 3D web-based archaeological environments.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2006, 17, 137-155; doi: 10.19282/ac.17.2006.09
Organizzare il processo conoscitivo nell’indagine archeologica: riflessioni metodologiche ed esperimenti digitali
Abstract
The excavation conducted since 2002 by the Department of Archaeology of Siena University in the s.c. Byzantine District near the Pythion shrine in Gortyn (Crete) gave the opportunity to develop some methodological reflections about the documentation of the cognitive process performed during archaeological excavations. From this point of view, GIS represents the end-point of an archaeological documentation system that links finds to their physical dimension and spatial position. But GIS appears to be at a hard point when it comes to recording the other side of archaeological information, linked with non-material evidence, functional and non-spatial relationships. This is the kind of information that emerges from the interaction between the clues and finds system and the reading/understanding ability of the team that does the fieldwork. This kind of interaction finds a better form of expression in a “narrative” language (multi-vocal excavation report and video recording). At the same time the opportunity of using a wiki as a platform for a web-based reconstruction of the team’s “mind map” was experimented. With this kind of system every piece of information can find its “place” for archiving, discussing and publishing.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2006, 17, 241-264; doi: 10.19282/ac.17.2006.14
La gestione della conoscenza in archeologia: modelli, linguaggi e strumenti di modellazione concettuale dall'XML al semantic Web
Oreste Signore, Oleg Missikoff, Paola Moscati
Abstract
Despite the fact that an increasing number of researchers in the cultural heritage sector is recognising the advantages that could derive from the use of knowledge management methodologies and tools, a lack of awareness of the basic principles of this discipline is still rather evident. Key concepts like “knowledge representation”, metadata, conceptual modeling, syntactic or semantic interoperability, ontologies, can prove difficult to understand (and even more difficult to apply) for researchers with a background in the humanities. This contribution, therefore, aims at clarifying the theoretical reference framework through the concrete analysis of archaeological materials. In fact, while it seems easier to borrow definitions and theoretical concepts or to artificially create even very complex conceptual models (e.g. the CIDOC CRM, which has recently been recognised as an ISO standard), it is a lot harder to implement such principles onto real world objects analysis. According to this assessment, and to the need of going from theoretical to practical aspects, the paper is structured in three parts: the first offers a theoretical base that makes available, even for non-experts, the tools for addressing more operational aspects; the second describes, through practical examples, both the knowledge representation model and the software tool used for analysing a class of materials, the Etruscan urns, as shown in the third part. The final objective is, therefore, to provide a point of reference for facilitating the approach towards KM (Knowledge Management) and help clarifying the key elements of a discipline that is obtaining a growing success but, so far, still showing a high level of entropy.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2005, 16, 291-319; doi: 10.19282/ac.16.2005.15
Concettualizzazione e contestualizzazione dei beni culturali archeologici
Raffaella Pierobon Benoit, Fiorenza Proto, Aldo Aiello, Salvatore Brandi, Mario Mango Furnari
Abstract
This report describes the observations made while developing a new methodology for historic surveys used for the re-contextualisation of archaeological finds. This particular methodology avails itself of both traditional historic surveys as well as the representation of knowledge through ontology. The methodology described here was developed in reference to specific cases of re-contextualisation of archaeological artefacts from Pompeii which are now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2005, 16, 321-339; doi: 10.19282/ac.16.2005.16
Languages, Communication, Information Technology: an introduction
Abstract
Introduction to the Special Issue.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 11-22; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.01
The Arkeotek project: a European network of knowledge bases in the archaeology of techniques
Jean-Claude Gardin, Valentine Roux
Abstract
Two major features have emerged lately in the communication patterns of archaeological research: (a) an increasing use of the Web as a channel of information transfer, to complement or occasionally replace printed publications; (b) an exploration of new forms of archaeological discourse related to that trend. The Arkeotek project combines the two approaches in a specific domain of archaeological research described as 'the archaeology of techniques' (hence its acronym). The present paper exposes the objectives and status of the European association recently set up under that name (2002), as well as its initial works and plans for the coming years. A comprehensive introduction deals with the origins and guiding principles of the project. The paper ends with a square review of the problems that lie ahead.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 25-40; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.02
Archeologia teorica e informatica archeologica. Un rapporto difficile
Abstract
Theoretical archaeology has known many important contributions in the last 20 years, both inside and outside the general archaeological handbooks. On the contrary, the methodology of computer applications has received less attention, because the formal linguistic character of computer procedures has been scarcely understood. A relevant exception is the fundamental logicist theory of J.-C. Gardin, which was conceived outside computer applications, but soon found its place in their methodology. Two recent books (with CD), publishing the results of such experiments, are discussed
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 41-50; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.03
La publication scientifique en langue naturelle est-elle en archéologie un discours logique? Essai de conception dun langage cognitif daide à la pubblication
Abstract
The project of building a cognitive framework to formalise an archaeological language, proposed here, is oriented, not to computerise any archaeological language, but to offer a tool giving a framework mainly for the formalisation and the validation of an archaeological reasoning, as well as to deliver a readable procedure, which completes the conventional natural language of the archaeological publishing. The cognitive framework is based on a decomposition of the methodological iterative procedure into three levels: 1. Acquisition, 2. Structuring, 3. Modelling, in which a cognitive grammar is defined. A cognitive grammar normally defines statements and predicates. The statements have been classified, among the more frequent archaeological statement types, which are generally, for both real and virtual objects, the results of a correlation of intrinsic and extrinsic archaeological information. The predicates are also classified following the nature of decisions they imply, either general to Human sciences, or specific to Archaeology: identification/differentiations (generalisation of a statement at a n+1 rank), stabilisation/destabilisations (delimiting the validity value of a statement), exploration/renunciation (reduction of the potential ways), paradigmatisation (hypothetical introduction of a rule at an upper level), appropriations/disappropriations (explicit projection of the archaeologist point of view in the reasoning). The cognitive grammar is used at each of the three levels of the previously defined methodological framework. The formalisation of such a cognitive framework is materialised by a set of statement objects and predicate objects, at each three different levels. Each object may be defined as trivial (needing no more formalisation) or may be linked to another similar cognitive structure, at the origins of the decomposition of the construct into a general system of nested cognitive objects. The archaeological construct, for the scientific publishing, may be materialised by a conventional natural language, to which nested formal constructs are annexed, enabling the reader to more easily validate the logic of the reasoning. The paper is illustrated by examples of applications.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 51-61; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.04
Scrivere per il multimediale: alcune riflessioni di un non-specialista, a partire da unesperienza recente
Abstract
This paper moves from an analysis of some characteristics of text-writing for multimedia products and moves to a general reflection on the nature of archaeological communication, in its forms as well as in its contents and final goals. Multimedia products represent a new field of development in archaeological communication, due to the possibility of associating among them various 'vectors of information' (text, images, animations, 3d modelling etc.), to obtain the desired informative effect. From another point of view - maybe more interesting - such a new tool of communication imposes a careful reflection on the methodologies, strategies and procedures related to the acquisition of the archaeological data (Which data? How many data? Recorded with which tools and procedures?). Consequently, the reflection on the archaeological publication on multimedia systems is related to the broader debate on an in-depth revision of the theoretical and methodological approaches to the archaeological job in the field.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 63-79; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.05
Archaeology and the new technological fetishism
Abstract
Almost everything that is written or said about the use of information technology within archaeology relates to hardware and applications and there is a general poverty of (published) material which considers the implications of the application and use of these tools on the way that the discipline of archaeology is practised. Although we are generally comfortable with the idea that technology has changed the way we live our everyday lives, and the ever-increasing pace of that change, for some reason there appears to be a general reluctance to consider that such changes and the pace of these changes may also impact on archaeology. This paper proposes that computer-using archaeologists have for too long ignored a critical area of research: the consequences of the new information and communication technologies we use. Archaeologists point with justifiable pride to the tradition of self-critical analysis of new ideas and methodological changes within the subject. Archaeologists question their data, their methodologies, their theories, their conclusions, the very basis of their subject, yet it appears that archaeology operates within a 'bubble', somehow immune to the consequences of the new technologies that are more and more a part of both the world around us and of archaeology itself. Furthermore, archaeologists are accustomed to theorising about technological changes in the past (ranging from new flint technologies, bronze and iron working, the evolution of the plough, developments in literacy, and so on), and may bring new perspectives to contemporary analysis of the technological world around us.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 81-92; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.06
Linguaggi dichiarativi per la ricerca archeologica
Claudio Barchesi, Letizia Ceccarelli
Abstract
This article presents a detailed overview of the principal languages for the representation, interchange and exploitation of data, both textual and graphical. In particular, a detailed discussion is made of the procedure of text encoding. The approach taken in the article emphasises the importance of the World Wide Web for data dissemination and the fundamental issue of standards: HTML, XML and its derivate languages are analysed in detail. Importance has been given to the languages that represent not only the characters that textual sources contain but also the structure, content and appearance of the data. Two types of markup languages are presented: procedural and descriptive. A procedural markup specifies how the document should be presented. Descriptive (or logical) markup languages describe the structure of a document, such as SGML. The article considers the topics of international standards as the TEI Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange for the description of marked-up electronic texts and the RDF metadata recommendation. The first section concludes with a presentation of the innovative aspects of the Semantic Web. The second part focuses on spatial, graphical and multimedia data, and their display and exchange over the Web. The development of the Geography Markup Language (GML) is introduced and discussed, as well as other vector formats derived by XML, such as SVG, to construct structured spatial and non-spatial information for data sharing over the Web. Importance has also been given to the virtual reality languages such as VRML, an ISO standard, and the XML-based X3D. In conclusion the article aims to present a broad view not only of the technical aspects of data encoding but also the analysis of the standards, which are fundamental in the light of data interoperability and exchange
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 95-113; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.07
Tancas serradas a muros. Tracce di incomunicabilità nel 'linguaggio' dell'archeologia, tra tutela, archeologia del paesaggio e pianificazione territoriale
Abstract
There are marked 'incommunicability symptoms' in language with which archaeology should communicate, in particular, with urban and landscape planning, and also possible relationships with new methods of landscape interpretation and management. In a vanishing context no longer based only on historical instance, 'interdisciplinarity' is a possible solution.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 185-197; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.12
L'entropia dell'archeologia computazionale ovvero dall'ordine al disordine
Abstract
Starting from the remark that scientific progress and cultural background proceed in a dialectical way, this paper seeks to deepen the relationship between scientific thought, archaeology and information technology. The still rationalist approach of information technology presses archaeologists toward applications where the quantity of data to manage and manipulate is dominant. The importance of quantitative methods is not balanced by an adequate reflection about the connection between archaeological theory, information technology and mathematical formalism. In archaeological field rules, as in other scientific areas, an attitude within the common expectation of confidence towards information technology seems deterministic; in this view technology is neutral and independent in comparison to the changes of the society. This is the dominant framework of archaeological computing closed within autarchy, self-reference and productive myth. The paper examines the possibility to define a different way of formal description and then analysis of archaeological objects. These different approaches, borrowed from other disciplines, are not dependent only from the theoretical model that the archaeologist selects for the digital reproduction of reality. They are a reflexive attitude and research experience which enables archaeologists to articulate in a flexible way data description and formalization without falling into the trap of the true/false opposition and the presumed neutrality of quantitative methods in archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 219-238; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.14
Point pattern analysis revisited
Abstract
Point pattern analysis has been one of archaeology's quantitative approaches since at least the 1970s, and has been applied at a range of scales, from the region to the site. Various techniques have been 'borrowed' from other disciplines, notably ecology, such as quadrat analysis, nearest-neighbour analysis and kernel density analysis. There have also been 'home-grown' techniques such as Local Density Analysis, Presab and Unconstrained Clustering, as well as the use of Cluster Analysis itself. This paper reviews these developments, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. A statistical advance was made in the 1970s with the development of the K function approach. This has become embodied in the ecological statistical software package ADE-4 as the Ripley and Intertype programs. These programs were found in a search for suitable affordable software for teaching spatial analysis at post-graduate level, and have been used in this role for three years, taking as a test-bed the Danish mesolithic site of Barmose I. The outcome of this work is presented as a case study and compared with earlier analyses of this dataset. The value of ADE-4 for archaeological spatial analysis is assessed.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 299-315; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.19
Realtà virtuale, beni culturali e cibernetica: un approccio ecosistemico
Abstract
The revolution of digital technologies in the past has focused attention mainly on the technical power and not on the semantic level of informative and communicational aspects. In the field of virtual heritage the risk was/is to enhance the amazing esthetic features despite the informative/narrative feedback and cognition within the virtual worlds. How much information can I get from a virtual system? How does it communicate? How can we process this kind of interactive information? The importance of the virtual reality systems in the applications of cultural heritage should be oriented towards the capacity to change ways and approaches to learning. The Virtual communicates, the user learns and creates new information. Typically we define as linear learning, tools and actions, such as books, audio guides, catalogues and so on (in this case the communication is a linear sequence), and reticular learning VR systems where the user is immersed within reticules of information and visual data. In this paper we try to analyse the relations between virtual reality, cultural heritage and cybernetics according to an ecological approach.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 423-448; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.26
Nuovi linguaggi e 'vecchie tecnologie': comunicare la conoscenza archeologica attraverso la rete
Abstract
This paper will briefly discuss the development of networking communication technologies in the archaeology field. Internet technologies could introduce a new communication structure with the use of interactivity and hypermedia: but until now archaeological web sites still operate fundamentally through language, using almost exclusively a 'symbolic-reconstructive' cognitive way that is a linguistic way; on the other hand another way of knowledge transmission is a 'perceptive-motor' based on repeating cycles of perception-action-perception. Technologies that are web based, both visual and interactive, allow us to learn and exchange knowledge by-passing the linguistic barrier. Nowadays the computer is able to simulate a universe and make it available for human perceptive-motor activity. The constructivist learning theory often informs these new approaches, however, transplanting learning theory to the web poses unique challenges.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 483-496; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.29
Lo status accademico dell'Informatica umanistica, con Appendice di M. Catacchio
Abstract
The first section of this article concerns the theme of Humanities Computing teaching. Most experts agree with the opinion that Humanities Computing is an independent discipline - which studies the problems of formalisation and models, crossing all humanities disciplines (linguistic, literature, history, archaeology, history of art, history of music) - and as such it should be introduced into the Faculties of Humanities. The academic organisations are beginning to acknowledge the importance of teaching computer applications to the students, but their approach is far from consistent. The integral proposal of a new independent scientific-disciplinary sector, submitted by a group of experts to be approved by the Italian CUN (Consiglio Universitario Nazionale), is therefore presented. The second part of the article deals with the results of an enquiry, carried out in 21 Italian Universities, on how Humanities Computing is being introduced into the curricula of the Faculties of Humanities. Many relevant quantitative data are illustrated, which clearly clarify both the necessity to distinguish between the simple alphabetisation and the teaching of applications for research, as well as the urgency to solve in this sector of studies the problem of teachers on temporary contracts.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2003, 14, 7-32; doi: 10.19282/ac.14.2003.01
Une reconstitution des climats du dernier cycle climatique à partir des diagrammes polliniques. Comparaison avec les données océaniques et glaciaires
Abstract
The multivariate treatment of long pollen sequences coming from peat bogs constitutes an easy and effective method of factorial regression for the semi-quantitative reconstruction of the Paleoclimates. The comparison of the results obtained for the upper Pleistocene with the isotopic profiles of sea- and ice-cores, then with the previous methods, confirms a structuralization of the last climatic cycle in four periods: the interglacial Riss/Wurm including the optimum Eemian, the lower pleniglacial, the Wurmian interpleniglacial and the upper pleniglacial, before the Holocene. A numbering system of these oscillations, correlated with the Dansgaard-Oeschger events recognized in the ice-cores of Greenland, is proposed. A final statistical treatment shows a cyclic evolution of the forest vegetation during the Eemian, an evolution which better translates the variations of the Paleoclimates (temperature and humidity) than the arboreal pollen rate (AP).
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2003, 14, 111-136; doi: 10.19282/ac.14.2003.05
Dal mondo della statistica applicata
Abstract
Review article.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2003, 14, 340-344; doi: 10.19282/ac.14.2003.16
Les modèles logico-discursifs en archéologie
Abstract
One of the tasks of cognitive archaeology according to C. RENFREW (1994) is «to use the well-established techniques of rational scientific inquiry, and to aim to develop these [...] by explicit theoretical formulations». Such is the purport of the ongoing research program initiated in France in the '70s on the logicist analysis and computational modelling of archaeological constructs (GARDIN 1979). A first assessment was presented to UISPP Commission 4 in 1990; the present paper describes advances of the program after that date in two directions, theoretical and pratical. 1. On the theoretical side, (a) new light has been shed on the position of the logicist analysis of archaeological papers (irrespective of their subject or denomination) in relation to recent work on natural logic or natural reasoning in the sciences of man; (b) further, the modelling function of the proposed 'schematisations' of argument has been brought out in the course of an ongoing debate on the respective part of Models and Narratives in the constitution of knowledge in the social sciences. The constraints to which mathematical models are currently subject are applicable to logico-discursive models as well: the same tests (formal coherence and empirical correspondence) are used to establish the validity of both; (c) lastly, as a logical follow-up of a and b, the case for a 'séparation des genres' has been strengthened, i.e. scientific models on the one hand, whether quantitative (mathematical) or qualitative (logicist), and/or imaginative amplifications of their findings on the other, both genres being however regarded as contributions to knowledge in a broad sense (BRUNER 1986). A large part of our discursive constructs belong to an intermediate or hybrid kind which tends to claim a distinct epistemological status, between or above the two genres. Doubt are raised about the future of this perspective in the long run; they found some unexpected support in Paul Ricoeurs recent plea for a return to a stricter distinction between the cognitive and the rhetorical components in our «writing of history and representations of the past» (RICOEUR 2000). 2. On the pratical side, a new form of archaeological publication has been proposed (ROUX 2000), combining the principles of logicist analysis and new information technology. It consists in reformulating linear discursive constructs as tree-like structures of inference, expressed in computational terms (data base + rewrite formulas), and recording them on an electronic support, CD-ROM or web site, in order to take advantage of the navigational facilities of hypertext. No loss of cognitive substance is incurred in the process; and a partial answer is thereby offered to the 'reading vs. consultation issue' now widely acknowledged in scientific research, in the humanities as elsewhere.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 19-30; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.01
Un essai de formalisation des études sur l'art paléolithique pour la connaissance des sociétés préhistoriques
Abstract
Paleolithic art is a fundamental tool for the understanding of prehistoric societies. The relationships between paleolithic art and archaeological sites have been investigated and show the existence of nearly all the types of artistic expressions (sculptures, paintings, engravings, drawings, clay modelling, mammoth bone assemblages, etc.) in various sites like rock shelters, open-air sites, burials, deep caves, open caves and rock open-air sites. Unfortunately, old discoveries and tourism have destroyed in most cases the relationship between mobiliar and cave art with archaeological structures, limiting to recent discoveries the capability of a global approach. The different interpretative theories of prehistoric art since XIX century have been remembered both for symbolic explanations (Reinach, Breuil, Bégouen, Raphaêl, Laming-Emperaire, Leroi-Gourhan, Sauvet, Vialou, Clottes) and for social explanations (Efimenko, Abramova, Semenov, Iakovleva, Sieveking, Conkey, Bahn), and their revision due to the recent 14C AMS dates directly obtained on paintings made by charcoal. The critical question of the building of a reliable chronological framework is discussed. A method to study prehistoric art is then proposed, in five main steps: Step 1: Acquisition (recording); Step 2: Acquisition (signs, species and scenes determination); Step 3: Structuring (craftsmen workflow: space selection, physical-chemical studies, stylistic analysis, panel organization); Step 4: Structuring (chronological and spatial organization of the decorated space, relationships between the decorated space and the territory of hunters-gatherers); Step 5: Modelling (the craft system, the social system and the symbolic system of the hunter-gatherer society).
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 31-40; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.02
The origins of the city. From social theory to archaeological description
Joan A. Barceló, Giuliano Pelfer, Alessandro Mandolesi
Abstract
This paper will focus on the origins of the city. This subject has been studied in sociology, anthropology, history and geography, but there is not a unified approach. Our paper deals with the specific way social theory can be used in archaeology. We consider that a 'city' is a specific form of social space 'produced' by a series of social actions. However, this 'production process' cannot be described easily in archaeological terms. As a result, there is a deep gap between social theory concepts and archaeologically observable evidence. Today it is fashionable to speak about the unscientific nature of Archaeology and Social Science. This paper deals with this discussion, trying to create an observational theory to understand the process of city formation. We reject traditional positivist approaches of concept and reference, because of its simplicity. However, this fact does not mean that the analysis is impossible in scientific terms. We show how to use spatial statistics, probabilistic modelling and visualization technology in order to obtain a simulation of the spatial process, and then use the resulting model to build a representation of social theory in archaeological terms. In the paper we use the Italian city of Tarquinia as a case study. It is suggested that the origin of the city can be represented as a spatial process beginning with preliminary scattered villages, which join together forming bigger spatial units, which become attractive for the better geographical and geomorphologic conditions. The gradual consolidation of the main settlement in the best location is determined by the population growth, and the development of a new productive system and new social relationships.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 41-63; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.03
Modelling the social evolution: the state of art
Abstract
In the last fifty years, many types of models on ancient social evolution have been created, both in the Old and New Worlds. This paper reviews the most influential ones, trying to summarize the recent, radical changes in the theoretical perspective on the emergence, development and collapse of complexity in human societies. The most serious problem, today, seems to be an enormous gap between the inadequacy of the archaeological record and the growing refinement of theories.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 65-78; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.04
Maitriser l'analogie ethnographique: espoirs et limites
Abstract
The use of ethnographic analogy to interpret archaeological remains has produced many misunderstandings, which must now be corrected. 1. Ethnology is traditionally oriented towards the analysis of the thought systems of the populations under study, and believes all too often that this type of discourse in natural language is an acceptable explanation for the observed empirical phenomena. The scientific discourse built by the ethnoarchaeologist must not imitate the distinctions made by the people under study, given that their constructs seek to satisfy different objectives. 2. The construction of inference rules must be subjected to the requirements of all scientific research. In consequence, one must not merely collect 'cas d'espèce', but also assemble numeric data which are sufficiently representative for statistical treatment to be carried out. 3. It is necessary to define, in each case, the actualisation context of the rules, that is, the spatial and temporal universe wherein the proposed rule is applicable. 4. The only way to validate a rule resides in the precautions taken during collection, mobilisation and treatment of empirical data. 5. Successful application of an actualist rule to archaeological data does not mean that the latter has been validated. The only way to confirm an interpretation is by applying the principle of result convergence by independent methods.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 79-99; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.05
Pour une théorie générale de la connaissance en archéologie
Abstract
An attempt to build a global cognitive theory in Archaeology is proposed. The archaeological method is based on a three level concept : knowledge acquiring, structuring and modelling, inspired by the XIX century work of Peirce, renewed by recent developments of cognitive Sciences and used today in many fields of Social and Human Sciences, System Engineering, and recently proposed in Archaeology (DJINDJIAN 1993). The knowledge acquiring level A is the result of simultaneous and retroactive use of two mechanisms: several specific analogical processes in archaeology (contemporary analogy, ethnographical analogy, experimental analogy) and a cognitive process, general to Human Sciences. Logical objects used by archaeological reasoning are artefacts, set of artefacts (archaeological layer, dwelling structure, burial, etc.) and methodological objects (unit, sample, core, etc.). Such objects may deliver three categories of data: intrinsic data, extrinsic data and administrative data. Intrinsic data (named I) are a view of an object, resulting in the interaction between the archaeological artefact and the archaeologist who is perceiving and describing it. Intrinsic data is a knowledge of the artefact. Extrinsic data (named E) are data recording the various artefact contexts: spatial and stratigraphic localisation, links with neighbouring artefacts, environment, etc. Extrinsic data depends on the quality of archaeological excavation and recording. In all the cognitive processes, knowledge A must be associated with the archaeologist, ARCH, who is at the origin of the interaction artefact/archaeologist, the process of producing the knowledge, Pc, and the validation process Pv, controlling the reasoning: (A, ARCH, Pc, Pv). The structuring level, S, is discussed in relation with the question of enrichment of structures towards the emergence of a system, through a dedicated method called the systemic triple method (DJINDJIAN 1980): 1. Definition of the system S; 2. Perception and description of intrinsic data I; 3. Recording of extrinsic data E; 4. Formalisation of the structuring process: intrinsic structuring (matrix artefact x intrinsic data, O x I), extrinsic structuring (occurrence or Burt matrix intrinsic data x extrinsic data, I x E); 5. Exploratory data analysis on O x I or I x E; 6. Retroactions on I and E; 7. Iterative enrichment by integration of new I and new E; 8. Validation (using another artefact system, a new E, etc.). The modelling level is then examined with a discussion of the limits of the formal logic in Archaeology: empirical-inductive, where 'every structure is Culture', or hypothetical-deductive methods, where 'all the models are fitting well' falling in the weakness of so-called paradigmatic models. A new more restricting method is proposed, called the cognitive model method, CMM. The main features of CMM are: explicit, formalised, repetitive, stable, systemic, refutable, predictive, discursive and auditable. A general method to build a cognitive model is then given, in ten steps; some of them are already known and referenced, others are new and detailed: 1. Improving the knowledge A; 2. Discovering the structures S inside data; 3. Enrichment of structures S; 4. Systemic organisation in hierarchical subsystems; 5. Building models R; 6. Validating models R; 7. Retroactions for enrichment and stabilisation of the models R; 8. Model simulation for predictions; 9. Writing the archaeological discourse; 10. Auditing the discourse. The systemic organisation in hierarchical sub-systems is based on a five level system: 1. Technological know-how; 2. Economic activities: craft production, raw material supplying, subsistence resources, energy resources, buildings (dwellings, infrastructure), territory management, manufacturing, exchange and trading, etc.; 3. Social organisation: workflow, specialisation of professions, social groups, social hierarchies, family structures, community administration, defence, taxes, authority systems, etc.; 4. Symbolic sub-system: ideas and beliefs; 5. Global system. In conclusion, such approaches of methodological development are the most reliable but also the most difficult way to reach a real scientific status for Archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 101-117; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.06
Getting Bayesian ideas across to a wide audience
Abstract
A generally Bayesian attitude toward statistical inference seems to me so obviously superior to the 'classical' Neyman-Pearson approach that it is difficult to comprehend why not everyone agrees. I believe that most non-statisticians learn classical procedures ritualistically but then interpret their results in naively Bayesian ways. It would be better if they became more sophisticated and knowing Bayesians. A truly introductory text on the logic of Bayesian inference, with some simple but useful applications, would probably help. Bayesian inference with an uninformative prior may yield the same results as classical inference, but with coherent rather than muddled logic. An example of a very useful but mathematically simple archaeological application of an informative prior is using prior information to improve estimates of true proportions of artifact categories in populations represented by small collections. However, a complication arises when the observed proportion in a fairly large sample is well outside the range considered at all likely for the relevant population, based on prior information. In this case, straightforward use of a beta prior distribution can yield results that seem unreasonable. Possibly our prior information is better represented by a modified beta distribution with 'heavy' tails. Advice about this problem would be appreciated.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 191-196; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.13
Archaeological thinking: between space and time
Abstract
The archaeological record can be described using a relevant observable feature: location. Shape, size and other properties vary from one location to another, and sometimes this variation has some appearance of continuity, which should be understood as variation between social actions due to neighbourhood relationships. Time and space are not different ways of considering the nature of archaeological locations. Consequently, 'locations' can only be understood in functional terms, that is, according to what is performed at each place at each moment. In this paper, the objective is to analyse where, when and why a social action varies from one location (temporal-spatial) to another. Some mathematical techniques are presented to calculate the probability of social actions at specific locations, based on the spatial properties of archaeological data. These techniques are used as a representation language for studying the concepts of accumulation and attraction, which allow the study of social space in dynamic terms.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 237-257; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.17
Playful agents, inexorable process: elements of a coherent theory of iteration in anthropological simulation
Abstract
This paper presents an alternative to the purely sequential and arbitrary resolution of events in agent-based simulation for Anthropology. It is argued that an alternative system in which agents constantly evaluate their priorities in the light of the actions of other agents provides for more realistic social interaction and allows for the emergence of social-like processes in a computer agent population. A number of other problems, such as the production of survivorship curves from a threat environment, are also discussed.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 259-265; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.18
Spatio-temporal modeling of North American prehistory
Abstract
A new dynamic spatio-temporal model of North American prehistory and protohistory from 14,000 BP to 200 BP allows researchers to visualize the ebb and flow of culture change and demographic processes at any of many possible scales. The authors of past syntheses of such changes over time and space on a large scale in North America have depended upon aggregating lower-level syntheses and summaries prepared by various regional specialists. One advantage of the model is that it eliminates much of the bias and filtering that is typically entailed by this dependence. It does so by directly referencing site-specific data recorded and maintained in a GIS format. These are called up and displayed as animations of spatial change over time. The animations in turn can be mapped against environmental changes over time and space. The model raises theoretical and methodological questions about how we record and disseminate our data. These are briefly discussed.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 267-273; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.19
Progetto Caere: questioni di metodo e sperimentazioni
Abstract
The development of the “Caere Project”, conducted by the Istituto per l’Archeologia Etrusco-Italica of the Italian National Research Council as part of the “Cultural Heritage” Special Project, has made it possible to establish a unique and comprehensive model for the digitalization of excavation data within a GIS platform. This model has been developed to record, process and publish data coming from the excavations conducted by the Institute in the central area of the urban plateau of the ancient Etruscan town of Cerveteri. From the outset of the project, much attention has been placed upon the discussion of methodological and technical issues, in order to form a framework for data acquisition and processing. The methodologies adopted and processes adhered to are described, with particular reference to the problems of: data representation and encoding, standardisation of the descriptive language, application of Spatial Analysis techniques, creation of a multimedia software for data diffusion and publication.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2001, 12, 47-53; doi: 10.19282/ac.12.2001.02
Progetto Caere: prospettive di applicazione degli standard internazionali per la codifica dei dati testuali
Abstract
As part of the Caere Project, the author describes the diverse stages that have characterised the acquisition and encoding in a digital format of the excavation diaries through the application of SGML. This encoding language for electronic documents is focused mostly on describing the internal structure of the data and the information contained in the text. The SGML syntax in some aspects is complex, and inevitably this has been an obstacle to the diffusion of the language. The transcription and the encoding of the diaries have been completed and a flexible querying system of the SGML documents has been created. The decision to use the Internet in order to distribute information has also implied a study of the viability of converting SGML documents into XML, which in the last few years has been replacing SGML, from which it derives. However, the completion of the encoding project of the excavation diaries does not represent the final stage; in fact, it is the new phase that it has initiated which is important: further DTDs will be created which will allow the acquisition and encoding of the descriptions of every find. The user will be able to navigate and explore the textual data and, where a more detailed study is required, analyse the objects together with the topographical information.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2001, 12, 55-69; doi: 10.19282/ac.12.2001.03
L'informatica dell'archeologo: alcune istruzioni per l'uso
Andrea D'Andrea, Franco Niccolucci
Abstract
The paper examines the applications of some software technologies in archaeological research and discusses a number of errors that may derive from a naïve approach. In considering databases, relational databases have strict requirements that are fulfilled in most cases when dealing with archaeological records, but cannot be given for granted without further investigation. It is suggested that XML technology may solve many of these issues. Digital Elevation Models generated automatically by GIS software may create undesired or unrealistic terrain features and introduce errors, as well as GPS data acquisition. The frequent absence in archaeological GIS papers of an error analysis confirms the lack of a critical approach to these mathematical tools. Finally, computer visualisation is examined in the paper, with a similar criticism to an exclusively visual interpretation of Virtual Reality reconstructions. Since all the tools examined in the paper were created within other applicative contexts, it is hoped that a more conscious approach may better integrate them into archaeological method and theory.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2001, 12, 199-220; doi: 10.19282/ac.12.2001.11
Virtual reality for archaeological explanation. Beyond "picturesque" reconstruction
Abstract
In this paper, a general framework for using Virtual Reality techniques in the domain of Archaeological Visualisation is presented. It is argued that “visualising” is not the same as “seeing”, but is an inferential process to understand reality. A definition of Enhanced Reality is also presented, and how visual models can be used in order to obtain additional information about the dynamic nature of historical processes and archaeological data.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2001, 12, 221-244; doi: 10.19282/ac.12.2001.12
Documenting and validating Virtual Archaeology
Abstract
The use of Virtual Archaeology is expanding rapidly, not only in the museum and archaeology professions, but also in the broadcast media, tourism and heritage industries. Many concerns have been expressed about the lack of transparency and difficulty in validating the models and presentations used in these contexts. A case study is used to illustrate the role of metadata in addressing these problems. The paper argues that appropriate metadata documentation of projects may extend the critical apparatus that we take for granted in scientific papers into the world of distributed Virtual Archaeology. Three recently introduced XML languages for multimedia (SMIL), vector graphics (SVG) and virtual reality (X3D) applications are examined with particular reference to their metadata hosting capabilities. Finally, an outline proposal for a Virtual Archaeology Metadata Profile and Schema is presented, based on refinements of the Dublin Core and other metadata schemas.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2001, 12, 245-273; doi: 10.19282/ac.12.2001.13
Information, image, réalité virtuelle et réalité. Nouvelles formes de transmission du patrimoine
Abstract
This article tells the history of the interaction between a scientific program and the use of digital technologies for handling and distributing archaeological information. We try to show, using an anthropological and epistemological approach, how archaeological work is modified by the introduction of digital technologies and the change in dynamics that this introduction causes to our scientific program. We also analyse the theoretical-ideological formation and the ethical problems arising from this interaction.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2001, 12, 275-305; doi: 10.19282/ac.12.2001.14
Discretizzazione e modello-dati nei sistemi GIS
Abstract
Review article.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2001, 12, 337-342; doi: 10.19282/ac.12.2001.17
L'archeologia computazionale in Italia: orientamenti, metodi e prospettive
Andrea D'Andrea, Franco Niccolucci
Abstract
Introduction to the Proceedings.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2000, 11, 13-31; doi: 10.19282/ac.11.2000.01
A proposito di Virtual Archaeology: disordini, interazioni cognitive e virtualità
Maurizio Forte, Roberta Beltrami
Abstract
What is Virtual Archaeology (from now on abbreviated as VA) really? And what is virtual? In a period of great technological-digital evolution in all scientific fields, it is even more important to try to decipher, monitor and critically describe the state of the art, with particular attention to those interdisciplinary areas which will represent the avant-garde of future research. The great communicative impact that archaeology offers in itself is greatly enhanced by the possible digital interfaces and by the comprehensibility that these provide for much more than the scientific community. Therefore, considering what has been noted in this overview and what will be discussed below, VA can be defined as digital reconstructive archaeology, computational epistemology applied to the reconstruction of three dimensional archaeological ecosystems, therefore, cognitive ecology. The epistemological aspect is essential in the assessment of computational processes and therefore, in archaeological activity. To the out-going elaboration one must increase the cognitive significance of the in-going data (“augmented” reality). The context is cognitively greater than the sum of its components and we must identify the “environment” of the VA in a structuralist sense. In the assessment of the application of VA therefore, an epistemological measurement is essential; if, in fact, we try to “measure” the cognitive quality of models there is a risk of completely destructuring the information in respect to the context. Moreover it is evident that virtual space, in the archaeological dimension, must be contextualised and hierarchically restructured in order to allow for the identification of the logical units of information in the geometry of the models; theoretically one should “undo” and “redo” the context to completely verify the geometric and functional system. Key words might be 3D, interaction, virtual models, and other variables described in the text.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2000, 11, 273-300; doi: 10.19282/ac.11.2000.15
Informatica per l'archeologia o archeologia per l'informatica?
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2000, 11, 311-315; doi: 10.19282/ac.11.2000.17
I GIS tra soluzioni applicative e nuove metafore
Abstract
Review article.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2000, 11, 385-390; doi: 10.19282/ac.11.2000.23
L'archeologia in rete. Internet e multimedia
Abstract
Review article.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2000, 11, 391-395; doi: 10.19282/ac.11.2000.24
Dal mondo della statistica applicata
Abstract
Review article.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2000, 11, 396-400; doi: 10.19282/ac.11.2000.25
From earth to cyberspace: the unforeseen evolution
Abstract
The ArchéoDATA Archaeological Information System has been under development for some ten years and during this time considerable experience has been gained in the field of archaeological information management. At the outset, a methodological philosophy was established and based on the premise that archaeology was in essence something, somewhere, at sometime. This provided the fundamental platform for data recording and has also given rise to, through the development of the “Entities”, a singular framework for archaeological analysis. The structures necessary to achieve an efficient balance between research, administration and conservation have been worked out and then tested under the actual conditions that will prevail under normal working conditions. The problem has been that at the heart of an AIS is communication, and that the practical means of achieving this are not simple. Not only do we need to efficiently structure the theoretical model, there also has to be the physical means of achieving it. This has been for many years the Achilles heal of implementation, as cost has been seen as being of an order not commensurate with archaeological budgets. The unforeseen evolution of the Internet network into the World Wide multimedia Web has provided information based systems with vast possibilities, and in the case of archaeology, with its first opportunity towards implementing universal communication. This paper describes some of the steps being undertaken to transfer the ArchéoDATA AIS to the Internet.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 7-16; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.01
L'analyse spatiale de l'habitat: un état de l'art
Abstract
The state of the art concerning intrasite spatial analysis is given here, with the potentialities and the limits of the methods. In the first part, the interpretability of the spatial structures is questioned, focusing on the influence of cleaning and deserting of sites, and also the existence of post-depositional process, which can more or less cancel the expected spatial structures. Subsequently, the different methods of intrasite spatial analysis are described, following a brief history of their introduction into archaeology: the research of clusters in a spatial distribution, the association between two spatial distributions, and finally, the multidimensional spatial analysis actually used. Two important complementary methods are also described: the reassembling of spatial analysis and the chronological spatial analysis.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 17-32; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.02
Prospects for agent-based modelling in archaeology
Abstract
Although computer oriented archaeologists seem to have become somewhat disillusioned with computer simulation as a tool, other social sciences are witnessing a significant wave of enthusiasm for it, particularly in the form of agent-based modelling. My aim in this article is to reach some understanding of just why this paradoxical situation has arisen, and to consider what will and should happen next as regards agent-based modelling in archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 33-44; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.03
Archeologia medievale e informatica: dieci anni dopo
Abstract
Ten years after the publication of his article in «Archeologia e Calcolatori», the author returns to the subject of the relationship between computers and Medieval archaeology and describes the different phases of development which have characterised this field of study. In particular, he describes the research activity carried out by the Laboratory for Computer Applications of the Department of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Siena, which was created and implemented over the past ten years. The information system which has been developed is based on a programmed user interface (OpenArcheo) which operates as a supervisor and has been used for several different projects aimed at organising in an integrated environment large quantities of data, such as the “Progetto Siti d’Altura della Toscana”, concerning the editing of archaeological maps of Tuscan cities and provinces, and for the organisation of data from the excavations carried out by the Department.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 45-61; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.04
Calcul et narrativé dans les publications archéologiques
Abstract
Archaeological publications raise problems of many sorts, currently discussed in connection with computer networks and other technologies. One of them, however, seems somewhat neglected, namely the fact that we are mostly unable to read more than a fraction of the articles and books published in our respective fields of research. The substitution of electronic to printed publications does not fully meet that challenge. Complementary measures are needed, taking into account an acknowledged reality: our works are for the most part consulted, not read. The schematisation of archaeological constructs developed in the logicist perspective is meant to facilitate consultations; it is related to the computational paradigm of the information age. As such, however, it fails to fulfil one of the functions of historical works, associated with the narrative mode of thought and discourse. This paper advocates a parallel development of the two genres in archaeology, one through electronic publications of a radically new form, the other through printed works explicitly conceived as literary versions or expansions of the former.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 63-78; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.05
Dalle base dati alla rete: l'evoluzione del trattamento dei dati archeologici
Abstract
This article is a short review of the history of representation and structuring of archaeological information in computer applications as from HW/SW growing technical development. In the seventies and eighties databases were the most popular and widespread application of computer technology to archaeology. In the eighties micro and personal computers dramatically increased database research projects. This uncoordinated growth led to a plethora of disparate systems incapable of information exchange, although this phenomenon did considerably increase the normalization and standardization of archaeological data. Starting at the end of the eighties, GIS application to archaeology became more and more popular and the number of GIS research projects quickly increased. In adopting GIS technologies, however, the archaeologist must be aware of problems connected with specific nature of spatial data (cartography is always a simplification of the real world) and their accuracy. In the last five years, network communication, and above all the Internet, have assumed a central role in archaeological research and the communication standard protocols derived from SGML will be a central tool for improving public access to the archaeological heritage and for enabling teaching and research.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 89-99; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.07
Des bases des données à la publication électronique: une intégration des données et des outils de recherche
Abstract
After presenting a summary of the development of computer applications in archaeology from the 1960s up to the present, the author discusses a diagram outlining the main processes which characterise the work of the archaeologist and specifically those in which computer methods have assumed an important role. The author identifies the following essential stages for the use of computers in archaeology: data gathering, data structuring, also for purposes of interpretation, and data diffusion, in order to make results known. This last stage seems to be particularly influenced by the developments brought about in recent years by the introduction of multimedia systems which have made the electronic publication of archaeological data possible by employing digital supports like CD-ROM as well as by creating Internet sites.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 101-115; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.08
Multimedialità e archeologia
Abstract
In an article published in «Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, A.-M. Guimier-Sorbets expressed some basic ideas on the function of multimedia in the diffusion of archaeological results, and its relation with document storage and interpretation. The present article takes over those ideas, aiming at better formalizing the essence of multimedia, and comparing that formalization with C. Renfrew’s proposals about the methods of a cognitive archaeology. Finally a survey of web pages dedicated to archaeology is presented together with critical annotations.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 145-157; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.11
"Archeologia e Calcolatori": dieci anni di contributi all'informatica archeologica
Abstract
This article describes the research work which is now being carried out in order to classify bibliographic information, related to the field of computer applications in archaeology, that is published yearly at the end of «Archeologia e Calcolatori». During the examination, information was recorded in a database using Access software. For classification purposes, particular attention was devoted to the research topic dealt with in the publication, which was divided into two separate sections: “subject field classification” and “computer typology classification”. One example of the way in which it is possible to consult the database on-line is now available on the Internet site of this Journal. In conclusion, the author describes the results obtained from a statistical analysis of data from the 266 articles which have been published over the last ten years in «Archeologia e Calcolatori».
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 343-352; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.23
Cultural Heritage and the CNR Special Project
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 9-11; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.01
Mauro Cristofani, computerised archaeology and the "Caere Project"
Abstract
Introduction to the Special Issue.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 13-18; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.02
GIS usage in worldwide archaeology
Abstract
This paper is an introduction to the IX issue of «Archeologia e Calcolatori», dedicated to GIS in Archaeology. GIS technologies are first put in the context of Computer Science since the sixties. It is shown that the development of GIS results from a general evolution of computer manufacturing towards both multimedia and workstation solutions. The needs of the archaeologist for graphics and GIS are mainly within Rescue Archaeology, large site excavations, regional settlements studies and Cultural Resources Management (CRM). The progress of the use of GIS in Archaeology over the last 10 years has been analysed through 150 projects described in the present volume. It shows the advance of GIS applications in Anglo-Saxon countries (US, UK, Australia), even though in other countries the success of GIS is growing. The survey indicates a global rate of worldwide development of 25% per year. Pilot studies of GIS applications are mainly conducted by research Institutes (70%) and then culture heritage administrations (30%). About 40% of the GIS projects are CRM projects, 25% excavation management projects and 35% regional settlement studies. The computers used are Unix workstations (33%) and PCs (66%). About 40% of GIS users have chosen Arclnfo from Esri, while 50% have chosen low cost software like Maplnfo, Idrisi or Grass. The market for GIS applications in Archaeology seems to be shared between vector packages dedicated to CRM, raster packages dedicated to regional settlement studies, and CAD/CAM packages dedicated to survey and excavation. But progressively, the different packages will be adapted to have all the required functions, including image processing and interfacing with DBMS and statistical packages. Finally, GIS applications in Archaeology are not intrinsically theory oriented, even if environmental determinationism has found within GIS a perfect tool for its needs.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 19-30; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.03
GIS and archaeology in France
Abstract
Due to the limited response to the CNR questionnaire on GIS usage in French archaeology, this paper cannot expect to give either the full extent of implementation, nor fully document its impact on this field of research. It has been possible however to extrapolate general trends, and to discuss the development of several projects and undertakings. The most important implementation of GIS is the Ministry of Culture’s nationwide SCALA program for French archaeological survey, and the most comprehensive is the CNRS’s ArchéoDATA Archaeological Information System (AIS). The majority of the smaller projects are in three sectors: regional governmental archaeological offices, the CNRS research laboratories and archaeological field units. As the majority of GIS projects are undertaken by small teams that are looking for flexibility and autonomy, the general trend in hardware/software configurations has been away from elaborate centralised systems and towards micro-computer based installations, with the combination usually being Map Info running on PCs and Macintoshs. Whilst the use of GIS is still not entirely common practice in French archaeology, it is important to note that considerable research is going into innovative ways of implementing GIS concepts in archaeology and that important results can be expected in the years to come.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 31-45; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.04
Beyond GIS: The archaeology of social spaces
Joan A. Barceló, Maria Pallarés
Abstract
The growing use and increasing sophistication of GIS methods to manage archaeological data is not related to an increase in diversity of use. After two decades on a trial basis, we evaluate in this paper the current ability of Spanish Archaeological GIS applications to meet the expectations placed upon them, especially concerning their role in archaeological method and theory. The purpose of this paper is threefold. Firstly, we summarize the main trends in Spanish GIS-based applications over the last years using a sample of the most recent bibliography. Secondly, we critically examine and evaluate the inherent shortcomings of some existing GIS applications, and finally we review different underlying conceptions of space in GIS projects and propose how such a software can be integrated into a proper theory of social space.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 47-80; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.05
GIS applications in Australian and New Zealand archaeology - A review
Abstract
This paper discusses the way in which GIS applications have flourished in Australia and New Zealand through a combination of high levels of computer ownership, environmental awareness and the scale of the landscape relative to population. The paper covers administrative applications such as site registers; traditional landscape based research applications of GIS; and recent attempts to apply GIS to off-site archaeology and distributions of artefacts on a micro-topographic scale. The critical effects of data availability and the use of GPS are discussed, as well as research into extending GIS or desktop mapping to cope with chronological change. The paper concludes by looking at ways in which the use of GIS can be encouraged within the wider archaeological community, the importance of sharing digital map data and some ideas on future directions in the application of GIS within Australian and New Zealand archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 81-126; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.06
GIS in North American archaeology: A summary of activity for the Caere project
Abstract
Fifteen projects, running in a variety of hardware and software environments, are reviewed from throughout the United States and Mexico; work in other parts of the world by North Americans is also represented. Most applications occur at the regional level and represent either state sponsored archaeological management data bases or research databases. Most employ GIS to manage regional data queries and undertake visualization tasks; others focus more analytically on patterns of prehistoric settlement and land use at the regional level, with predictive models of archaeological location a management expression that relies heavily on research and analysis. Large interest is also shown in comprehensive within-site databases. Remotely sensed satellite data are being employed to construct base maps at the regional level while geophysical information is being incorporated in within-site databases. Although cost-surfaces and viewshed studies receive relatively little focus, there seems to be large interest in multitemporal studies that compare cultural differences and settlement patterns across the fourth dimension. The linkage of GIS with virtual reality and the increasing importance of the World Wide Web point to future directions the technology will take.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 127-146; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.07
GIS usage in UK archaeology mid-1997: The Caere survey
Abstract
There is a great deal of interest in the application of GIS within UK archaeology and, consequently, many varied examples. Rather then attempting the difficult task of itemising these, this paper discusses important themes which are emerging from the maturing understanding and usage of GIS technology within archaeology and more widely. These include issues such as establishing standards and the archiving and accessibility of digital data. It also makes a distinction between Cultural Resource Management and research led application. For each application area, the current position is offered together with discussion of relevant theoretical and practical issues.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 147-167; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.08
GIS usage in Scandinavia
Abstract
The use of GIS in Scandinavian archaeology is still limited. The current survey has revealed 18 projects, of which 12 are full research projects, four are Cultural Resource Management (CRM) projects and two are aimed at developing field methods. Minor projects based on the work of individuals prevail among the research projects, although at least one large-scale project is reported. Three of the four CRM projects are “flagships” for their country (Denmark, Norway and Sweden). The paper takes a critical attitude towards the current development in Scandinavian Archaeology, where an obvious disparity between administrative and research archaeology prevails. The way GIS is applied may be seen as a good example of what this disparity means. Large scale uses of GIS occur in the CRM context, but primarily not with a research aim. Ambitious research projects, on the other hand, are promoted by research institutions, but generally they appear impotent due to a lack of resources. Further, the paper focuses on demands for making GIS a success in archaeological research. Issues discussed here are: active research contributions from CRM units in the future; better access to digital map information for non-profit research projects; education, education and once more education of archaeologists.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 169-189; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.09
GIS applications in Italian archaeology
Abstract
The present article is an attempt to emphasise some methodological concerns and evolutionary trends that characterise the use of GIS in Italian archaeological research. The cognitive base to attain this synthesis was offered by the analysis of answers to the questionnaire on “GIS and Archaeology”, that was distributed in the framework of the “Caere Project”, promoted within the more general “Progetto Finalizzato Beni Culturali” of the Italian CNR. The description of the results obtained follows a general definition of GIS and their capabilities. Computerised archaeological projects in which GIS are used nearly cover the entire national territory, from the Valle d’Aosta to Puglia and to the two principal islands. We have also recorded Italian projects that study archaeological areas outside the national limits. In general, there is a rather limited use of GIS in the management of archaeological excavations; in fact, the use of CAD software is more diffused. One of the emerging issues in GIS applications in archaeology is the distinction between projects carried out by institutions dealing with the administration and safeguarding of the national cultural patrimony and those carried out by the academic and research institutes. Cultural Resource Management in Italy is generally connected to the activities carried out by central and regional offices under the direction of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and addressed to the problems of management, safeguarding, maintenance and exploitation of the national patrimony. As for GIS projects carried out in the framework of the research sector, one of the characteristics of Italian studies seems to be the presence of two areas of investigation: the first one pertains to regional studies while the second one is devoted to the study of ancient towns, either abandoned or obscured by modern evidence.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 191-236; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.10
GIS in Eastern Europe: Nothing new in the East?
Abstract
This paper is an attempt at an overview of recent GIS activities in Eastern Europe. The paper is composed of three parts. In the first section organisational characteristics and the historical background of Eastern European archaeology are briefly presented. The second section focuses on current GIS activities in most Central European countries. In the final section, general trends in archaeological GIS research and practice are summarised. In this section some suggestions for improvements through international co-operation are drawn. The paper is followed by the abbreviated results of the replies to the Caere Project questionnaire.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 237-249; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.11
Electronic Information Systems in archaeology. Some notes and comments
Abstract
This paper consists of some notes and comments on the use of electronic information systems in archaeology, in the form of stating a number of theses, each followed by an explanation and/or defence. Most of the theses pertain to the relationship among research design, relational database management system and geographical information system. The last section of the paper shortly discusses some projects in which electronic information systems are being used.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 251-267; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.12
Archeology and GIS: the view from outside
Abstract
The rapid spread of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology confronts archaeologists with a number of opportunities and several dilemmas. Presentations and discussions at the 1996 UISPP meeting in Forlì, Italy, suggested that the current contributions of GIS to archaeological zeitgeist mixes new analytical possibilities, new data management capacities and theoretical problems. The current debate surrounding these issues is useful, yet it ignores several important areas of discussion. Many of the peculiarities of spatial data and spatial analysis have so far been overlooked, as have the changing metaphors of time and space demanded by GIS. A host of entertaining possibilities await those prepared to explore some of the remoter horizons opened by GIS.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1997, 8, 9-26; doi: 10.19282/ac.8.1997.01
Relating time within the general methodological structure of archaelogical interpretation
Abstract
During the past few years we have presented and published a series of papers on the project ArchéoDATA that we have been developing in the GDR 880 of CNRS, in our quest for a methodological structure for the recording and analysis of archaeological data and the creation of a European Archaeological Information System, designed to formalise and to structure archaeological documents. The three basic components of archaeological recording and analysis are the factors “objects”, “space” and “time”. Through their interaction the archaeologist must attempt to construct an interpretation and argue his thesis. The management of data pertaining to each one of the components of “object”, “space” and “time” should be undertaken with the same elementary structure. Due to the diversity of recording methods, and to inconsistent terminology used to express what in essence are similar things, a definition based on the word “Entity” was chosen and the “Archaeological, Spatial, Temporal, Interpretative and Analytical Entities” were consequently defined. This paper presents in detail new work that has been undertaken on structuring the basic component “time”.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 15-26; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.01
Information science in archaeology: a short history and some recent trends
Abstract
In the first section of this paper, some of the developments in the use of information science in archaeology are discussed, putting them in a more general framework of developments in archaeological theory. It shows the shift from “classical” statistical approaches, which concentrate on hypothesis testing, towards more heuristic, pattern searching methods of analysis. In the second section, some research is presented on the use of Bayesian statistics for solving archaeological problems. It illustrates, on the one hand, the case with which rather complicated quantitative analyses can be performed with the help of standard computing tools, and, on the other hand, the risks of carrying out such analyses without a clear, logically sound underpinning.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 303-312; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.25
Underpinning the discipline. One hundred years (or more) of classification in archaeology
Abstract
Classification has been an important archaeological activity for at least a century. It should not be seen as an end in its own right, but as a tool that enables archaeologist to compare and communicate. It can also be seen as mathematical activity, the study of relationships between entities in a multi-dimensional space. Comparison of these approaches leads to a set of criteria for a “good” classification. A wide and growing range of techniques is available, but more fundamental issues such as the choice of variables and the level of analysis must also be considered. The history of classification in archaeology shows a period of optimism followed by one of disappointment; the recent development of techniques more suited to archaeological needs may enable a middle view to be taken. Finally, the role of classification is assessed in the light of current trends in archaeological theory.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 561-577; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.44
Archeologia quantitativa: nascita, sviluppo e "crisi"
Abstract
The author describes the different phases which have characterised “Quantitative Archaeology” from its origin in the Sixties to the present. An examination of the present situation emphasises the reduction in the number of projects in which statistical and mathematical techniques are applied in comparison with those devoted to data recording, computer graphics and image processing. A limitation in the fields of studies, generally restricted to the more traditional application sectors, such as archaeometric analyses and typological and morphological studies of artefacts, was also observed. This situation is related to two principal aspects. The first concerns the present tendency to assimilate theory and practice, which involves the connection between the opinion on Quantitative Archaeology and the debate on processual and post-processual – or anti-processual – archaeology. The second concerns the re-appraisal of the epistemological aspect of archaeology, which implies the necessity on the behalf of archaeologist to formalise their own reasoning: a step which is often considered absent in quantitative studies. As an example, the author presents a case study, which concerns the computer-based classification of Etruscan cinerary stone urns, produced in Volterra, in order to show how the formalisation process is implied in the application of the quantitative approach.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 579-590; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.45
Edizione e analisi informatica di testi: standard internazionali per la codifica dei dati testuali
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 721-734; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.57
Archeologia e calcolatori nella prospettiva poli-disciplinare della tutela
Abstract
In cataloguing the growth and refinement of cognitive data lead to a limitation of specialized sectors and in general to a weak comprehensive view of cultural phenomena. Moreover, the use of information systems in the Humanities has promoted the "vertical" investigation rather than the "horizontal" one on the poli-disciplinary horizon. The author, as an art-historian, notices in particular the inadequacy of projects devoted to the establishment of integration among various phenomena related to different cultures and periods of time. Some recent works in the historic-artistical sector of studies have turned again to the archaeological world and to its heritage with a deep sensibility of historicization. In this way they are moving towards a more dynamic cultural dialectic. Therefore the author feels that a collaboration between archaeologists and art-historians is necessary in order to translate their own knowledge into repertories (and therefore in safeguarding tools) and then into more complex historical judgements.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 805-808; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.64
Hommage à René Ginouvès (1926-1994)
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1209-1213; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.104
Archéologie et informatique aujourd'hui: quelques idées pour un débat
René Ginouvès, Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1215-1219; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.105
La révolution cognitive et l'archéologie
Abstract
Two components of the cognitive revolution are here considered in relation to archaeology: first, reflexivity, or in French "la pensée réfléchie", interested in exploration of its own process; second, computer science, which provides a useful framework for the analysis and simulation of reasoning process in a cognitive perspective. The "logicist" approach of archaeological constructs developed in France and Switzerland over the past decade follows those two axes. The present paper exposes some of the lessons gained from that research programme. One of them bears on the contribution of formal methods (logicism included) to the process of archaeological knowledge. This progress cannot be denied, despite contrary views expressed by the more radical relativists; but it seems to depend more on the empirical value of historical constructs than on their formal concerns. Another observation relates to the diversity of consequents derived from the same premises in archaeological argument, clearly brought out by logicist schematizations. Interesting questions are raised on that basis, regarding the sources and consequences of the phenomenon: (a) practical questions, such as probable changes in the functions and forms of archaeological publications; (b) theoretical issues, related to the current debate on the position of the humanities "between" Science, Literature and Common sense.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1221-1230; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.106
Artificial societies and cognitive archaeology
Abstract
This paper describes an approach to the study and understanding of social processes which has recently become prominent: systematic experimentation with "artificial societies" created on computers. The contribution that this new research tool can make to a "cognitive" archaeology, is considered. It is particularly asked how artificial societies techniques may be used to enhance our understanding of the role played by rationality and by collettive belief and misbelief systems, including religious belief systems, in the initial emergente of certain types of social complexity. Experimental work discussed aims to explore the relevant insights of Paul Mellars and of Roy Rappaport. One particular set of computer based experiments demonstrates how, in certain circumstances, social groups with some of the characteristics of "cults" may arise, with long term benefit to their individuals involved.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1231-1245; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.107
Formalizzazione dei dati, semiotica e comunicazione
Abstract
Formalisation of data, which is the base of encoding procedures, raises a number of problems which should not be solved, as it is usually done, through generic intuition. Starting from Gardin's discussion of the «compilations», as distinct from «explanations», and from Gordon Childe's late epistemological propositions, the formalisation is defined as the production of structures of symbols which perfectly match the archaeological evidente as the scholars sees it. This may be done by means of different types of language; using computers requires modelling techniques. They depend on our appreciation of the evidence itself, and semiotics helps us in distinguishing between material evidence and its symbolic meaning.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1247-1258; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.108
Méthode archéologique assistée par ordinateur
Abstract
It is discussed if the technological evolution of computer science in the nineties has resolved the methodological problems of the Archaeology, known since the sixties. It is concluded that the two first levels of cognitive methodology (recording and structuring) are resolved but the third and last level (reconstitution) is always the subject of sophisticated but rare experience.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1259-1266; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.109
La répresentation d’un raisonnement en archéologie. Un exemple: analyse logiciste et système expert
Marie-Salomé Lagrange, Maria da Conceição Monteiro Rodrigues
Abstract
The authors show here, through an example, how the reasoning procedures in an archaeological construct can be analysed, represented, critically evaluated, and possibly transcribed so as to be used again as part of an expert system. The monograph which has been analysed is an extract from a study on the prehistorical origins of the myth of Classical Greek Demeter. The reasoning steps of the author are first extracted and rewritten in the form of chains of inferences, according to J.-C. Gardin’s logicist approach. These components are then transcribed in terms of a fact base and a rule base according to the SNARK system. The SNARK knowledge base, as well as the results of the computing, are presented as tools for a better understanding of reasoning in the humanities.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1994, 5, 333-353
Les systèmes d'informations en archéologie
Abstract
The development of computer applications in archaeology involves a complex trend in order to define, before undertaking any implementation, a conceptual framework of computable functions, archaeological objects and data models. This conceptual framework allows the definition of a global information system, well adapted to the various archaeological problems. After that definition, it is easier to develop a long-term and evolving software architecture, integrating the best packages of the market.
Sulla codifica delle fonti archeologiche
Abstract
Encoding problems are often neglected, in archaeological as in other humanities related research, because of their apparent triviality. Encoding is assumed to be the reproduction in an “electronic alphabet” (be it the ASCII code or a second level language like SGML) of something written on paper. On the contrary, the encoding process begins with the recognition, choice and declaration of the elements of reality which we are going to submit to an electronic process. As a consequence, we must examine very carefully the substance of the logical and formal passages that we undertake. This article tries to show the difference between many kinds of encoding and the significance of encoding in archaeology, in comparison with other opinions, mainly by J.-CI. Gardin and F. Djindjian.
Automatic problem-solving in archaeology: a computational framework
Abstract
In this paper I have tried to build a computational theory. In other words, a “theory” implemented in a computer program. When using a computational theory we try to solve scientific problems, that is to say, we do not retrieve data units, but we “instantiate” a solution for the problem. I have formalised the concept of an “archaeological problem” in the following way: how is an artefact (or set of artefacts) used by a community in a specific context. The task is then to evaluate the social uses of a specific set of artefacts (Final Situation or State) in terms of: a) their description, and b) all information available about the social, cultural or chronological context and about the human community who produced those artefacts (Initial Situation or State).We may then represent problem solving knowledge as a list of discrete and closed units. Those declarative units are successive states of the problem. We substitute equations for explicit sets of propositions. We can implement a set of answers and a set of decision rules for each one. The resulting program looks like a complex database and not like a mathematical procedure, and we may consider the problem-solving mechanism as a sequential search in a preexisting problem space, using a finite number of particular decision rules. Some interesting work has been done in mathematical representation of archaeological theories, but such approaches have not been very successful, maybe because social sciences cannot be exclusively represented by mathematical models, or because archaeologists are incapable to communicate between themselves using mathematical expressions. As a consequence, archaeologists tend to express their theories by means of linguistic sentences, which is inadequate, given the fact that natural language obstructs objectivity. A representation in terms of logical propositions appears then as the best representation tool available to build social theories. Artificial Intelligence scientists are now exploring this possibility. In this paper I propose an analogy between the structure of archaeological (and social sciences) theories and the mechanism of Turing Machines: given some empirical data (observation of the archaeological record) and a knowledge-base (constituted by high-level concepts and their middle-range correlates), we have to explain the particular case (the archaeological record) by means of the knowledge-base (the theory). The logical mechanism is modus ponens.
Un centre de recherches sur les systèmes d'information en archéologie
René Ginouvès, Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets
Abstract
The authors present the research activity carried out at the “Centre de recherche sur les Traitements Automatisés en Archéologie Classique”. This activity can be divided into two main themes. The purpose of the first is to publish works intended to standardise descriptive archaeological language. The second aims at creating data banks, with particular reference to classical archaeology, and videodisks permitting the association of images to the relative documents.
La catalogazione dei beni archeologici e le tecnologie informatiche
Abstract
The author explains the principles applied by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione for the automatic processing of archaeological data in connection with the tasks of protection and preservation of the national cultural heritage. These principles aim at characterizing each archaeological work and at determining the relationships between these and their territorial context in a global historical dimension. Recent research works, and in particular those (generally disappointing) undertaken in the context of the so called “Giacimenti Culturali”, pointed out the necessity of a conceptual, more than technological, coordination. For this reason some fundamental methodological tools were implemented: “Dizionari Terminologici”, “Strutturazioni dei dati” and photographic inventories published by the Institute.
Nouvelles tendances méthodologiques dans le traitement de l'information en archéologie
Abstract
The author analyses new methodological trends in the nineties, concerning the evolution of quantitative techniques, and the development of computerised tools. The main role in archaeology of institutional changes and the influence of theorical approaches in Human Sciences are analysed, in order to discover a third way in archaeology.
Dalla teoria alla ricerca sul campo: il contributo dell'informatica all'archeologia medievale
Abstract
The standardisation of records in archaeological work has permitted, notwithstanding some initial “resistence”, the massive introduction of computer science. In the field of post-classical archaeology the contribution of computers appears essential in comparison with data arising from written documentation. The latter appears to be of such dimension and quality that it has led to the formation of a historiographical tradition that is not used to dealing with archaeological research. Cartographic computerisation and image processing represent another sector which is developing in the post-classical field in order to study city-planning and building. This leads to an interdisciplinarity which is becoming extremely stimulating.
Dall'archivio IBM: 1958-1970
Abstract
The examination of archaeological documents preserved in the IBM archive outlines the development and the methodological tendencies which characterised, from the end of 1950's until the 1970's, the application of computer science in this field of study. The phases regarding technological development are described, as are the procedures relative to research projects of various subjects, both linguistic and strictly archaeological. These experiences show that, right from the beginning of the application of computers in archaeology, the tendency was to exploit their logical and mathematical potential.
L'ambiente Unix e le applicazioni umanistiche
Abstract
The trend in the use of computers in the Humanities, unlike taught or social sciences applications, seems to be the coexistence and exchange of many small or medium-size databases (both textual and “factual”) rather than larger ones, developed in big institutions. This requires two main conditions: a common operating environment and standards in the organisation and encoding of data. In archaeology, as in other disciplines, Unix offers a convenient solution for problem 1, and relational database theory for problem 2. An example is given of how a database may be organised and managed exclusively with the native tools of Unix and plain ASCII files.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1990, 1, 237-251
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