Articles by Subject

Computer technology

Multimedia and web tools

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

‘Ritorno a Vulci’. New tools for the study of the south-eastern necropolises

Alessandro Conti, Christian Mazet, Laura Maria Michetti

Abstract

The project ‘Ritorno a Vulci’ focuses on specific sectors of the south-eastern necropolis of Vulci, where excavations have been conducted since the 1800s. One of the primary objectives of this project is to create a dedicated WebGIS that will generate and manage new topographical documentation of the area. This will serve as a collaborative digital research platform, making document consultation more accessible and contributing to their preservation. Another significant digital project is ‘Vulci nel Mondo’ (VNM), which is conceived as a Virtual Museum. The Authors illustrate this highly versatile tool as an online space to bring together a permanent collection on Vulci. The standard virtual tour model is built on two key aspects: navigation, providing access to the collections and other information on the museum’s website, and interaction, simulating a physical space with which visitors can engage.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.1, 67-80; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.1.2024.06

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Le Digital Muret, une édition numérique enrichie d’un recueil de dessins d’objets archéologiques du XIXe siècle

Cécile Colonna, Federico Nurra

Abstract

A collection of unpublished drawings by Jean-Baptiste Muret (1795-1866), kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris), brings together in colour plates the drawings of almost 8,000 ancient objects, drawn according to the knowledge of his time. It is a precious and original testimony to the birth of archaeology as a science, and still has great heuristic potential today. The recent digital publication of this work allows us both to contribute to the history of the discipline and to give today’s researchers access to a wealth of documentation that is still useful for current studies. The presentation of the results of this research project will provide an opportunity to outline a proposed model for the digital publication of enriched historical sources, in accordance with the principles of open science and adapted to the specific needs of research in terms of scientific integrity.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.1, 139-156; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.1.2024.11

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

L’archivio di comunità del Monte Baldo come esempio delle potenzialità di uMap-OSM per lo sviluppo di progetti partecipati sui beni culturali

Alexandra Chavarría Arnau, Marco Bertuccelli

Abstract

The paper presents the use of the Free OpenSource Software uMap-OSM as a solution for the online implementation and dissemination of the Community Archive of Monte Baldo, a project consisting in the participatory identification and cataloging of Cultural Heritage from this territory located in the provinces of Trento and Verona. The paper offers a concise comparison of user-friendly alternatives and evaluates strategies for database creation using uMap-OSM. The final section validates the selected methods and customization plans, aimed at fulfilling divulgation, accessibility and sustainability goals, while adhering to archaeological documentation standards. The Community Archive of Monte Baldo also aligns with the objectives of local authorities and stakeholders in land-use planning and human development, contributing to the preparation of a UNESCO candidacy dossier for the Monte Baldo territory.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.1, 491-512; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.1.2024.29

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Amplifying archaeological outreach: the impact of Wikipedia and collaborative initiatives on cultural tourism

Piergiovanna Grossi, Serge Plata

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of Wikipedia and Wikimedia Foundation projects on archaeological heritage dissemination and cultural tourism enhancement. It focuses on two initiatives: a 2017 Public Archaeology event and a 2023 project extending into 2024. The 2017 initiative, in collaboration with the University of Verona and the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Verona, Rovigo e Vicenza, involved creating Wikipedia entries for key archaeological sites in Verona. Visitor data analysis, from these sites, showed an increased number of visits after the entry creation. The ongoing 2023 project, backed by Wikimedia Italia and the Superintendency, aims to refine Wikipedia entries for all supervised sites. Preliminary assessments indicate enhanced visitor engagement correlating with article updates. The study particularly analyzes visitor data for Corte Sgarzerie (Verona) and Criptoportico Romano (Vicenza), assessing both electronic and physical visits. Results indicate a significant statistical increase in site visits, following the availability of Wikipedia articles. Further, a significant correlation was found between electronic access to articles and actual visits to these sites. The findings suggest a substantial impact of Wikipedia on cultural tourism, highlighting the role of open access, free software, and open data in promoting and preserving knowledge.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 19-28; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.03

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

The good, the bad and the ugly: evaluating Open Science practices in archaeology

Alessio Palmisano, Andrea Titolo

Abstract

In the past decade, archaeology has witnessed a surge in digital data and methodologies made accessible through online repositories, databases, collaborative platforms like GitHub, and library collections. While this ‘digital revolution’ has lead to notable advancements in data accessibility and dissemination, it has also presented several challenges. These include developing effective data management strategies, defining scientific publication modalities, addressing ethical concerns regarding the protection of cultural heritage, and bridging the gap between rich and poor research institutions. Taking these challenges into account, this paper aims to outline best practices for data sharing, dissemination, and reproducibility in archaeology, underscoring their benefits to researchers and the wider public. Through a range of approaches and practical examples drawn from everyday research scenarios, we will demonstrate how these practices promote transparency and foster open science.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 75-84; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.09

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Dealing with doubts: site georeferencing in archaeology and in the geosciences

Florian Thiery, Fiona Schenk, Stefanie Baars

Abstract

Archaeological research must handle issues such as vagueness and uncertainty in data modelling. Especially vagueness and uncertainty must be modelled to work with geodata. However, for linking data and FAIRification graph-based modelling as Linked Open Data (LOD) proposed by Berners-Lee is the method and technique of choice. This paper discusses three data-driven interdisciplinary use cases of dealing with and modelling vague and uncertain geo-references (here especially findspots) based on literature as LOD from the archaeological and geosciences domain (Irish Ogham Stones, Campanian Ignimbrite, and Silver Coinage of Croton), implementing three modelling strategies using Wikidata, Linked Open Data and Wikibase.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 97-106; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.11

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Engaging the public: reviving history through the Social Simulacra model in participatory Public History projects

Lorenzo Gigli, Marco Montanari, Lucia Marsicano

Abstract

Public history and participatory history initiatives are rapidly gaining momentum as they aim to democratize the historical narrative, involving communities and individuals in shaping their own historical experiences. This paper introduces a novel approach to these accomplishments by harnessing the power of the Social Simulacra Model. The model offers an innovative and participatory framework for public history projects, enabling individuals to actively engage with and contribute to historical narratives. By integrating the Social Simulacra Model into public history, this paper seeks to transform the traditional approach to historical storytelling. This model facilitates the creation of immersive, interactive historical simulations that enable participants to become part of the historical landscape. It fosters a deeper connection between individuals and the past by allowing them to take on roles, explore social dynamics, and make decisions within historical contexts. This paper also illustrates the potential of the Social Simulacra Model in enriching public history and participatory history projects by offering a new dimension of engagement and interaction with the past. It paves the way for a more inclusive, engaging, and participatory approach to historical storytelling, bridging the gap between academic history and public engagement.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 197-202; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.21

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Zotero2Map: sviluppo di un nuovo strumento ITC per la condivisione e la pubblicazione dei dati bibliografici per la ricerca storica e archeologica

Eleonora Iacopini

Abstract

Zotero2map is a web application for sharing bibliographic data from various collaborators who want to share their bibliographic collections, using the Zotero software with the specificity of displaying and querying data also on a geographical map. With this tool the LAD: Laboratory of Digital Archeology at Sapienza (http://purl.org/lad) aims to facilitate the exchange of information relating to different historical and archaeological contexts, to speed up their retrieval and ensure constant updating of the data entered into the system. The webApp allows you to view and search for bibliographic data within an online map, using keywords (tags) that define the contents that are archived within the Zotero Libraries, which individual researchers already use for own scientific production. By simply clicking on the map it will therefore be possible to go back to the titles of the contributions, giving the possibility to individual users/researchers to always be updated on the scientific debate and on the publications concerning a certain area. The international vocation of the project presented is given not only by usability and open distribution, but also by the development of the cross-language functionality of keywords, a system that will allow the association of terms related to the same research topic but treated in different languages. The use of shared, multilingual dictionaries will allow not only to break down language barriers, but also to define an articulated taxonomy of relationships between the terms used. Individual researchers therefore do not have to adapt to pre-established vocabularies, but are invited to align their taxonomy with the shared one, making use of simple but powerful ontologies, such as SKOS or FOAF. Currently the software has been used on the specific case of Caonia, Northern Epirus.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 245-254; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.26

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

I progetti Wikimedia e gli enti culturali

Elena Marangoni, Oriana Bozzarelli

Abstract

The paper focuses on cooperation between GLAMs (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) and Wikimedia projects. Cultural institutions that share content, data and images of cultural heritage with free licence can make their collections accessible to a broad audience, while Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects benefit from these content as sources for the online encyclopedia. Wikimedia Italia, local chapter of the Wikimedia movement and of the OpenStreetMap Foundation, supports the partnerships with cultural institutions in different ways. The association organizes Wiki Loves Monuments in Italy, a photographic contest that invites citizens to document cultural heritage and represents an instrument to face the Italian legal restrictions on sharing images of cultural heritage. A funding program supports each year GLAMs and volunteers’ projects and a wide project, Empowering Italian GLAMs, aims at addressing all Italian museums and heritage institutions in using open tools and sharing their digital collections.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 263-272; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.28

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Preliminary results of the archaeological potential map in SITAR

Mirella Serlorenzi, Ascanio D'Andrea, Carlo Rosa, Paolo Rosati, Daniele Sepio

Abstract

The institutional goal of studying and mapping archaeological potential in SITAR in recent years has been to create an efficient tool to support urban planning and cultural heritage management: The Archaeological Potential Map of Rome. The Soprintendenza of Rome plays a key role in this effort, being responsible for the safeguarding and promotion of the city’s archaeological heritage. By developing a robust model of archaeological potential, the Soprintendenza can better anticipate and mitigate the impact of construction and development projects on archaeological sites. This proactive approach ensures that significant archaeological resources are identified and preserved before they are damaged or destroyed. The tool will facilitate informed decision-making in urban planning, helping to balance the needs of modern development with the preservation of historical sites. Moreover, it will support the regulatory framework that mandates archaeological assessments in high-potential areas, rationalisation of administrative processes and improving compliance with heritage protection regulations. Overall, the creation of an efficient archaeological potential model by the Soprintendenza of Rome underlines the commitment to preserving the city’s cultural heritage while accommodating its continuous urban evolution.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 285-298; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.31

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Investigating resilient Roman agricultural landscapes in southern Italy. An integrated and open IT approach to modeling centuriation

Rodolfo Brancato, Veronica Ferrari, Immacolata Ditaranto, Pasquale Merola, Irene Rossi

Abstract

The In.Res.Agri project aims to optimize the understanding of Roman agricultural landscapes in Southern Italy by integrating topographical, archaeological, environmental, and textual data within an innovative data-science platform. It focuses on examining the resilience of Roman agrarian landscapes, specifically through elements such as centuriation, route networks, and settlement patterns. The project employs both traditional survey methods and advanced technologies to recover, interpret, and manage archaeo-topographical data related to centuriation. Key methods include using Machine Learning for the automatic detection of centuriated fields, spatial analysis of both legacy and new data, and the use of annotated epigraphic and literary sources. All collected data will be implemented into the Digital_Groma platform, which will feature a digital archive and a webGIS for data display and querying; data will be exposed adhering to FAIR principles. In.Res.Agri will focus on regions in Campania (Vesuvian Area, Irpinia) and Puglia (Tavoliere), exploring the link between contemporary landscapes and Roman centuriated agro-ecosystems. This research is crucial for understanding the impact of environmental changes on Cultural Heritage, aligning with the priorities of the European Commission and UNESCO. The Digital_Groma platform will be accessible to researchers, tourists, and public institutions involved in archaeology, urban planning, and cultural heritage protection.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 387-400; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.41

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Digital strategies for enhancing cultural heritage: the Villa del Casale of Piazza Armerina Project, from legacy data to digital ecosystem

Giulia Marsili

Abstract

The paper highlights the crucial role of legacy data in reconstructing archaeological sites and historical landscapes, emphasizing the need for digitization to safeguard and democratize access to heritage. Focused strategies for digital acquisition are essential, particularly in regions like Sicily with diverse cultural heritage facing challenges of preservation in the digital age. The project ‘Digital strategies for enhancing cultural heritage: the Villa del Casale of Piazza Armerina, from the late antique building site to the Museum Collection’ exemplifies this approach. Its foundation, aiming to bridge the gap between the Palazzo Trigona Museum and Villa del Casale through a web-based digital ecosystem, is firstly presented here. By adopting a multidisciplinary methodology, the project aims to gather scattered legacy data, advance scientific understanding, and develops precise datasets through historical research and digitization. The resulting digital ecosystem will feature immersive experiences and educational opportunities, enhancing accessibility and interoperability of digital contents. By integrating 3D artifact galleries with virtual models and legacy data, the project seeks to reveal the full potential of Villa del Casale cultural heritage, promoting appreciation and understanding for future generations.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 445-454; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.46

2024 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

A new website for the journal «Archeologia e Calcolatori»

Nicolò Paraciani

Abstract

Over the course of 35 years since its foundation, the open access journal «Archeologia e Calcolatori» has been providing its publications online via the website, as well as open access metadata since 2005 through the OAI-PMH repository. In 2024, the website underwent a major update and restyling, including the addition of modern interoperability features, most notably the newly implemented JSON REST API. This paper is concerned with the technical description of the design and development of the new website and additional functionalities for «Archeologia e Calcolatori», while also giving a short overview of how the journal’s online presence has evolved over time. The exchange of data between the journal’s REST API and the Open Archaeology Hub (ArchaeoHub) currently being developed in the context of the H2IOSC project is described as well. Finally, some future perspectives for further improvement are presented.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 471-482; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.49

2023 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Punto Zero, una nuova web application per la gestione e l’informatizzazione dei dati di archivio. Il caso di Ancona

Eleonora Iacopini

Abstract

The case of city of Ancona highlighted the lack of specific software for the management and digitization of the archaeological data stored in the archives of the Superintendence. The archives contain many heterogeneous data that can help to understand the history of the archaeological sites, from their discovery up to the information archived from the numerous research or rescue archaeology excavations that have taken place over time. The normalization of all the archival data within a single relational database associated with their specific geographical nature, thanks to an overall view and an in-depth review of the data, shed new light on both edited contexts and archaeological evidence that had not yet received an adequate study and that had not been entered into a system that considers nearby data. This software does not replace existing cataloging systems, such as SIGECweb, but it aims to support the cataloging activity using the same standard and at the same time allowing the Superintendence to use the data for the protection activity and for their study.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.1, 95-104; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.1.2023.11

2023 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Linked Open Ogham. How to publish and interlink various Ogham Data?

Florian Thiery, Peter Thiery

Abstract

The Linked Open Ogham Data Project was set up in 2019 by the Research Squirrel Engineers Network and supported by the Wikimedia Germany Open Science Fellows Program in 2020/2021. In 2022 an Ogham survey was done in Ireland to record Ogham stones in the field and museums. The project aims at providing and integrating Ogham Data in community hubs such as Wikidata and Open Street Map (OSM). This paper shows a hybrid Ogham LOD workflow, based on the idea of Open Science, Open Software, Open Data and the FAIR principles to create re-usability and modular IT infrastructure with community standards and commonly-used interfaces. Furthermore, the paper shows examples of Ogham stones from the Dingle and Iveragh Peninsulas in OSM and gives a deeper insight into the inscriptions and mentioned Ogham-specific formula words and names.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.1, 105-114; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.1.2023.12

2023 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Challenges in research community building: integrating Terra Sigillata (Samian) research into the Wikidata community

Florian Thiery, Allard W. Mees, John Brady Kiesling

Abstract

In 2020, the Samian Research database began a process of integrating its data within Wikidata through the creation of a set of Samian Research Wikidata items, including Samian Ware Discovery Sites, Samian Ware kiln sites and kiln regions, comprising accurate or approximate geospatial information and a backlink to the Linked Open Data hub ‘archaeology.link’. This approach of creating designated Wikidata items is an efficient way to map the enormous geographic reach of our subject and to call attention to many European archaeological sites and excavations that hitherto lacked a Wikidata identifier. The site of Corinth illustrates an exemplary issue to be solved: ambiguity and different archaeological concepts and ideas. E.g., is it correct to merge Corinth as a Samian Ware Discovery Site with the archaeological site of ancient Corinth? To solve the issue, the broader Wikidata community must be enlisted. This paper describes the challenges in the use case of Corinth and offers solutions within Wikidata.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.1, 157-164; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.1.2023.17

2023 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

La valorizzazione dei musei locali attraverso Wikipedia: il progetto MedAniene

Mariflora Caruso, Paola La Torre, Roberta Manzollino

Abstract

The aim of this contribution is to explain workflows, methodologies and impact of the ‘MedAniene Project’, that was realised through the collaborative use of Wiki platforms and coordinated by the APS ArcheoFOSS. The project involved creating or modifying Wikipedia pages for the museums of the Aniene Valley, uploading images to the Wikimedia Commons repository and structuring relational information in the Wikidata system. The goal of the work was to improve the communication and increase the visibility of those museums by providing the public with open access scientific explanations and implementing data relationships through several heuristic systems which are available to the digital audience. Building such an informative apparatus offers the opportunity to learn about shared digital cultural heritage, increasing awareness in external users and in communities. It is now possible to analyse data on views, accesses and clicks on contents and evaluate the impact of specific activities in terms of audience targeting and engagement. Indeed, this work proposes a methodology for the establishment of a digital, open and collaborative communication space, improving the connection between cultural entities and communities.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2023, 34.1, 165-174; doi: 10.19282/ac.34.1.2023.18

2022 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Archaeological documentation as a service. Archaeological Information Systems in the cloud era: the BraDypUS case-study

Julian Bogdani

Abstract

The paper discusses new trends in the archaeological documentation practice, heavily conditioned by the capillary diffusion of web-based technologies and cloud-based services. In this context, a close examination of BraDypUS, a libre and open source project both available for download, self-hosting and as a cloud service, is presented. The online availability of archaeological data sets and the possibility of building new original research on them, by adapting original schemas and formats to new requirements, is considered a very promising initial step towards a more collaborative research. Reducing IT barriers and setting the stage for web-based data management and publication to small-scale (single-researcher and/or highly specialized) projects, will lead to a new era for archaeological data analysis and dissemination.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2022, 33.2, 115-134; doi: 10.19282/ac.33.2.2022.07

2022 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

“Field data collection app” e ricognizioni archeologiche: Geopaparazzi

Elisa Paperini, Francesca Anichini, Gabriele Gattiglia

Abstract

This paper aims to demonstrate how field data collection applications can represent a good resource in archaeological surveys. As an alternative to the classic paper documentation, using a smartphone application saves time both during the survey (automatic geolocation, GPS tracking) and in the post-processing (easier data import in a computer software, reduction of typo-errors and prevention of transcription errors). The focus of this paper is Geopaparazzi, an open source application for Android that allows customized and easy collection of field data by using a smartphone; collected data are ready to be processed by computer software like GIS. Geopaparazzi 6.1.0 was tested in four archaeological survey campaigns, three in Versilia (Italy, Tuscany) and one in Lampedusa (Italy, Sicily). The two environments are profoundly different: Versilia is a mountain landscape, and Lampedusa is a small island. Moreover, the data collected are different but these differences helped to understand how adaptable the application can be.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2022, 33.2, 215-234; doi: 10.19282/ac.33.2.2022.12

2021 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Dal digitale al materiale: design e tecnologie digitali per la creazione di kit esperienziali per il Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli

Maria De Falco, Maria Laura Nappi, Antonia Auletta, Carla Langella

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the interaction between design and archaeology in building Museum engagement experiences. In particular, a case study from the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN) will be presented. This study was carried out as part of OBVIA - Out Of Boundaries Viral Art Dissemination, a joint public engagement project sponsored by the Museum and partners such as the Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’ and the Università degli Studi della Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’. The target of the project was to stimulate innovative communication and promotion actions. Specific research activities carried out by the Dipartimento di Architettura e Disegno Industriale dell’Università degli Studi della Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’, were dedicated to the development of Experience Design strategies for museum engagement and audience development. This study resulted in the creation of kits to be used during hands-on laboratories for children. The kit ‘Museum Details’ focused on the observation and reproduction of details of archaeological artifacts exhibited in the Museum. These kits included a map, instruments for detailed observation, moulding clay and casts to create 3D reproductions of original archaeological details. The necessity of a high detailed reproduction of small features of archaeological findings was an opportunity to experiment with the acquisition of accurate 3D models. In particular, the work carried out by Mnemosyne3D focused on five findings from the Magna Graecia collection. The main challenge was to detect sub-millimetric details on a reflecting surface. Photogrammetry was chosen as method for 3D scanning, a structure from motion acquisition technique. The post processing, through 3D sculpting and CAD 3D software, aimed to enhance the features of the models in order to make them suitable for casting and plastic reproductions.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2021, 32.1, 251-268; doi: 10.19282/ac.32.1.2021.14

2021 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

PARMAUMENTATA. Ricerca archeologica, augmented reality e user experience nella ricostruzione del paesaggio urbano di Parma

Alessia Morigi, Filippo Fontana, Francesco Garbasi

Abstract

The core of the research project CittAumentata is the development of a software tool that fully uses the potential of AR as a way of understanding and improving ancient landscapes. The app links a model of collecting and processing archaeological and topographical datasets to an experience that increases users’ interaction thanks to the ease-to-use and compatibility with most of the devices (smartphones and tablets). The scalability and the certification of a data protocol allows to systematize an innovative tool that manages 3D data and offers to citizenship a new way to understand cultural heritage and historical stratification in landscapes.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2021, 32.1, 269-290; doi: 10.19282/ac.32.1.2021.15

2021 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

WIKI loves churches! La piattaforma WikiCARE per la catalogazione collaborativa delle chiese altomedievali in Italia

Alexandra Chavarría Arnau, Paolo Vedovetto

Abstract

The aim of the collaborative platform WikiCARE, born in 2010, is the cataloging of European churches between the 4th and the 10th centuries and the creation of a scientific community with shared research interests centered on the study of the churches. In this contribution we will first retrace the constitutive phases of the project and its purposes, and then present the structure of the information sheet, highlighting some critical issues found in its compilation by the Italian group. We will then reflect on the prospects of WikiCARE, considering its potential from the point of view of an ever wider sharing of research, not only in the academic field.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2021, 32.1, 291-306; doi: 10.19282/ac.32.1.2021.16

2021 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Etruscan hypogea in 3D: a proposal for an immersive and interactive visualization of Volterra’s funerary contexts

Emanuele Taccola, Lisa Rosselli, Nicolò Albertini, Marta Martino

Abstract

This article describes an interdisciplinary study carried out by a team of archaeologists, 3D surveyors and experts of new technologies applied to cultural heritage. The research was aimed at developing a virtual reality experience dedicated to Etruscan hypogean tombs in the city of Volterra. The application, intended for non-expert users, has been implemented in a touch screen version (mobile devices) as well as in VR mode (Samsung Gear Headset). In both versions, the user can easily interact with the immersive virtual context, browsing through the necropolises and/or underground tombs, and acquire textual and multimedia information.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2021, 32.2, 135-152; doi: 10.19282/ac.32.2.2021.12

2019 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

The future of the past: first perspectives for Doclea today

Lucia Alberti, Antonio D'Eredità

Abstract

The title of this section consciously recalls that of the project currently running in Doclea for 2018-2020 (‘The Future of the Past: Study and Enhancement of Ancient Doclea, Montenegro’). The Authors focus their attention not only on extracting scientific knowledge and seeking the preservation of the site, but also on considering its future development and utilisation. The final goal is the design and completion of a sustainable plan for the relaunch of the site, in order to hand it back to its community as a tool for socio-cultural and economic growth. The rediscovery of the cultural identity of the territory and the collective memory of a community can give new life to past material culture and traditions, offering to visitors and inhabitants an integrated human experience of physical and mental well-being.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, Supplemento 11, 105-111; doi: 10.19282/ACS.11.2019.09

2019 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Archaeology and Audience Development digital strategies: a research conducted with the team of Archeologia e Calcolatori

Irene Pompili

Abstract

An internship at the CNR-ISMA was the starting point for the Master’s 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

2019 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Un itinerario "ad patres". Il cimitero delle Fontanelle a Napoli tra tecnologia e creatività

Laura Del Verme

Abstract

The rapid development of digital and multimedia technologies has generated a renewed attention on a number of alternative models for facilitating and enriching the relationship between visitors and the cultural assets they are interested in, in various disciplinary areas (archaeology, sociology, economics, information technology, design). Digital technologies, and in particular mobile technology, are capable of transforming any cultural visit, improving and strengthening the ways in which visitors can enjoy it. In the most rewarding examples, the use of such technologies acts as a trigger for the development of innovative scenarios in line with the needs for improving the experience, so reigniting a sense of discovery, reality and surprise. The ViaggiArte project offers an unusual way of acquiring knowledge about the monumental Ossuary of Naples, developed by using the latest VR and Oculus Rift technology, in order to encourage potential visitors to travel in the real site. The programme designed for the Cemetery of the Fontanelle in Naples is able to transform a series of anonymous, and so difficult to appreciate, objects into an immersive and engaging travel experience. The emotional impact of the site is fuelled by the exposure to the programme, amplified by its virtual reality cinematic experience. The project also provides a paradigmatic example of innovative forms of contemporary storytelling.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 405-421; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.23

2019 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

La cultura materiale della necropoli di Abakainon nell'esposizione multimediale del Museo Archeologico Santi Furnari di Tripi (ME)

Girolamo Sofia

Abstract

The author describes the recent set up of the Archaeological Museum Santi Furnari at Tripi (ME), inaugurated in 2012, and considers it as an example of technological innovation focused on the regional territory. Thanks to the application of digital technologies during the visit, the quality and value of the archaeological exhibition has improved considerably. Recently, to complete the path of modernization, the virtual tour experience of the Museum has also been added on the web platform (http://goo.gl/maps/hqNw4). This window of innovation has stimulated a considerable increase in the number of visits which, at present, amounts to around two thousand people a year.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 423-438; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.24

2019 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

L’Open Source per i Musei: il tour virtuale del Museo delle Origini (Sapienza Università di Roma)

Valerio De Luca, Cecilia Conati Barbaro, Chiara La Marca, Maria Lucrezia Savino, Paolo Rosati

Abstract

The project involves the setting up of a virtual tour for the Museum of the Origins, namely the Museum of Prehistory and Protohistory at the Sapienza University of Rome Museum Pole. The virtual tour has been developed through open source technologies: a low-cost approach was pursued to provide a work-flow example for other museum sites wishing to acquire this promotion tool. The final product was designed both for museum use (in-site) and for a web spread (web-site).

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 479-482; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.34

2019 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Il museo virtuale della Valle del Calore

Augusto Palombini, Bruno Fanini

Abstract

The Virtual Museum of the Upper Calore Valley is a website which allows visitors to travel in time and space through and have access to various information on monuments, towns, culture, history, wine and food of the Hirpinian territory. By accessing six fictional videos on characters drawn from local history, users can also experience a historical overview, from the Longobard invasion up to the Unification of Italy, through the troubled periods of the Kingdom of Naples. The project works by open source software for video editing, GIS elaboration, and image processing. The browsing platform is based on the earliest release of the Aton framework created by CNR ITABC for browsing large-scale geographical and architectural data, with advanced features for graphic rendering, stereoscopic view, online representation of complex geometry and resolution through powerful paging algorithms. Aton is compatible with every modern HTML5 multimedia standard and is a powerful tool for historical storytelling.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 487-490; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.36

2019 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Les pratiques de la recherche en archéologie à l’heure du numérique. L’évolution de la recherche d’information et de la publication de 1955 à nos jours

Virginie Fromageot-Laniepce

Abstract

The 12th Supplement to the international open access journal ‘Archeologia e Calcolatori’ is dedicated to the history of archaeological research in the digital age, with particular reference to the evolution of electronic publishing from 1955 until today. In the first part of the volume, the Author, Ingénieur de recherche at the CNRS (équipe ArScAn - Monde grec et systèmes d'information), focuses on the history of applications in France in the second half of the 20th century, starting from the earliest experiments of classification and automation of documentary analysis, which then led to the creation of archaeological databases. The second part of the volume examines the development of electronic publishing in archaeology, with particular reference to the changes brought about by the advent of the Internet and the Open Access movement. Through a careful evaluation of the websites of reference for the dissemination of monographs and journals, the analysis focuses on the different digitization and online dissemination policies for archaeological publications. The results of this systematic survey offer a series of interesting ideas to better understand and satisfy the needs of the archaeological community.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, Supplemento 12, 2-247; doi: 10.19282/ac.12.2019.01

2018 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Un approccio multidisciplinare per documentare e visualizzare un sito archeologico: la villa d’otium di Massaciuccoli (Massarosa, LU)

Martina Giannini, Cristina Castagnetti

Abstract

The research project VisualVersilia 3D aims at offering a new method to record andvisualize the territory and its heritage by matching the traditional reading of documents and the potential use of modern communication technologies. The purpose of the project is to define a methodology that can be applied to material culture, as well as to other types of contents and contexts, to enhance the characteristic features of the territory and its heritage. The innovation of the project consists in the development of a procedure for documenting current and past historical times and integrating their 3D visualizations with rendering, capable of returning an immersive virtual reality for a successful enhancement of the heritage. The research implements the methodology in the archaeological complex of Massaciuccoli (Massarosa, LU), one of the best preserved Roman site of the Versilia area (Tuscany, Italy). The activities briefly consist in: 1) analysis of all types of available sources; 2) metric three-dimensional survey by laser scanning technology addressed to the structures and buildings of the complex; 3) laser scanning data processing; 4) realization of virtual 3D rendering related to Roman and current condition for documentation and conservation purposes; 5) creation of virtual tour of the site in its current form, on the basis of spherical images then enhanced by texts, and 3D models of the Roman age.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2018, 29, 279-295; doi: 10.19282/ac.29.2018.22

2018 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Carolingian culture at Reichenau and St. Gall

Patrick J. Geary

Abstract

Carolingian Culture at Reichenau and St. Gall is a digital research tool providing access to the material and intellectual cultures of Carolingian monasteries. The website was produced at the University of California, Los Angeles between 2003 and 2009 with the financial sponsorship of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The first phase focuses on the Plan of St. Gall (CSG 1092) and provides high-resolution imaging of the Plan and related data bases on Carolingian material culture. The second phase reconstitutes virtually the ninth century libraries of St. Gall and of Reichenau including 170 complete manuscripts today found in 17 European libraries. For each manuscript, in addition to high-resolution access to the manuscript itself, metadata provides information on the contents, codicology, and bibliography. Finally, a series of commissioned essays introduce users to Carolingian monastic culture.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2018, Supplemento 10, 107-122; doi: 10.19282/ACS.10.2018.07

2018 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

CENOBIUM 10 years after: an evolving platform for Digital Humanities

Ute Dercks, Federico Ponchio, Roberto Scopigno

Abstract

The Authors present CENOBIUM, a web-based system designed to support the work of art historians. It provides access to multimedia content and related descriptive text on a specific topic: capitals in Romanesque cloisters. This paper discusses the motivation behind the decision to develop this web resource, taken more than ten years ago. It describes the initial design of the often system and how it evolved to keep pace with technological developments. In a context where the results of ICT-CH projects (digital tools, websites) have life span barely exceeding the timeframe of the actual project, CENOBIUM can be considered a success. It has been operating and steadily been updated with new content and latest technologies throughout its decade-long life.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2018, Supplemento 10, 123-141; doi: 10.19282/ACS.10.2018.08

2018 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Mapping Gothic

Stephen Murray, Andrew Tallon, Rory O’Neill, Stefaan van Liefferinge

Abstract

Mapping Gothic (http://www.mappinggothic.com/) first began in summer 2008 as Mapping Gothic France. Funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the project was initiated at the Columbia University, Department of Art History and Archaeology. The team conducted five expeditions to gather high-resolution images and other data from great Gothic churches, which in this ambitious website project were located both in space and time. As work pro- gressed the geographical scope was widened to include England and hopefully also Spain and Germany. Whereas pictures can be satisfactorily represented in two dimensions in a book or on a computer screen, space - especially Gothic space - demands a different approach, one which embraces not only the architectonic volume but also time and narrative. The intention has been not just to develop a more appropriate way of representing the spaciousness of indi- vidual monuments, but also to provide the user of the site with new ways to understand the relationship of hundreds of buildings conventionally described as ‘Gothic’.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2018, Supplemento 10, 143-153; doi: 10.19282/ACS.10.2018.09

2018 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

De CLAUSTRA a PAISAJES ESPIRITUALES: proyectos de Digital Humanities sobre el espacio monástico medieval (siglos XI-XV)

Blanca Garí, Gemma T. Colesanti, Maria Soler-Sala, Leopoldo Repola

Abstract

This paper aims to present two projects carried out within the Digital Humanities field and related to the study of medieval feminine spirituality: the Atlas CLAUSTRA and the SPIRITUAL LANDSCAPES project. Both headed by the University of Barcelona, in collaboration with researchers at a large number of internationally renowned universities and research centres, they aim to study the medieval spiritual landscapes. The first does so through the creation of an Atlas and Catalogue of female spirituality spaces in Mediterranean Europe between the 11th and 16th centuries, and the second, through the study of the territorial impact of the foundation of monasteries on rural and urban landscapes during the Middle Ages. All this is based on the design, implementation and development of two powerful digital platforms that constitute a shared work space, scientific study tool, and instrument for the dissemination of the knowledge gained through the research.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2018, Supplemento 10, 155-171; doi: 10.19282/ACS.10.2018.10

2017 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Le risorse bibliografiche di archeologia in rete. Un panorama in evoluzione

Alessandra Caravale

Abstract

The article describes some bibliographic works carried out as part of the research line devoted to archaeological computing at the Istituto di Studi sul Mediterraneo Antico (ISMA), CNR. The work analyses, in particular, the rich bibliography on archaeological computing in the 1990s published on the website Virtual Museum of Archaeological Computing (http://archaeologicalcomputing.lincei.it/) and the digital bibliographies of Massimo Pallottino, Sabatino Moscati and Mauro Cristofani, some leading figures in our Institute’s history. Next, the text explores some examples of bibliographic resources available online (those relating to open texts and those relating to simple bibliographic references) and also describes some recently launched projects dedicated to virtual libraries and digital infrastructures in the field of human sciences.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.1, 257-270; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.1.2017.15

2017 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

“Let’s do it together!” Indagare, progettare, sviluppare la web archaeology con l’aiuto di un questionario

Irene Carpanese

Abstract

In this paper the Author presents the results of a survey, which was created as a preliminary study that was part of the ARCA Project, a Ph.D. research project which started in November 2015. The purpose of the interview was to gather information about web sites related to archaeological projects and research, directly collecting feedback from users in order to analyze real world experiences and expectations. The questionnaire was prepared in collaboration with experts from other disciplines (psychologists, UX and UI experts, etc.), in order to promote an objective and scientifically valid approach, and obtain meaningful results. It is structured in 7 sections, for a total amount of 50 questions and practical experiences. One hundred and twenty people were invited to take part in this evaluation process; in a preliminary phase the interview was submitted to users coming exclusively from the Cultural Heritage Department of Padua University. Subsequently, it was opened to a wider audience from other universities and in other countries, to gather as much anonymous evidence as possible about functional feedback and user needs, also trying to map perception changes depending on origin, age, occupation and education. The collection and analysis of data allowed us to proceed further in the study and to develop software suitable for the presentation of different types of data from archaeological research. The final prototype will be evaluated through two case studies: the excavation of Nora and the Ca’Tron Project.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.1, 271-290; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.1.2017.16

2017 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Archeologia e Web 2.0. Verità e dinamiche di potere nell’era digitale

Edoardo Vanni

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

2017 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Engaging visitors of archaeological sites through ‘emotive’ storytelling experiences: a pilot at the Ancient Agora of Athens

Maria Roussou, Francesco Ripanti, Katerina Servi

Abstract

The use of interactive storytelling by museums and heritage sites lends to the creation of experiences that support visitors in engaging emotionally with the objects on display. Finding ways to connect to the cultural content is even more important for visitors of archaeological sites due to the often fragmentary nature of the exhibits, which can leave them wondering what was once there and how it relates to them. In this paper, we describe the creation of a prototype mobile storytelling experience that attempts to explore a more emotive kind of storytelling in cultural contexts. The prototype was evaluated in a preliminary study that took place at the archaeological site of the Ancient Agora of Athens. The observations provide insights for the design of future iterations of such emotive storytelling experiences.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.2, 405-420; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.2.2017.33

2017 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Management and communication of archaeological artefacts and architectural heritage using digital IS. What today? What next?

Marco Gaiani

Abstract

In this paper, we reviewed 20 years of development of 3D based IS to support archaeological and AH artefact knowledge, management and communication and their theoretical work basis. In detail, we illustrated our experiences showing the advantages and limits we had observed after extensive use. In conclusion, we have illustrated a new paradigm based on IoT-related technologies, potentially able to overcome existing problems, and the theoretical foundation of the new framework that has been designed, the concept of the Smart Cultural Object, sources and recipients of advanced information and related technological underpinning.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.2, 421-435; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.2.2017.34

2017 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Multimedia digital solutions from image and range based models for ancient landscapes communication

Elisabetta Donadio, Riccardo Mazza, Federico Barello

Abstract

The paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary project which aimed at the dissemination of some archaeological remains producing multimedia contents from multisensor surveyed 3D data. The scope of this application pertained to the use of 3D detailed models as a base for some video-installations with the aim to arouse the visitors’ emotions and improve their museum experience. This work has been applied to the Arch of Augustus located in the archaeological site of Susa and to two ancient Roman marble statues, found in the city of Susa in 1802 and now displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Turin. The Arch of Augustus is in a remarkable state of conservation. Its decorated frieze tells about the peace between the Romans and the Celts but it is difficult to see for visitors at the ground level. A multisensor 3D survey, by means of laser scanning technique and photogrammetric method, made it possible to process a detailed 3D textured model, which provided the base for the creation of a life-size model to be placed in the Museum of Susa on which a designed didactic video map is projected, which explains the meaning of the frieze. The two statues, known as ‘busti loricati di Susa’ and representing two Roman emperors, were surveyed with a photogrammetric method with the aim of processing two 3D models representing the statues before the 19th century restoration, on the basis of archival sources. These models provided the base for a video installation for the museum which simulates a holographic projection and explains the different armour parts highlighting them in sequence. Nowadays modern metric survey technologies allow us to collect and process very detailed 3D models able to satisfy a wide variety of applications field, from specialized representation to didactic final uses in museums exhibitions.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.2, 485-496; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.2.2017.39

2017 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Open History Map

Silvia Bernardoni, Massimiliano Montanari, Raffaele Trojanis

Abstract

OpenHistoryMap aspires to become the open source geographical system for archaeological information, both from an academic and an educational point of view. There are many fragmented online web-GIS experiences targeted at very specific projects, but no tool enables a broader overview of both research and studies. For these reasons, in order to create an Open Access platform, one of the most important aspects is the creation of tools that can facilitate both the sharing of archaeological spatial and temporal information as well as the easy reuse of the generated data. OpenHistoryMap is supposed to create a tool that is both a map of the archaeological world as well as a repository for the connected data within structured research papers. The project finds its roots first of all within the collective experience of ‘archaeology’ that refers to non-expert users, and in the second place within the academic scientific experience of research centres and universities. While the first approach gives an integrated and reliable picture of the cultural item, the second provides consistent and solid datasets with a perspective on the mixture of specific types of information.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.2, 539-548; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.2.2017.44

2017 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

The archaeological settlement of Monte Bibele (Bologna)

Annachiara Penzo, Federica Proni, Antonio Gottarelli

Abstract

Monte Bibele is an archaeological settlement of the 4th and 3rd century BC with a village, a necropolis and a votive deposit. Earlier, during the 14th and 13th century BC, in the same area there was a small village of sub-Apennine facies attributable to the late Bronze Age. The Second Iron Age settlement is just a part of a larger demographic reorganization of the Apennines, as is also proved by the recent discovery of the Monterenzio Vecchio necropolis and votive deposit, on the opposite side of Idice Valley. These are small settlements located close to the main routes of both sides of the Apennines and populated by Italic (Etruscans, Umbrians, Ligurians, etc.) and transalpine peoples (Celts) allied to control the surroundings. Of the architectural structures of Monte Bibele, the best known are those of the village, in the part of the massive called ‘Pianella di Monte Savino’. It has an Etruscan foundation, over an area of about 7,000 m2, in part still to be explored, and documented in its final phase in the late 3rd century BC, when the village was sealed by a sudden fire. Archaeologists of Te.M.P.L.A. (Research Center for Multimedia Technologies Applied to Archaeology of Bologna University’s Department of History and Cultures) over the last decade, have made many models of houses at Pianella. Reconstructions are based on direct feedbacks (archaeological data) and indirect comparisons (historical sources, traditional architecture). The first model was virtual, followed by a real one made near the Museum of Monterenzio, and by the two new houses made directly in situ, thanks to EU funds for the development of Emilia Romagna used for renovating the archaeological and naturalistic area of Monte Bibele (Por Fesr 2007/2013).

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.2, 571-580; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.2.2017.47

2017 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Heron Visualisation Engine. Visualisation and dissemination of semantic cultural heritage data

Martijn van der Kaaij

Abstract

Over the past two decades, there has been a proliferation of software to create great 3D models of archaeological sites and objects, and there has been plenty of thought and discussion on data models for finds. The results of those efforts have been made public through institutional websites and specific portals, but now, a further step is necessary: the cultural heritage data and (meta)data need to be taken into the semantic web. The Heritage Online Visualisation Engine (further: Heron VE) provides tools for documenting, visualising and disseminating the semantic relations between sites, objects, documentation and narratives. Heron VE is scalable: it can be used to tell the story of a particular archaeological complex, but it can also illustrate relations between sites and objects which are widely separated in both time and space. With Heron VE, dissemination of (meta)data can take many different forms: Heron VE contains modules for presenting and reporting on data, but it can also be used to provide data only, for example in several XML-formats or in N-triples. The designer of Heron VE has 25 years of experience with cultural heritage data in the field of archaeology, museums and libraries and has been working on the structured dissemination of cultural heritage data, first in the semantic web and now within the framework of linked data. This paper will illustrate the journey towards Heron VE, including considerations regarding the adoption, adaptation or rejection of existing data models and ontologies. It will also contain examples. These will mainly be based on data regarding sites of former castles and stately homes in the Netherlands, but it will become very clear that the Heron VE can be applied to many different cultural heritage datasets, including those regarding ancient urban areas.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2017, 28.2, 603-607; doi: 10.19282/AC.28.2.2017.52

2016 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Voci ritrovate. Archeologi italiani del Novecento: l’esperienza di una mostra

Giuseppe Maria Della Fina

Abstract

The author illustrates some recent events promoted in Orvieto (the ancient Etruscan town of Volsinii) by the Fondazione per il Museo ‘Claudio Faina’. After a brief description of the scope and aims of the Foundation, which was established in 1957, attention is focused on some exhibition projects that make use of computer-based technologies to illustrate and disseminate information on the Museum collections, encouraging a greater interaction between scholars and the general public. In particular, the author focuses upon the recent exhibition ‘Voci ritrovate. Archeologi italiani del Novecento’. The exhibition was conceived by ‘digging’ in the Archives of the Foundation, a research work that enabled the ‘discovery’ of a series of tapes in which the voice of some of the greatest Italian archaeologists and historians of the last century were collected and preserved. Original Rai radio recordings of the Sixties and Seventies of the 20th century enrich the collection and a dedicated website allows visitors to listen to some valuable considerations on the profession of archaeologist. The scope of the Foundation is now to implement the website and create a digital sound archive.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2016, 27, 317-330; doi: 10.19282/AC.27.2016.16

2016 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Strategie di divulgazione dell’archeologia online: metodologie, strumenti e obiettivi. Dalla redazione del piano editoriale alla misurazione dei risultati

Astrid D'Eredità, Antonia Falcone, Domenica Pate, Paola Romi

Abstract

Promoting archaeology online for the general public can be considered one of the new jobs archaeologists are called upon in present day society. Thanks to modern technologies, it is possible to reach out to different groups than those who regularly follow traditional media, such as books or television. Social media and digital platforms, in fact, disrupt the dynamics of mass media communication, changing it from a ‘one-to-many’ approach to a new ‘many-to-many’ form, in which complex networks are created and it is possible to involve a wider segment of public. Any kind of audience development strategy based on digital social media requires a carefully crafted approach with mid- to long-term goals. This paper focuses on the methodologies, the tools and the aims on which an effective communication plan for archaeological museums, institutions and research groups should be based. The paper starts with a brief overview of digital public archaeology in Italy and proceeds with a close examination of the most common social media currently used to promote archaeology online, illustrating their specific characteristics and features, and introducing ways to integrate them within a wide-ranging communication plan. The paper stresses the importance of outlining clear objectives, defining specific targets accordingly, and thus choosing the best digital platform or platforms. Finally, the paper examines some of the most useful measurement tools for social media and websites, which allow gathering and analysing quantitative data on the engagement of our online public, but also provide significant qualitative data that can help address any kind of issues in our communication and better understand our audience.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2016, 27, 331-352; doi: 10.19282/AC.27.2016.17

2016 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Le API di Europeana come esempio di integrazione e rappresentazione delle risorse culturali

Matteo Lorenzini

Abstract

During the last years, the production of digital datasets in the Cultural Heritage domain, has seen an exponential increase and the structured repositories have become the most used infrastructure for knowledge management and consultation with different kinds of systems and platforms ensuring a complete interoperability and reach ability of data. Furthermore, the dataset products represent a great resource from which it is possible to extract and deduce new knowledge. In cultural heritage, thanks to the technology related to semantic web, we are able to manage and enrich our data using formalisms and data standards: digital libraries and digital archives, SPARQL-endpoint are some examples. This work, starting from the analysis of Europeana’s data model, discusses the integration and use of semantic data in third parts using the API system as a framework.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2016, Supplemento 8, 211-216

2016 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Archeologia in 140 caratteri: l’esperienza su Twitter di due musei archeologici nazionali

Marina Lo Blundo, Anna Maria Marras

Abstract

The 2014 Barcamp conference, the first in Italy dedicated to this topic, was focused on the way two archaeological museums are using Twitter and the 140 word limit to share their collections and experiences. The social networks have become important communication tools for museums, however, having an account is not enoughto be social. It is necessary to have an organized structure, competent persons, and a communication strategy planned according to the knowledge of a specific audience and, of course, according to which social tools are used.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2016, Supplemento 8, 217-222

2016 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Il riuso dei dati in archeologia. II Barcamp

Valeria Boi, Luca Corsato, Anna Maria Marras, Maurizio Napolitano, Cettina Santagati

Abstract

The 2014 edition of the Barcamp on the re-use of data in archaeology reflected discussions that took place during the ArcheoFOSS workshop in 2013. The discussion focused on the main themes related to the re-use of data, such as: online accessibility (open access), the use of open formats (open format) and, of course, the real data re-use (open data). In 2014 the discussion moved on to the production of data, on the dynamics of their re-use and on the role played by the different professionals involved. In order to provide a complete overview of this theme two of the main figures in the Italian open data scenario, Luca Corsato and Maurizio Napolitano, were invited to join the Barcamp. Their contribution addressed the various aspects related to data re-use more comprehensively. In this brief report the protagonists and the issues raised during the discussion are presented. The liveliness of the discussion underlines the need for these questions and the related issues to be addressed in institutional offices.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2016, Supplemento 8, 223-228

2016 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

La ricerca a portata di click. Database relazionali e siti web: contenitori e visualizzatori per i dati archeologici

Maria Stella Busana, Irene Carpanese, Nicola Orio

Abstract

The aim of the Project Ca’ Tron. Navigating in the past between Treviso and the Venice Lagoon (annual research fellowship funded by European Social Funds) is to create a MySQL relational database and make it accessible through a dedicated website. The database includes data previously collected and processed, coming from the archaeological excavation of the Estate of Ca’ Tron, carried out by the Department of Cultural Heritage at the University of Padua (2000-2010). At the same time, a website was created; it was divided into eight main sections and linked to a database, in which users can find raw data and elaborated research results. The structure of the website is user friendly and the data are easy to understand. Moreover, data are linked to photos, drawings and 3D reconstructions, developed with Blender. The website is also useful for more expert users, who can analyze specific topics through links and web pages, manage the raw data (Stratigraphic Unit sheets or descriptions of archaeological finds) or deal with elaborated data. The project aims to open archaeological data, usually reserved to specialists, to a wider audience through an explicit and transparent process that can provide a clear interpretation of the contexts that were investigated.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2016, Supplemento 8, 246-253

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Archaeological computing and ISMA projects

Alessandra Caravale

Abstract

Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, 26, 17-18; doi: 10.19282/ac.26.2015.04

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

The EAGLE network

Silvia Orlandi

Abstract

Paper presented at the Italic inscriptions and databases workshop.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, 26, 21-22; doi: 10.19282/ac.26.2015.06

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

ICT per il Cultural Heritage: possibili interazioni con SITAR

Silvio Migliori, Dante Abate, Daniela Alderuccio, Luciana Bordoni, Beatrice Calosso, Antonio Di Lorenzo, Giorgio Mencuccini, Samuele Pierattini, Giovanni Ponti

Abstract

The advanced Information and Communication Technologies, combined with the development of applications based on artificial intelligence, open new possibilities to investigate Cultural Heritage in depth. The main objective of this process is to promote the integrated knowledge of CH within its context, so that it becomes a factor of growth in the cultural, social and economic system, in specific geographical areas. Through GRID computing it is possible to directly access by web distributed databases, creating a network of different archives. In addition, a virtual reality reconstruction of areas and ontologies, supplementary capabilities designed to support intelligent fruition and multilingualism, for some time have been extensively investigated with significant results. The archaeological heritage has been the subject of investigation and study at ENEA-UTICT in a number of project activities. This paper intends to propose conceptual and methodological reflections for a fruitful interaction with SITAR.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, Supplemento 7, 83-88

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Il GARR e la comunità dei Beni Culturali

Claudia Battista, Maddalena Vario

Abstract

The technological aspect has been one of the major challenges that the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma (SSBAR) has faced for the implementation of SITAR, starting with the organization of the system up to the creation of a network infrastructure. Thanks to the help and support of the Italian research and education network GARR, a fiber optic link has been created between GARR and the head office of SSBAR, Palazzo Massimo, to reliably manage the transmission of the huge amount of data created by SITAR. In addition, the Superintendence is going to adopt the newly released IdP in the Cloud GARR service to join the IDEM federation for privilege and security management in data access and for offering authenticated services in the web application SITAR. In this paper, we will highlight the strategic role of the ICT and the high-bandwidth research and education networks in providing a virtual environment to encourage and facilitate collaboration between archaeologists and researchers.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, Supplemento 7, 89-94

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

L’attuale quadro normativo e le attività intraprese

Anna Conticello

Abstract

Law no. 221 of December 17, 2012 amended the Digital Government Code (CAD), and imposed a change in the Public Administration’s approach to transparency towards the citizen. The General Secretariat of MiBACT directs the policy of the Ministry concerning transparency, publication of data and open data and develops new official positions on this subject. Regulatory updates on cultural heritage are indeed necessary in order to consistently regulate the sharing of digital cultural resources and knowledge, and replace current approaches, such as the principle of open-by-default, which are still insufficient to define a suitable legal framework for new forms of copyright/copyleft.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, Supplemento 7, 97-101

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Dati.culturaitalia.it, un progetto pilota dedicato ai dati aperti e ai Linked Open Data

Sara Di Giorgio

Abstract

The pilot project dati.culturaitalia.it started in 2012 to build up a Linked Open DataLOD) Service that will progressively make available open data-sets from the web-portal CulturaItalia, the Italian national aggregator for Europeana. The application, online since 2013 (http://dati.culturaitalia.it/), was designed to allow the resources aggregated by CulturaItalia to be involved into large semantic networks after exposing, sharing and connecting data according to LOD principles. CulturaItalia is the Portal of Italian Culture managed by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico (ICCU), in which are involved cultural institutions - museums, archives and libraries - from national, regional and local levels. Metadata aggregated by CulturaItalia, encoded according to the XML schema PICO Dublin Core Application Profile (PICO AP), were mapped into two different RDF schemas: the Europeana Data Model (EDM) and the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CIDOC-CRM). In particular, the OWL implementation named Erlangen CRM was chosen for implementing the mapping. RDF triples mapped into Erlangen CRM were then enriched with links to URIs identifying instances of internationally established RDF resources for geographic names and authority files for personal and corporate names, such as GeoNames and Virtual International Authority File (VIAF).

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, Supplemento 7, 103-106

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

SITAR e open data: alcune riflessioni sulla messa in rete della banca dati

Ilaria Jovine, Valeria Boi, Milena Stacca

Abstract

At present, the law is improving in order to make possible to share the public sector information with civil society, creating an ever-increasing body of knowledge. Information is not only evidence of the work done by the administration, but also the chance for an economical rise. Moreover, data help to enhance the quantity and quality of available information, in virtue of derived data circulation. This is very important if it is applied to the informative heritage preserved in public archives, filled with unpublished scientific data. The Geographic Archaeological Information System of Rome (SITAR) is a project of the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e il Turismo, which aims to open archaeological heritage data of the Roman urban area to the general public (http://sitar.archeoroma.beniculturali.it/). SITAR webGIS portal allows the online consultation of archaeological data: for every record in the database the topographic location is provided, together with a descriptive sheet containing administrative information (type of survey, commissioning body, executing company) and scientific ones (type/function, chronology, description, etc.). The information provided correspond to a minimum level of knowledge, which is adequate to allow an aware re-use of data for research, conservation and urban planning aims. Appropriate licenses would be provided, in order to make it possible to cite the name of the scientific director and of the field archaeologist, author of the archaeological report, allowing the preservation of the information about the provenance of scientific data.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, Supplemento 7, 107-114

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

La gestione della conoscenza per DATABENC

Francesco Bifulco, Angelo Chianese, Fiammetta Marulli, Francesco Piccialli, Isabella Valente

Abstract

The main goal of the DATABENC project is to make the cultural heritage of the Campania Region available to a wider audience. This project aims at creating and promoting new economic, social and cultural opportunities, which can positively influence each other and enable further developments. DATABENC is based on the use of the most advanced ICT solutions and its main goal is to create real innovation in the Cultural Heritage field: the most important objective is to develop an infrastructure with a strong, well defined, territorial and cultural connotation which can generate well targeted measures. After introducing the project’s aims, the paper illustrates its operational program and intervention models: in particular, its application scenario (Cultural Heritage domain), and its scientific framework (Internet of Things). Finally, a preliminary application (OPS Cricket) will be presented.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, Supplemento 7, 117-129

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Smart cities e identità culturale: l’approccio integrato del progetto Or.C.He.S.T.R.A

Francesca Cantone, Massimo Marrelli, Emanuela Motta

Abstract

The Or.C.He.S.T.R.A. project focuses on the development of a set of ICT solutions supporting the smart valorization of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the Campania Region, in particular the city of Naples and its historic center, for citizens/visitors/tourists while fulfilling the principles of sustainability and eco-friendliness. The project investigates the perspectives of applying the Smart City paradigm in the Cultural Heritage field. Thus, this research outlines the emerging concept of Smart Cultural Heritage and proposes a new integrated approach, in which the fundamental value of the cultural framework is acknowledged in the complexity of the smart model. The studies on Cultural Commons are invoked as a basis for the analysis on the advantages of sharing common cultural resources (such as cultural heritage and the related digital information) within the Communities, identified in their inclination to innovation by means of the Evolving Networks model. In this context the Or.C.He.S.T.R.A. project aims at defining a new model of an integrated multidisciplinary approach to Naples’ historic center: a participatory, cooperative, complex system of heterogeneous information on the identified area, ranging from mobility, to health, energy, cultural heritage. The integration of different aspects increases their potential, affecting the values of cohesion and density of the networks of shared contents, goods and services in the area, and supporting the availability of culture and innovation in the community, facilitating their assumption and thus contributing to the generation of value on the territory.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, Supplemento 7, 131-140

2015 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Comunicare la conoscenza archeologica. Alcuni esempi di divulgazione fra creatività e tecnologie

Giuliano De Felice

Abstract

In this paper two experimental projects conducted in recent years by the Digital Archaeology Laboratory at Foggia University are described. The projects are oriented to examine possible solutions for the use of ICT in the communication of archaeology that imply specific attention towards technologies, languages and creativity. The first project described is TimeMachine, a virtual reality application realized with real-time animation technologies that allows the user to move freely inside reconstruction, hypotheses and documentation of an archaeological stratigraphic excavation. The latter is Heritouch, a multimedia system for digital storytelling regarding the huge collection of Greek pottery of the Fondazione Sicilia at Palermo. Albeit regarding very different aspects of archaeology, the common aim of the two projects was to achieve an innovative methodology for the production of digital content that, on one hand provides the use of innovative technologies for the creation and fruition of cultural resources and, on the other, tries to engage the competences of the professionals and the characteristics of the knowledge domain.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2015, Supplemento 7, 227-231

2014 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

The smart city as an evolutionary network promoting cultural commons: the Or.C.He.S.T.R.A. project and Naples antique center case study

Francesca Cantone, Emanuela Motta, Massimo Marrelli

Abstract

The paper investigates the perspectives of applying the smart city paradigm in the Archaeology and Cultural Heritage field, thus outlining the emerging concept of Smart Cultural Heritage and Smart Archaeology and proposing an integrated approach, in which the fundamental value of the cultural framework is acknowledged in the complexity of the smart paradigm. The theory of Cultural Commons, moreover, is invoked as a basis for the study of the advantages of sharing common resources (such as cultural heritage and the related digital information) within the Communities, identified in their inclination to innovation by means of the Evolving Networks model. In this context, the Or.C.He.S.T.R.A. project proposes a participatory and cooperative complex system of heterogeneous information on the ancient center of Naples as a case study, ranging from mobility, to health, energy, and cultural heritage, to support the smart exploitation of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage, for citizens, visitors and tourists while fulfilling the requirements of sustainability and eco-friendliness. The first experimentations of this methodological approach are presented, with focus ranging from archaeological exploitation to participated management of cultural heritage, to educational innovation. The integration of these aspects multiplies their potential, and influences the value of cohesion and density of networks of shared goods and services in the area, supporting the spread of innovation in the community, and creating value in the territory, thus impacting the possibility of the appearance of the tragedy of cultural commons.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2014, 25, 207-222; doi: 10.19282/ac.25.2014.11

2013 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Il nuovo allestimento della collezione archeologica della Fondazione Sicilia fra tecnologie e creatività

Giuliano De Felice

Abstract

In May 2012 in the historic center of Palermo, Sicily, thanks to the Fondazione Sicilia the Palazzo Branciforte was opened to the public after a long and costly restoration based on a project by the Italian architect Gae Aulenti (http://www.palazzobranciforte.it/). For the creation of this innovative cultural center, the University of Foggia was responsible for the execution of the archaeological museum project and the multimedia system, which is presented in this paper. The activities were conducted by a group of young experts from different fields with the assistance of researchers and technicians from the Laboratory of Digital Archaeology. The paper describes the production process of the multimedia system and the method used to create digital content for the cultural heritage that effectively uses a wide spectrum of normally underused skills and proposes an innovative approach to technologies, creativity and knowledge.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, 24, 249-263; doi: 10.19282/ac.24.2013.12

2013 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Wiki Loves Monuments e archeologia: condividere la conoscenza

Saverio Giulio Malatesta, Marina Milella

Abstract

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

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, Supplemento 4, 53-59

2013 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Il progetto Futouring. Cartografia open e licenze Creative Commons per la valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale del Lazio

Stefano Martinelli

Abstract

This paper describes the experiments conducted by FiLaS Spa and explains the reasons behind the technology trade-offs in the implementation of the infrastructure of the District of the Technologies for Cultural Heritage of Regione Lazio. The work was divided into ten initiatives, including six projects which were developed in six cultural sites of the provinces and four others concerning the establishment of the Welcome Center in Civitavecchia, the traveling Digital Shuttle, the Futouring web portal and the Center of Excellence of research and expertise in Cultural Heritage in Lazio. Overall, it comes to applications related to multimedia fixed installations each related to an historical theme, and the web portal provides a common resource and web service repository where data resides and digital content is accessible at each site and through tablets and smartphones in mobility. The architecture of the web portal was developed based on open source, multi-platform software solutions, having in mind the metaphor of navigation on interactive maps, and access on the move. It is worthwhile mentioning that all originally produced data and the developed code are licensed under CC-BY-SA license terms.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, Supplemento 4, 79-87

2013 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Ricostruzioni, 3D e narratività: strategie diversificate per la comunicazione dell’archeologia

Francesco Ripanti, Maria Sole Distefano

Abstract

This paper discusses some new perspectives about communication in archaeology. The main direction in recent years seems to go toward the increased use of new technologies by the same archaeologists who dig in a site and are not specialists in computer science and communication. So far these new technologies have been used in the search of better communications but they have been developed individually. Furthermore, the focus has been on the instruments rather than on the contents of the communication. Our proposal is to put together different media in order to enhance the potentiality of the same communication. For example, the use of 3D and docudrama together can enhance both the visual and narrative aspects of communication. In this paper we show a possible interaction of 3D and docudrama applied to the archaeological site of Vignale (Livorno, Italy), and discuss their benefits and drawbacks and the useful relationship between this creative approach of communication and the open source philosophy.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, Supplemento 4, 174-180

2013 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Archeologia e informatica di base: sperimentazione di approcci non trasmissivi in open source

Francesca Cantone, Angelo Chianese

Abstract

This paper examines some methodological issues related to the implementation of open approaches in teaching cultural heritage computing and archaeological informatics. The main results of experiments conducted at the Neapolitan Universities of Federico II and L’Orientale are presented, aimed at improving the overall quality of the learning experience by didactical innovation with an attempt at identifying and defining the main features, critical aspects and best practices for further case studies. The research on cultural heritage e-learning strategies, presented by the authors in the previous ArcheoFOSS workshops, lead inter alia to the proposal of a e-learning SCORM module for Archaeological Informatics didactics, a MUVE 3D model for the communication of an archaeological stratification, a whole Master Course on Multimedia Environments for Cultural Heritage in Blended Learning, and to the proposal and prototypal implementation of cultural heritage distributed and federated interdisciplinary repositories. Lifelong learning literature shows that students need to have the possibility of personalizing their learning experiences and to integrate highly specialized contents with basic skills supports. Starting from this methodological background, a shared construction of teaching materials about basic open source informatics skills was tested, as a new step in the federated repository modular construction. Methodological aspects of the processes implemented and preliminary results of the e-learning materials trial are outlined in the perspective of further research and investigation.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, Supplemento 4, 181-187

2013 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Wiki-beta: il modus vivendi di un sistema per documentare la ricerca

Alessandro Carabia

Abstract

Nobody can deny the impact the web has on every possible domain and archaeology is not an exception. The Web 2.0 has put all users on the same level. Wikipedia and its software Mediawiki are an outstanding example of this process. The MediaWiki software was successfully applied to the archaeological record and its success is also due to the fact that it is always in beta format. This last feature is the characteristic that allowed the software to evolve, to respond to the necessity of the users. Chronic problems of Wiki systems, such as research and the reliability of on-line publications, and much more, could soon be solved by new software and network. In this article I will describe some of the most interesting novelties in this domain.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, Supplemento 4, 209-213

2013 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Wiki e dintorni, riflessioni sull’utilizzo del Web 2.0 per la gestione e la diffusione dei dati archeologici

Arjuna Cecchetti

Abstract

The subject of this poster is a survey in the territories of Web 2.0 and an excursion through the historical and archaeological data, the platforms of social networks and the cultural containers based on the Wiki philosophy. The route starts from the description of the most used web platforms, social networks as Facebook and Academia, and wiki containers as Wikipedia, passing through the experience of scientific teams that use the web to managing and disseminating the archaeological data, and the observation of the main features of each container. This preliminary survey explores the need for some reflections: on the quality and coherence of datasets, on the quality and traceability of sources, and on the needs of the scientific community and the web users.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2013, Supplemento 4, 214-221

2012 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Pubblicare uno scavo all’epoca di YouTube: comunicazione archeologica, narratività e video

Enrico Zanini, Francesco Ripanti

Abstract

Methodological reflection on communication in archaeology greatly developed over the past fifteen years. It is now widely accepted that video-narrative medium has a larger potential compared with other media commonly used up to now. The archaeological video can be divided into some different categories - documentary, video update, docudrama - each of them potentially destined to a variety of audiences when the movie is inserted into a narrative framework. By its nature, the archaeological site of Vignale, where the relative poverty of the remains on the ground sharply contrasts with the richness of the 'stories' the site itself can narrate, is an ideal place to test the docudrama-model video. Initially intended to be just an instrument for communicating with and involving local population in the archaeological project as a whole, the video-narrative proved to be a powerful tool in stimulating the research group itself towards a more thoughtful and 'multivocal' recording of the fieldwork done. The output of the project was the making of a brief 'series' of videos, with the general title of 'The Excavation and its Stories. They were initially used as an educational support for younger students in archaeology, but later obtained a wider audience through the web.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2012, 23, 7-30; doi: 10.19282/ac.23.2012.01

2012 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Archeologia in rete. Le riviste open access: risorse e prospettive

Alessandra Caravale, Alessandra Piergrossi

Abstract

This article is intended to provide an overview of archaeological open access journals, with particular reference to Italy and a general survey of the situation in France and the Anglo-Saxon countries. The Internet is now established as an important tool for the dissemination of knowledge and exchange in research; all sectors are adapting to this new environment, including that of classical studies, which more than any other remains attached to traditional forms of knowledge transmission and publication. Alongside published journals, online open access journals (of which we describe some examples related to the above mentioned geographic areas) are increasing considerably, and are acquiring an important role for the publication of research studies. The article also provides a brief overview on open access features and creative commons licenses.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2012, 23, 187-207; doi: 10.19282/ac.23.2012.11

2011 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Gestión de la información arqueológica y realidad virtual: VisArq. 1.0

Pilar Diarte Blasco, María Sebastian Lopez

Abstract

The creation of a homogeneous and normalized database with a 3D viewer is the ultimate aim of a project that was created to meet the needs of the archaeological, academic and scientific community, but also of the less specialized public. Benefiting from computer innovation and virtual reality, with increasingly "real" and intuitive interfaces, only improves the accessibility and comprehension of archaeological studies. Thus, interactive databases, used scientifically and for the dissemination of culture and information, will promote the importance of sites. VisArq. 1.0 offers precisely this, a visualization of archaeological information of the province of Zaragoza (Spain) and a protocol of action which, in its first version, attempts to offer a modus operandi, in which the standardization, unification, and display of data is the ultimate aim.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2011, 22, 261-282; doi: 10.19282/ac.22.2011.12

2010 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Museo and Web: un kit pratico per le istituzioni culturali che vogliono realizzare un sito web di qualità

Maria Teresa Natale, Rubino Saccoccio

Abstract

Museo and Web is a best practice, the result of shared results at a European level as part of the MINERVA project (http://www.minervaeurope.org/), which produced a series of very important guidelines in the field of the quality of cultural websites. One of these results was the creation of the open source CMS (Content Management System) Museo and Web, produced and funded by the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, especially devoted to cultural institutions (museums, libraries, archives, etc.) that want to build a website. The importance of this CMS, characterised by modules especially planned for cultural institutions, is that it is not imposed by third parties, but is designed with the contributions of the cultural institutions which participate in the enrichment of the platform by expressing their needs. The diffusion of the kit (which also includes a series of guidelines on how to build the architecture of the websites of cultural institutions) contribute to increase awareness among the stakeholders of cultural institutions dealing with communication and web publishing on accessibility, usability and quality of cultural website in general. More than 150 Italian institutions have already built their websites with Museo and Web. A few hours of training are enough to learn how it runs and how to use it. In 2010, the source codes will be made available on the SourceForge platform, in order to share these results with a larger audience.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2010, 21, 27-47; doi: 10.19282/ac.21.2010.02

2010 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Nuove tecnologie per la conoscenza e la comunicazione di Lucca romana

Lorenza Camin, Marcello Carrozzino, Rosario Leonardi, Antonella Negri

Abstract

This article describes the results of a project related to IT applied to the city of Lucca in the Roman era (Tecnologie informatiche per la conoscenza e la comunicazione di Lucca romana), which was conducted as part of a Ph.D. program in Technologies and Management of Cultural Heritage at the Institute for Advanced Studies IMT Lucca. The work done can be divided into three separate stages, each of which is distinguished by the utilization of specific surveying tools. The first to be set up was GIS LUCA (Looking at an Urban Context Archive), where all the existing documentation on Roman Lucca was archived (maps, iconography, surveys, images, descriptive data). The information processed in LUCA provided data for the creation of the three-dimensional model of Roman Lucca, whereby the walls, main monuments and arteries, which still identify the town as Roman today, are represented in a schematic yet scientifically correct way. Additional experimentation was conducted as part of the research. Using an innovative three-dimensional relief technique, the ZScan, which enables cloud points to be taken from a photographic scan, three-dimensional models of the pillars of the eastern gate were elaborated, as well as three arches of the Roman amphitheatre that have been particularly well preserved. Lastly, the website www.luccaromana.com was created to publish the results that were obtained. The site proposes numerous knowledge paths around the ancient town by means of a range of highly innovative access methods, that provide a global yet synthetic description of Roman Lucca, which is a result of the research and experimentation conducted as part of the project.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2010, 21, 49-73; doi: 10.19282/ac.21.2010.03

2009 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

"Progetto Calvatone": dallo scavo all’edizione multimediale

Lilia Palmieri

Abstract

The paper presents the project for the publication of archaeological excavations conducted from 2001 to 2006 by the University of Milan in collaboration with the University of Pavia at Calvatone-Bedriacum (CR), in the area of the Domus del Labirinto. The project proposes to test a new form of communication, which permits to offer complete information on the research carried out over the years. In particular, the project aims at a more effective and immediate form of communication, mediated by the use of a multimedia support such as the DVD, with the purpose of developing a functional model for the edition of any archaeological excavation. The innovative and experimental publication on DVD, made possible by the contribution of the Regione Lombardia (Assessorato alle Culture, Identità e Autonomie della Lombardia), has allowed us not only to present the analysis and interpretation of the excavations, through a large number of images, but also to provide the full documentation of the archive - inventories, recording sheets, photographs, drawings, plans - which is usually excluded from publication, for obvious problems of space and costs.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 397-419; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.28

2009 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

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.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, Supplemento 2, 15-25

2009 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Proposte per un’archeologia open in rete

Marina Milella, Paolo Vigliarolo

Abstract

Open content in archaeology requires careful consideration in our field of studies: knowledge conservation is linked to its spread, and for this purpose the web is one of the most useful and important tools. In this paper two open projects are suggested: DecArch, a wiki site dedicated to Roman architectural decoration, and ArcheoCommons, in which archaeologists can publish their research and mark it with one of the Creative Commons licenses.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, Supplemento 2, 37-48

2009 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

blueOcean: un framework per la realizzazione di CMS semantici

Augusto Palombini, Fabrizio Giudici

Abstract

The so-called Web 2.0 offers good methods for sharing knowledge, but it does not provide adequate tools for performing automated, complex searches on the Internet with the quality needed for scientific research. blueOcean is a software product for managing knowledge with the technologies of “semantic web” and offers an effective solution to the problem.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, Supplemento 2, 245-249

2009 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Un software CMS per l’archiviazione e la documentazione di materiale archeologico

Giuseppe Maino, Silvia Massari

Abstract

In this paper we describe the design, implementation and validation of a multimedia open source database for archiving information about diagnostics, conservation and restoration of archaeological documents and artifacts. The software architecture is based on a Content Management System (CMS) and allows the development of a dynamic website. Three main applications have been implemented, all of them characteristic of a wide range of cultural assets, ranging from (i) archival documents to (ii) archaeological and artistic objects, including (iii) diagnostic analyses.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, Supplemento 2, 271-278

2009 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Archeologia virtuale in blended learning. Esperienze, metodologie e strumenti all’Università “Federico II” di Napoli

Francesca Cantone, Angelo Chianese, Vincenzo Moscato

Abstract

Virtual Archaeology in Blended Learning. Experiments, methodologies and tools at the “Federico II” University of Naples. The rapid transformation of knowledge systems has changed methodologies and educational processes in a fast, continuous and substantial way. Among the various solutions, methodologies and technologies referred to by the term “e-learning”, this article focuses on experiments in “Blended Learning” in which lessons are integrated by online interaction. In particular, our experiment involved the preparation of a SCORM course of “Information Technology and Archaeology”, created using the IDEA (Instructional Designer Applications) software for Learning Objects, written, and implemented through the “Federico II” Campus platform, according to the paradigms of Computer Supported Collaborative Learn¬ing. Restructuring Virtual Archaeology didactical topics as Learning Objects led us to reflect deeply on the contents to convey and on their new organization, which had to be modular, combinable and granular in order to ensure the best re-usability in various educational contexts and the possibility to be customized according to the characteristics of students. The test covered different levels of classes (three-year degree, two-year degree, laboratory) for three academic years (2005/6-2007/2008). The number of students was limited to between ten and twenty per class in order to improve and control interaction and active participation by students. This paper describes and offers for discussion the main results of the experiment that was conducted, results of which were very encouraging in terms of: educational performance, construction of thematic e-communities, methodological innovation, preparation of re-mixable and re-usable didactical contents, testing of software/methodology IDEA available for free downloading and able to encourage and support dissemination of new teaching methods in archaeology, supporting and facilitating authors in the multimedia production workflow.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, Supplemento 2, 309-319

2007 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

LandLab Project and archaeology on-line. Web-based systems for the study of settlement patterns and excavation data in classical archaeology

Grazia Semeraro

Abstract

The paper deals with the results of the LandLab Project, aimed at the reconstruction of ancient landscapes. The use of the Internet for presenting the results of the scientific research is discussed through the presentation of two web applications, which have been implemented by the Laboratory of Archaeological Computing of the Dept. of Cultural Heritage - University of Lecce, Italy: the WebGIS of the pre-Roman settlements of the Salento region and WODOS, the on-line version of the ODOS excavation data management system. The web-based applications are aimed at developing new approaches to the problem of data preservation and data dissemination. They use the methods and technologies available in the field of Information and Communication Technology for the transfer of data, information management systems and multimedia communication in the reconstruction of ancient landscapes and cultural systems. The project is unique in the geographical context in question here, in that it represents the first thematic laboratory for research into the ancient landscape completely based on web programming and Internet technology.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2007, 18, 243-254; doi: 10.19282/ac.18.2007.12

2007 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Il Sistema T.Arc.H.N.A. Per una nuova accessibilità al patrimonio culturale

Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni, Piero Mussio, Muriel Geroli

Abstract

This paper presents the preliminary results of the Project T.Arc.H.N.A., Towards Archaeological Heritage New Accessibility, partially funded by the European Union, as part of the Culture 2000 Programme. Tarchna is the Etruscan name of the ancient city of Tarquinia and T.Arc.H.N.A. is the name of a model of the virtual Museum. Thanks to the use of modern technology, combined with a deep knowledge of history and archaeology, it has been possible to create a tool useful for both scholars and the wider public, which is also available for other situations. Through the cooperation of experts from two different fields – Computer Science and Archaeology – an innovative system of accessibility to the Cultural Heritage in the field of research, education and dissemination has been designed and implemented. One of the first results of the project is the restoration in its entirety of the original Tarquinian Heritage, much of which is scattered all over the world, lacking in contexts and anthropological meanings. Scholars are thus enabled to deal with this Cultural Heritage as a whole and to bring the single document from the environment that produced it, to the environment of the modern user, thus filling the gap between the document and its interpretation. In this way the public can learn the main features of the Etruscan culture and understand the research of scholars.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2007, 18, 255-272; doi: 10.19282/ac.18.2007.13

2007 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Il sito web Impero romano e intellettuali greci

Francesca Fontanella, Davide Merlitti

Abstract

The website Impero Romano e Intellettuali Greci presents a selection of texts by Greek authors from the first imperial age on the topic of the Roman Empire. Each of these texts is tagged to identify the most important issues concerning the empire of Rome. These tags provide electronic access to the most significant passages in which some of the most important Greek intellectuals living between the first and second centuries BC published and circulated their ideas about the Roman Empire. All of the passages are presented in the original Greek and are accompanied by an abstract in Italian in which the context and content of the passage are summarized. With the presentation of each passage the larger work from which it is cited is indicated, in addition to essential information regarding the dating of and the circumstances under which each work was composed.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2007, 18, 373-382; doi: 10.19282/ac.18.2007.20

2007 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Overcoming barriers in virtual museums

Oreste Signore

Abstract

A virtual museum is a real challenge, especially when the goal is to contextualize its content and overcome physical, cognitive and cultural hurdles. A good user interface should provide everyone with an equivalent experience, irrespective of their disabilities. On the other hand, disability is a stage in everyone’s life. Web accessibility has several components, and is not merely a technical issue. A good quality web site should be designed for usable accessibility, considering both usability and accessibility issues, giving to the disabled user the sense of inclusion and equal opportunity to participate. Web accessibility has been a concern to several governments, and in many countries accessibility is required by law. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has provided web accessibility guidelines since the birth of the web, addressing all the web accessibility components. Presently a new release of WCAG is going to be issued, characterized by several important novelties (baseline, conformance level, etc.), which will be a big step forward from the previous WCAG. W3C Recommendations also include some accessibility features for 2D graphics and multimedia. The Rich Internet Applications are emerging, and W3C defined a roadmap towards a declarative markup. To overcome the difficulties related to different cultures, Semantic Web technologies and ontologies can give the appropriate support for exchanging and sharing knowledge.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2007, Supplemento 1, 221-241

2006 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Les ressources d’information archéologiques sur Internet: le point de vue de l’utilisateur

Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets, Virginie Fromageot-Laniepce

Abstract

The Archéologie du monde grec et systèmes d’information team (CNRS – Paris X – Nanterre) presents a survey of the web resources available for Archaeology in two parts, the first dedicated to developments and use of web products, the second to information retrieval. This article is focused on practices: access to research results transposed from a traditional edition to a web site; hybrid diffusion and original contents specially designed for the Internet; retrieval tools usually used, such as Google, distinguished between “portals” designed and developed by archaeological institutions: these portals allow researchers and students to find selected and qualified information. At the end of the text, we present our web sites: Mélanges électroniques en hommage à René Ginouvès, Bibliographie de l’architecture grecque, «Cahiers des thèmes transversaux», Chronique Internet pour l’archéologie.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2006, 17, 7-24; doi: 10.19282/ac.17.2006.01

2006 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

L’iconographie de la mythologie antique sur le web: le site LIMC-France et ses bases de données

Pascale Linant de Bellefonds, Anne-Violaine Szabados

Abstract

The web site LIMC-France, created by the French team of the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), is free and available in seven languages: English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian and Spanish. The site makes it possible to consult and search three different databases: – LIMCicon, the main database, gives access to file-cards gathering technical and scientific data relating to all Greek and Roman objects decorated with a mythological image that have been studied by the French team of LIMC, not only in French museums but also in several Near-Eastern, North African and East European countries. Most of the files are related to one or several digitized photographs. Each entry comprises a number of fields, all of them searchable, including bibliographical references, find-place, previous and current location, shape, iconographical description, key-words, etc. – LIMCbiblio updates the bibliography of LIMC articles from their publishing date onward. – LIMCabrev is a helpful tool giving complete titles of the abbreviations used in LIMC and in other publications of the LIMC Foundation.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2006, 17, 25-43; doi: 10.19282/ac.17.2006.02

2006 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Interactive learning activities in Greek art

Gina Salapata

Abstract

This article describes two learning activities on Greek art and my reflections on the design elements which were influenced by the principles and recommendations that are particularly useful for distance education. The project arose out of a desire to emulate online the classroom experience of studying and analysing images of Greek art and had two goals: to provide students (1) with an opportunity to practise on their own visual analysis and interpretation of Greek images and apply them to new examples; and (2) with comprehensive but progressive feedback that would guide them in their way of thinking to reach the correct answer. In the Greek Art module, the activity assists students in dating vase paintings. Each example offers a choice of chronological periods in which to place the image. Errors in selection are used constructively, with the feedback providing hints on which elements of the image to pay attention to in order to arrive at the correct dating. Correct answers are accompanied by questions guiding students to consciously justify their selection. In the Greek Mythology module, the activity assists students in the identification of figures involved in mythological depictions. By clicking on the figures students can see not only the correct answer but also a series of questions that guide them to justify their answer by referring to the specific features on which they based their identification. These interactive activities can be used at the students own pace and provide immediate and constructive feedback. At the same time, they allow reflection before the correct answers, given in small successive steps, are revealed. The activities are linked to learning outcomes and prepare students for future summative assessment. They are a pedagogically sound computermediated tool to encourage active, deep and reflective learning.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2006, 17, 71-82; doi: 10.19282/ac.17.2006.04

2006 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Open source in archeologia. Nuove prospettive per la ricerca

Sofia Pescarin

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

2006 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

La guida interattiva INandOUT. Un modo nuovo di esplorare musei ed aree archeologiche

Enrico Benelli, Emanuela Todini, Maurizio Masini

Abstract

The Interactive Guide INandOUT, created as part of the project “Signs of pre-Roman cultures in land and landscape” and sponsored by the European Program “Culture 2000”, aims at experimenting new forms of comprehension by creating a direct link between site-visiting, excavations finds and archival research using the newest available technologies (notebooks, Tablet PCs, etc.). The Interactive Guide INandOUT answers the visitor’s need to contemplate the single work he is observing inside the site or museum and to observe it together with the entire site, at the same time. In short, it can place the visitor outside the site while still taking him through each single step of the excavations. Two goals have been achieved: first of all an informative net was created, covering vast open spaces (such as those found in archeological sites) and smaller indoor spaces (such as those found in museums), and using wireless technology (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS, UMTS). Second, this net was filled with multi-medial contents, such as animations, movies, images, sounds and voices, in order to enhance the correspondence between inside and outside, between the single object and its original environment. The visitor’s position is identified by means of tags RFid (Radio Frequency Identification). These simple and quite “invisible” radio transmitters, spread all over the site, interact with the client-driver (the Tablet PC) given to the visitor. By receiving different specific codes the Guide recognizes where the visitor stands and sends him the most specific and contextual information. Last, but not least, the RFid system considerably reduces both operation and maintenance costs. The Tags used to activate the multi-medial information on the visitor’s Tablet PC are small, easily attached (even only using glue) and easily removed if necessary, long lasting, ideal for open and external spaces, and, most important, they need no power supply.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2006, 17, 229-240; doi: 10.19282/ac.17.2006.13

2006 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Organizzare il processo conoscitivo nell’indagine archeologica: riflessioni metodologiche ed esperimenti digitali

Enrico Zanini, Silvana Costa

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

2005 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

"Archeologia e Calcolatori": nuove strategie per la diffusione di contenuti in rete sulla base dell'OAI-PMH

Claudio Barchesi

Abstract

A project for digitalization and web diffusion of the journal «Archeologia e Calcolatori» contents has been recently started. While PDF seems to be the most satisfactory data format to deliver the electronic version of documents, international standards developed within the Open Archives paradigm can surely offer fascinating solutions to disseminate metadata describing their 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 obtained a brilliant success. However, in certain situations the deployment of an OAI-PMH conformant repository is still problematic. The reason ranges from lack of technical expertise, cost of implementation and intrinsic complexity of web server administration. For small research institutions and university departments the most part of the existing OAI applications seems in effect not simple to implement. In this paper a simplified approach to OAI implementation for small and medium size archives is discussed. This project is based on an OAI Static Repository file (OAI-SR, i.e. an XML file based on a schema whose guidelines have been recently issued by OAI), Visual Basic, ASP, XML/XSL and Java technologies. It has been applied to the collection of abstracts coming from the articles published in «Archeologia e Calcolatori», but it can easily be adapted to other cultural subjects with small efforts.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2005, 16, 225-241; doi: 10.19282/ac.16.2005.12

2005 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

JIIA "Journal of Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Archaeology" un'esperienza telematica di comunicazione scientifica

Antonella D'Ascoli

Abstract

The «Journal of Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Archaeology» (acronym JIIA), at the URL http://www.jiia.it/, online since the 10th of October 2003 is a full-text and peer reviewed journal oriented to “alternative” Open Access publishing, formed by experimental personal initiative and on a non-profit basis. The aim of the JIIA e-journal is the dissemination of scientific communications in archaeology, antiquity sciences and archaeological applied sciences: it is therefore interdisciplinary and intercultural. The Journal web site, originally static, has been completely renewed. The repository, created with open-source MyOPIA, MySQL Online Publications Index Administration , allows matching to the OAI-PMH protocol and hence metadata harvesting. The Journal appears as a novelty in a sector which, in our country, is still in its infancy. The article also discusses problems related to on-line editing and open archives.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2005, 16, 243-269; doi: 10.19282/ac.16.2005.13

2005 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Shared Technologies in archeologia: nuove prospettive di gestione e condivisione di dati in rete

Francesca Cantone

Abstract

The ICT revolution in archaeological studies is producing thousands of digital data: interaction can be the key word to make more easy and efficient their access, communication, use, and analysis. It is well known that a lack of standardization is one of the most important limitations that prevent efficient interaction between different data sets. Interoperability and comparability of different archaeological data sets may increase interpretation and analysis. The paper outlines current developments in archaeological data standardization, and looks forward for an easier and more efficient process of integration of different kinds of data. The paper focuses in particular on the possibility of exploiting peer-to-peer and shared technologies to build archaeological data networks in an easy way, disseminating the standardization in a down-to-top way, avoiding technical and practical problems related to the hierarchical imposition of new formats. The paper addresses the possibility to realize and make available on the Internet a free tool to build an archaeological data community, with free access, validation, etc., to share data making the most of free text-based standards: XML, X3D, etc. The overall benefits of the proposed file-sharing solution can be summarized as follows: integration of different data typologies; standardization; interaction and networking; modularity; human readability; cooperative creation of vocabularies, graphical libraries, utilities, tools.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2005, 16, 271-290; doi: 10.19282/ac.16.2005.14

2004 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Scrivere per il multimediale: alcune riflessioni di un non-specialista, a partire da un’esperienza recente

Enrico Zanini

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

2004 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Tele-archaeology

Joan A. Barceló, Igor Bogdanović, Raquel Piqué

Abstract

Tele-archaeology, in its basic sense, may be defined as the use of telecommunications to provide archaeological information and services. Two different kinds of technology make up most of the tele-archaeology applications in use today. The first is used for transferring information from one location to another. The other is multi-way interactive knowledge distribution. In this paper we examine the possibilities of tele-archaeology, and offer a general framework to implement this technology. The main positive effect of tele-archaeology is the move towards a real 'distributed interactive archaeology', which means that archaeological knowledge building is a collective and dynamic series of tasks and processes. An individual archaeologist cannot fully explain his/her data because the explanatory process needs knowledge as raw material, and this knowledge does not exist in the individual mind of the scientist but in the research community as a global set.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 467-481; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.28

2004 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Nuovi linguaggi e 'vecchie tecnologie': comunicare la conoscenza archeologica attraverso la rete

Maria Pia Guermandi

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

2004 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

www.beazley.ox.ac.uk, con Appendici di G. Parker e A. Parks

Donna Kurtz

Abstract

This article offers a summary of the Oxford University's Beazley Archive of Classical Archaeology and Art work since 1999 (for the period 1988 to 1999 see the tenth volume of this journal). The most important developments have been the migration of all of the Archive's databases and educational programmes on to the web (www.beazley.ox.ac.uk); the diversification of materials studied and methods of presentation; the imminent amalgamation of more than twenty databases into one searchable master dataset. This five-year summary is divided into three parts: the first part relates to the content and presentation of the Beazley Archive, with particular reference to the Pottery Database and the recent three-year project to digitise the CVA volumes for the web, which was granted to the Beazley Archive by the Union Académique Internationale; the second part relates to the technical structure of the datasets, storage and back up facilities and the third part relates to the nature and extent of the Archive's electronic assets and their relation to others in the University of Oxford.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 497-508; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.30

2004 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Un portale per l'archeologia medievale

Riccardo Francovich, Luca Isabella

Abstract

Thanks to the great development in the use of the Internet, even in Archaeology the Net can be exploited both as a means to spread new research results, and to create a dialogue between different institutions like Universities, Superintendences, archaeological and cultural associations. Nowadays, through thousands of web sites, users have acquired a good experience in surfing and are able to choose which site to visit and not. This article presents a detailed description of our web site for Medieval Archaeology, which counts more than 6000 web pages since it was put on line in 1996. It has become a benchmark and a starting point for every kind of research in medieval archaeology on the Internet.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 509-520; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.31

2003 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Crustumerium on line: presentazione telematica di un'area archeologica della periferia nord di Roma

Francesco di Gennaro, Luigi Finocchietti, Francesca Dell’Era

Abstract

The article illustrates and discusses the planning and execution of an Internet site for the archaeological area of the ancient Latin city of Crustumerium. The city is located north of Rome and prospered from the ninth to the fifth centuries BC in parallel to Rome, which eventually conquered it. The text is divided into three parts. The first confronts problems linked to the presentation (and editing in response to new data) of a State controlled Internet site devoted to State controlled archaeological areas. The second clarifies the semiotic choices made during the creation of pages which synthesise various aspects of the archaeological discipline. The third concerns to the editing principles employed to reconcile the logic of hypertext with popular scientific presentation. A last section offers a commentary of a small selection of Internet sites belonging to institutions which present archaeological areas, grouped into three sections.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2003, 14, 275-294; doi: 10.19282/ac.14.2003.12

2002 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Alternative methods of disseminating archaeological findings from CRM contexts: examples from the American Southwest

Jeffrey H. Altschul

Abstract

Archaeologists working in cultural resource management (CRM) face four major challenges. First, the work is performed under short, development-driven deadlines. Second, CRM projects often are quite large, generating more data than archaeologists traditionally encounter. Third, the results must be presented in forms that are understandable and enlighten the public. Finally, CRM archaeology must address concerns of native peoples. In this paper, I draw on case studies from the American Southwest to show how archaeologists at Statistical Research, Inc. have used the Internet and CD-ROM technology to address these challenges. I highlight a web-based system developed for a large excavation project designed to keep project sponsors, principals, and specialists from around the world abreast of the status of fieldwork and analyses, as well as a forum for dialogue. I also discuss the use of CD-ROM technology to disseminate project materials and reports in a cost-effective manner. Beyond text, these CDs include videos designed for a non professional audience. CD-ROM technology also is used to provide Native Americans with digital images of rock art and sacred sites that allows them to comment on proposed mitigation measures.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 179-186; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.12

2001 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Progetto Caere: un'applicazione Internet attiva per l'Information Retrieval di documenti SGML

Claudio Barchesi

Abstract

In the process of creating an archaeological information system of the excavations in Cerveteri, the decision was made not only to use a more traditional database, but also to develop a recording methodology that connects the text of the excavation diaries, encoded by the application of a mark-up language (SGML), with the cartographic data. In order to query all the excavation diaries, an information retrieval application was required, with the aim to retrieve not only words but also specific meanings and contexts. In this paper the author describes the creation of an internal software application for providing information retrieval from SGML texts and of its subsequent implementation on a Web server. The paper is divided into two parts: the first describes the application itself and the concepts on which it is based and the second part discusses the technology that has been applied and the results achieved. In order to construct a querying system for the content of the excavation diaries, both ASP and VBSCRIPT technologies have been used, as they are particularly useful for constructing client-server applications for an intranet. Through applying such technologies, it has been possible to connect the textual sources with the digital cartography through specific hypertext links, allowing the visualisation of the search results in a browser such as Explorer or Netscape Navigator. This application has also been designed to allow data diffusion through the Internet.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2001, 12, 71-90; doi: 10.19282/ac.12.2001.04

2000 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

PETRA: un sistema integrato per la gestione dei dati archeologici

Marco Crescioli, Franco Niccolucci, Cristina Tonghini, Guido Vannini

Abstract

This paper describes a database management system created for organising the data which emerged during an investigation conducted by a team from the University of Florence in Petra, Jordan. The subject of the research are Crusader settlements in Transjordan and, in particular, the castle system of the Petra valley; the study employed a methodological approach based on so-called “light archaeology”, that is a set of methods typical of European Medieval archaeology like “landscape archaeology” and “standing structure archaeology”. The study, which is still in progress, has revealed the key role of Petra in the territorial organisation of Transjordan during the Crusader period. By focusing on Wu’ayra, the most important fortress of the Petra valley, by means of a series of trial trenches, the project has documented the different settlement stages of the site. It is now apparent that the site was defended by a double wall overhanging the surrounding wadi with a single access and fourteen square towers on the outer ring and the inner walls, and an extreme defence nucleus, the fortified church, inside the cassero, in the centre of the system. Of the nine stages studied so far, three concern the Crusader settlement, one a very short occupation by the Ayyubids, and five correspond to the phase of abandonment of the castle with subsequent occasional use by Bedouin communities. The investigation will eventually evolve into a wide ranging study of the Crusader border, from Antioch to Aqaba. The computer project consists of a database management system, which is based on a Java servlet, a software which uses the HTTP protocol to generate and submit HTML pages “on demand”, and which can be viewed using a common Internet browser. This helps communication and simplifies access to data, which can also be shared on-line. Future developments will include spatial information, based on freely available GIS software. A particular feature of this investigation is the close connection which is maintained between computer technology and archaeological methods, which envisages new forms of co-operation in interdisciplinary research and new skills that draw from both disciplines.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2000, 11, 49-67; doi: 10.19282/ac.11.2000.02

2000 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Archeologia e multimedialità: il sito Internet dell'abitato protostorico di Sorgenti della Nova (VT)

Andrea Dolfini, Nuccia Negroni Catacchio

Abstract

This article introduces the Web Site of Sorgenti della Nova, a proto-urban settlement located in Southern Etruria and inhabited in the Final Bronze Age (11th - beginning of the 9th century BC). The web site was implemented thanks to collaboration between the Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità of the University of Milan and the Istituto per le Tecnologie Informatiche Multimediali of the National Research Council in Milan; it contains not only general information about the settlement but, in particular, digital records on the archaeological finds of Sorgenti della Nova (records and drawings). Further, an analysis is made of the different forms of study and data dissemination offered by multimedia techniques as opposed the traditional forms of finds publications. In conclusion, a complete description of data organisation and structure of the site is offered as well as what is probably the most interesting topic for the archaeologist: the three basic methods for consulting finds according to their typology, chronology or topographic position in the settlement. The site is available at the following URL: http://jargo.itim.mi.cnr.it/ Nova.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2000, 11, 241-257; doi: 10.19282/ac.11.2000.13

1999 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Dalle base dati alla rete: l'evoluzione del trattamento dei dati archeologici

Maria Pia Guermandi

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

1999 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Des bases des données à la publication électronique: une intégration des données et des outils de recherche

Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets

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

1999 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Multimedialità e archeologia

Tito Orlandi

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

1999 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Il progetto BIBLOS e l'informatizzazione della Biblioteca Massimo Pallottino

Andrea Bozzi, Silvio Rini, Pier Luigi Albini

Abstract

The BIBLOS project was established in 1996 for the purpose of creating an Internet site which would combine and organise all the information gathered by the various branches of the CNR (National Research Council) relating to the Humanities. The browsing system is based on a subject catalogue which represents the main access to the files, and which includes information on three different research topics: linguistics, philosophy and antiquities. The Institutes have already made available the information collected from their research activity and the databases which have been developed, usually in the form of bibliographic catalogues and specialised bibliographies. Querying the BIBLOS site, the user may also consult on-line the catalogue of the Massimo Pallottino Library which is part of the G. Marconi Central Library of the CNR and is located at the Istituto per l’Archeologia Etrusco-Italica. Computer access to the catalogue now makes it possible to consult the different sections of the Library, to gain access to the document delivery service and to activate the link with the Central Library of the CNR.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 305-330; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.21

1998 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Evolutions: una rivista elettronica sulle dinamiche del paesaggio

Umberto Moscatelli, David Gilman Romano

Abstract

The authors announce a new Electronic Journal completely dedicated to the study of Landscape dynamics. The Journal, called «Evolutions», accepts contributions also of lesser known topics or areas, on the condition that they are treated in a diachronic way. Papers on landscape evolution in periods of transition are specially welcome: Greek/ Roman, Roman/Early Medieval and Medieval, prehistoric /protohistoric and so on. In order to encourage a methodological and thematic exchange as wide as possible, no geographical and cultural limits are imposed. Address: http://www.evoluzioni.com.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 343-345; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.17

1997 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Presi nella rete: i siti archeologici in Internet

Maria Pia Guermandi

Abstract

The Internet is increasingly becoming a tool fundamentally important and effective archaeological research. Archaeology is an appropriate subject through which to promote the use of electronic media as it is multidisciplinary, with a wide range of data types. Resources offered by the Internet provide a means of sharing and distributing information of many different kinds in many different ways. Actually, archive material – ranging from field survey data, excavations and museum collections to ancient sources – are being made available through the web. The author presents the most interesting sites (key sites, electronic journals and above all museums) available on web, and discusses problems and difficulties of conducting research via the Internet. The WWW could change radically the way in which archaeologists communicate the results of their work, both for the benefit of other archaeologists and the wider public. On-line journals, for example, could be an important tool to solve printed media problems and difficulties for editing archaeological reports. Museums could be seen as the most important virtual place to visit in order to explore the world and its history. Unfortunately, current archaeological museum sites often restrict themselves to provide only basic and general information (addresses, exhibits, virtual tours) aimed at a large rather than a professional public. The Internet is never going to replace real museums or archaeological sites; it is going to be supplementary.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1997, 8, 151-169; doi: 10.19282/ac.8.1997.11

1997 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Ricerche multimediali applicate ai Beni Culturali

Ilaria Bonincontro

Abstract

Multimedia is increasingly spreading through many different fields (research, didactics, entertainment) but the meaning of this word is not always clear. The term multimedia can actually signify two things: something that is spread through different media, or a product that contains more than one media and that can thus transmit other and more complicated information. In this paper the second meaning is discussed. A list of projects is offered in order to present the state of the art in research on multimedia. Three topics are examined: a) implementation of conceptual models to plan and produce multimedia: the same models can be used at the same time to evaluate an applet; b) benefits of multimedia application in didactics; c) what kind of multimedia products are mainly requested in Cultural Heritage.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1997, 8, 171-186; doi: 10.19282/ac.8.1997.12

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

The East Mediterranean Pottery Project. Exchange of specialized data on the information superhighway

Mikko Louhivuori

Abstract

The information superhighway, technology has made it possible to create world wide multiple server databases for scientific and humanistic research. These allow a deeper level of exchange of data in archaeology than news services and information about excavation projects. The archaeological information passed along Internet channels is bringing scholars to think together in a way never before seen in the history of the research. The Israel Antiquities authority East Mediterranean Pottery Project is an attempt to enable searches on multiple database servers containing information about ceramic objects in museum and private collections. The search engine is based on HTML forms that provides a platform and operating system independent environment required by a widely distributed database search. The two main obstacles in the expanding of the system are terminological problems arising from language and usage differences and the Jack of a common system for type identification. The suggested solutions include the creating or adopting on local level of a pottery Thesaurus that allows extensive conceptual aliasing between distributed databases and the adopting of the DELTA syntax for passing typological identification keys between different databases. The future will show how the launching of the EMP project will be received by the international community and what is the growth potential of this and other similar scientific projects appearing on the information superhighway.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 997-1002; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.85

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Per un Thesaurus della ceramica greca. Programma per la fruizione remota di immagini e testi di tipo archeologico con la possibile strutturazione di un database

Maria Grazia Marzi

Abstract

A programme for the remote access of archaeological images and texts has been set up by myself and Dr. O. Casazza, who works in the Department of Advanced Technology at the Uffizi Gallery, and has taken part in the RAMA project (Remote Access to Museums Archives) since 1994. The main aim of the RAMA project is to develop a multimedia system which allows museum to give access to their archives via telecommunication networks. Without changing the museum archives organisation, the RAMA system provides remote access to existing museum database using broad band telecommunication networks to transmit texts, still images, videoclip and sounds. Our project consists of several parts: 1) Experimentation of RAMA system in the archaeological sphere in order to point out advantages, faults and all changes of the research. For this experimentation the Beazley archive of Oxford has been used; 2) Chances of using RAMA system through the structures of the Unità Operativa CNR - Uffizi supervised by DIE (Department of Electronic Engineering - University of Florence) supervised by Prof. Vito Cappellini as RIG (Roma Interest Group) and/or RUG (Ram User Group); 3) Creation of a card, using images for a following Implementation of a database. This database is useful for the archives of photos and drawing, e.g. the Banti archives and the Paribeni archives of the University of Florence.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1003-1010; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.86

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

AmberWeb: progetto di un polo Internet sull'ambra

Nuccia Negroni Catacchio, Marco Padula, Alessandra Massari, Barbara Raposso, Barbara Setti, Maria Letizia Tosi

Abstract

In the long term amber research work programme, carried out by the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Milan, an Internet node project has been recently created with the collaboration of the Institute of Informatic Multimedia Technologies of the C.N.R. of Milan, to facilitate the collection, the registration and the exchange of multi disciplinary information on this argument. This node is based on files, organised on different fields of interest (such as the archaeological, literal, geological, chemical, paleobotanic or paleozoological one), and it can be looked up in different kinds of paths by various users. The file consists of cards, texts, images and bibliographic information in the shape of hypertext. It can be adapted with the contributions of external users, passed through specific tools and e-mail. Among the numerous file nodes, the archaeological one is now the best structured and it gives more elaborated and articulated paths, as many different researches can be made with direct interviews - of multiple shapes - as well as with paths, guided by links set up by key words or sensitive maps.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1011-1026; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.87

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Internet e numismatica: la catalogazione e la ricerca

Patrizia Serafin, Salvatore Tucci

Abstract

The use of electronic equipment and resources in the storage of written and image data is described. In particular, it is shown how, on the occasion of a coin exhibition, the multimediality was successful in joining news about the history of coinage with the coin files data base. The immersion of this web in the Internet let a conspicuous number of clients ask queries, either for general or for scientific interest. Finally, we think that if a good number of data banks could be gathered in a single web, we could reach the aim to obtain a great "Coin Data Bank" from different sites, in the respect of their single peculiarities.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1027-1038; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.88

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Tradizione e innovazioni: alcune riflessioni sulla comunicazione nei musei

Maria Luigia Pagliani

Abstract

The author describes the difficulties in making good use of Personal Computers for educational finality in Italian museum. These difficulties are produced by computer world disorder and by collections complexity. A good solution may be to realize a general communication's plan for museum. Therefore Personal Computers acquire a specific role in connection with the other media.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1071-1076; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.92

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Didattica e informatica nei musei archeologici: un binomio incompiuto. Riflessioni a margine di una indagine in museo

Maria Pia Guermandi, Sara Santoro Bianchi

Abstract

The paper illustrates the role of interactive multimedia for museum professionals in Emilia Romagna region. Their introduction is affecting the role of the traditional museum, but their effectiveness for exhibition interpretation has not been explored in depth until now. The authors discuss the problems that museum professionals have had in the use, implementation and evaluation of multimedia: the main is the lack of an adequate communications strategy in the museum educational projects. The paper presents the results of a survey on the use of multimedia program in an archaeological museum in Emilia Romagna. The evaluation project was carried out with different groups of one targeted audience: schoolchildren. The evaluation has investigated if visitors spend more time with the objects after using the application or are they distracted and absorbed by the novelty of the technology, and in general if the program creates a positive attitude towards archaeology and museums.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1077-1089; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.93

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Museografia e informatica: la ricostruzione virtuale della tomba menfita del generale Horemheb

Antonio Gottarelli

Abstract

The archaeological Museum of Bologna has produced a graphic computerized video on the Saqqara tomb of General Horemheb and its reliefs. At the beginning of the nineteenth century merchants of archaeological antiquities emptied the tomb: some of the reliefs which decorated its walls were taken away and sold to various European and North-American museums. Five of these are now in the Archaeological Museum of Bologna. In the years which followed its first discovery, the tomb was newly covered by the sand of the desert and was found out again only in 1975 by G. Martin. The publication of these excavations enabled experts to develop an hypothesis of the tomb reconstruction which has been subsequently reproduced on a video that allows visitors to enter Horemheb tomb "virtually". The video has been made by Antonio Gottarelli (TE.M.P.L.A. Tecnologie Multimediali per l'Archeologia): it will be available for sale on CD (interactive version) and videotape. A small portion of the video, a few seconds with reduced spatial dimensions, is available at: http://www.comune.bologna.it/bologna1/Cultura/Museicomun/Archeologico/VirtualEgyptian.htm1.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1091-1099; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.94

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Un programma multimediale per Monte Sirai

Piero Bartoloni

Abstract

In addition to the objects exhibited in the show-cases, the "Villa Sulcis" Archaeological Civic Museum in Carbonia enables the visitors to integrate their knowledge of the archaeological settlement of Monte Sirai (which is about 6 km away from the town) and to adequately visit it. In fact, two multimedia work-stations were recently established in the Museum, that illustrate a programme on the Phoenician and Punic settlement. The work-stations include a computer and a big screen and are located in two rooms, one of which is expressly equipped for students. The programme is articulated in five different sections which, other than present information collected in more than thirty years of research, gives also the results obtained during the last excavations. The documentation is made up of maps, drawings and photographs. In addition to the introduction, the four remaining sections are divided on the base of topics, identified by the following key-words: "History", "House", "Death" and "Sacred".

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1101-1104; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.95

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

The Euesperides project: design and evaluation of a hypermedia program for an archaeological exhibition

Maria Economou

Abstract

This paper focuses on the Euesperides program, a hypermedia application for the public presentation and interpretation of archaeology and the main issues related to its design and evaluation. The project was set up in Oxford in order to explore some of the questions concerning the effectiveness of multimedia for exhibition interpretation. The computer program presents the history and archaeology of the classical Greek colony Euesperides in North Libya. The application was designed for a temporary exhibition organized by the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford in autumn 1995. It aimed to offer contextual and interpretive information about the objects on display, and also to demonstrate aspects of archaeological theory and practice. The paper discusses the structure of the program and the ways user input affected design choices. At several stages through the design process, formative evaluation was carried out with different groups of the targeted audience (schoolchildren, adults, students). This offered valuable feedback about the content, language, screen design, navigation, and user interface of the program. Summative evaluation was also conducted to explore the use of the hypermedia program by the visitors in the gallery. The paper refers to the methodology used, outlines the questions that the survey addressed, and presents the first results.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1105-1115; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.96

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Tecniche multimediali per la fruizione dei beni culturali

Cristina Ruvo

Abstract

On the occasion of this Symposium, we have reported on the new results of research activity on multimedia techniques, that Ceaprelda srl has been developing from many years in the field of cultural heritage. Our latest products (Etruschi-Etruria meridionale, Paestum, Campi Flegrei - 2° ed.), archaeological and artistical itineraries, have been now all realized on CD Rom, allowing a great development of technical potentialities as to the old floppy disk; CD use allowed us to make progress above all in the aspects of sounds, of quantity and quality of images, of animation (with complex and faithful reconstruction of ancient buildings, realized in 3D Studio on the base of archaeological surveys). To design the programme structure we have considered the reference of HDM (Hypermedia Design Model), but the products are not more realized in DB Fast 2.0, like for floppy version, but in Visual Basic 4.0. We have also elaborated a proposal to avoid the complex problem of incompatibility between "spreading communication" and "scientific communication" in the sphere of cultural heritage: we have provided for introduction in our multimedia itineraries of a section named "Lavori in corso" ("Works in progress") with a marked scientific feature, containing recent discoveries, researches and studies results and the most important cultural activities in the area of our itineraries. We believe, in this way, to have created a product for cultural fruition that, thanks to technological progress, gives widespread information aimed to specialists, and also makes them available to a wider public, not necessarily specialized in that sector.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1117-1131; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.97

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

PAN e ZOO. Un progetto ipermediale di didattica dell'archeologia preistorica e dell'archeozoologia

Claudio Arias, Tommaso Baviera, Fausto Gabrielli, Letizia Verola

Abstract

The lack of palethnological handbooks has been covered by book publishing for the last ten years. Two subjects were chosen for experimental teaching: prehistoric archaeology and archaeozoology. The core of the work consists of more than seven hundred images (b/w and colour reproductions coming from various sources) and more than one hour of original filming (reproduction of flint implement knapping and ceramic vessel shaping in prehistory).

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1133-1146; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.98

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Vers une édition multimédia en archéologie

Patrice Arcelin

Abstract

It is a truism to state that the publication of the results of archaeological research in France is going through a critical phase. The increase in the need for publication, mainly of the results of excavations and the initial outcome of their analyses, has become so large that we are now facing a recurrence of the difficulties of one generation ago! Limited budgets, glutting of the editorial pathways, new qualitative demands, also on the part of the research workers, for the diffusion of their results (e.g. colour) all concur towards a situation where the edition on paper ot the traditional journals or series no longer meets present-day expectations. The introduction of the new vectors of electronic writing like the Internet, and particularly CD-ROM because or its possibilities of volumetric transcription at a lower cost, is now an unavoidable option in the editorial field of the discipline on the threshold of the XXI century.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1147-1156; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.99

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Multimedia methods for excavation reports and archives using Microcosm

Anja-Christina Wolle

Abstract

This paper presents an update of my work on producing a tool for compiling and organizing electronic excavation archives with hypermedia function. The key to providing a usable tool lies in its flexibility to be incorporated with existing practices and software. As much data is already being processed and stored on computer, it would be an advantage to be able to continue using this data in its present format, without having to alter it. Therefore a program has been designed that will be able to cope with the diversity of formats in use and allow most users to continue their existing practices with existing programs and data collections, but with the added functionality and improved data access. The Open Hypermedia System MICROCOSM, which provides a useful and flexible framework to group the data within the excavation report lay-out, is being adapted for archaeological requirements. While MICROCOSM already offers good data organization and linking facilities that do not need to be improved further, tools that will aim to solve archaeological problems are being added. This involves the writing of a number of Visual Basic programs which will then perform these functions.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1167-1177; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.101

1996 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Internet Archaeology: an international electronic journal for archaeology

Michael Heyworth, Julian Daryl Richards, Seamus Ross, Alan Vince

Abstract

The Council for British Archaeology (CBA), The British Academy, and a number of British university archaeology departments are in the process of establishing an electronic journal for archaeology. The journal will be full refereed and set a high academic standard. It will accept contributions from archaeologists throughout the world and will therefore be aimed at an international audience. Both the production and dissemination of the journal will be network-based, ultimately available to all via the Internet. The journal will publish the results of archaeological research including excavations reports (text, photographs, data, drawings, reconstructions, diagrams, interpretations), analyses of large data sets along with the data itself, visualisation, programs used to analyse the data and applications of information technology in archaeology. As well as the delivery of a regular electronic journal, the project will provide (i) a detailed description of the process of establishing and managing an electronic journal, (ii) definition of a suite of access and navigation tools that will allow the readers to use the journal, and (iii) a contribution to cultural change through the increased use of electronic media. The first issue of the journal will be available within a year from the start of the project in August 1995. This paper presents the business plan for the journal.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1195-1206; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.103

1995 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

La comunicazione multimediale nelle attività scientifiche e divulgative dei beni culturali

Cristina Ruvo

Abstract

The use of multimedia to study history and archaeology is the principle of the application created by a Parthenopean IT company, the Ceaprelda srl, with the collaboration of a group of archaeologists coordinated by the author. The fusion between specialist competence and technology has allowed us to create a unique multimedia product, that can claim of being the first on floppy disk with archaeological and artistic emphasis. On the computer video it is possible to navigate the real and exact itinerary through territories, archaeological places, towns of particular historical-artistical interest or in the halls of museums. In every page of text a series of “windows” can be opened showing with monographic index-cards, curiosities and historical information, accompanied by photographs. The software is able to simultaneously process a high amount of information (texts, photos, graphic elements and sound) in an interactive form using the Windows operating system. Through applying a generic level of global authoring, the same project model always appears according to the specific requirements dictated by the contents; to design the program structure the Hypermedia Design Model (HDM) was considered, though this model refers generally to a hypermedia context. The project model has therefore allowed for the creation of a multimedia product, that led to the production of two titles: “Campi Flegrei” and “Napoli Mirabilia”. The structure of the text is based on a series of “entities”, to be considered as wide thematical classifications (e.g. contexts, itineraries, cards), each one formed of “components”, connected to it by contents and pattern. The reading scheme, with textual (descriptive pages) and visual (photos present on each page) information, is structured on the series of applied “links” that consent the admission to the various entities: moreover through an infinite series of logical and detailed paths (web), transversal readings of contents can be obtained. It is also possible “to navigate” in the text with the help of topographic maps. Using the “Print” function the various itineraries can be transformed into a little guide-book, while the “Search” key allows for a specific word search in the text, for a faster and more refined consultation. The series of technological innovations has allowed us to “simulate” the conditions of real visits. Other itineraries have also been created in the same manner. In particular, these are for the Southern Etruria (A. Naso, with an introduction by M. Cristofani) and Paestum (E. Greco and I. D'Ambrosio). This particular method of management and research has been used for purely educational purposes, but the software can be adapted to become an instrument for scientific research.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1995, 6, 243-258

1995 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Beni culturali, scuola e computer

Maria Luigia Pagliani

Abstract

Hypertext allows a personalisation of the information, with the possibility of creating multiple manuals with various levels of complexity. Therefore, Hypertext is an excellent didactic tool for education, and indeed schools frequently use hypertext to explain historical and artistical questions about Cultural Heritage.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1995, 6, 259-267

1992 Open Access Article Download PDF BibTeX

Beni Culturali: didattica al computer

Maria Luigia Pagliani

Abstract

Personal computers are able to organise complex information and to develop didactic experiences. In particular, new software makes use of audiovisual techniques, controlled by the computer, to create interactive experiences. This article discusses some of the principal interactive programs utilised in art exhibitions and highlights the power of multimedia programs in didactic activities. Some suggestions are also made regarding the use of multimedia programs.

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1992, 3, 199-206