Archeologia e Calcolatori 10 - 1999

The ArchéoDATA Archaeological Information System has been under development for some ten years and during this time considerable experience has been gained in the field of archaeological information management. At the outset, a methodological philosophy was established and based on the premise that archaeology was in essence something, somewhere, at sometime. This provided the fundamental platform for data recording and has also given rise to, through the development of the “Entities”, a singular framework for archaeological analysis. The structures necessary to achieve an efficient balance between research, administration and conservation have been worked out and then tested under the actual conditions that will prevail under normal working conditions. The problem has been that at the heart of an AIS is communication, and that the practical means of achieving this are not simple. Not only do we need to efficiently structure the theoretical model, there also has to be the physical means of achieving it. This has been for many years the Achilles heal of implementation, as cost has been seen as being of an order not commensurate with archaeological budgets. The unforeseen evolution of the Internet network into the World Wide multimedia Web has provided information based systems with vast possibilities, and in the case of archaeology, with its first opportunity towards implementing universal communication. This paper describes some of the steps being undertaken to transfer the ArchéoDATA AIS to the Internet.

The state of the art concerning intrasite spatial analysis is given here, with the potentialities and the limits of the methods. In the first part, the interpretability of the spatial structures is questioned, focusing on the influence of cleaning and deserting of sites, and also the existence of post-depositional process, which can more or less cancel the expected spatial structures. Subsequently, the different methods of intrasite spatial analysis are described, following a brief history of their introduction into archaeology: the research of clusters in a spatial distribution, the association between two spatial distributions, and finally, the multidimensional spatial analysis actually used. Two important complementary methods are also described: the reassembling of spatial analysis and the chronological spatial analysis.

Although computer oriented archaeologists seem to have become somewhat disillusioned with computer simulation as a tool, other social sciences are witnessing a significant wave of enthusiasm for it, particularly in the form of agent-based modelling. My aim in this article is to reach some understanding of just why this paradoxical situation has arisen, and to consider what will and should happen next as regards agent-based modelling in archaeology.

Ten years after the publication of his article in «Archeologia e Calcolatori», the author returns to the subject of the relationship between computers and Medieval archaeology and describes the different phases of development which have characterised this field of study. In particular, he describes the research activity carried out by the Laboratory for Computer Applications of the Department of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Siena, which was created and implemented over the past ten years. The information system which has been developed is based on a programmed user interface (OpenArcheo) which operates as a supervisor and has been used for several different projects aimed at organising in an integrated environment large quantities of data, such as the “Progetto Siti d’Altura della Toscana”, concerning the editing of archaeological maps of Tuscan cities and provinces, and for the organisation of data from the excavations carried out by the Department.

Archaeological publications raise problems of many sorts, currently discussed in connection with computer networks and other technologies. One of them, however, seems somewhat neglected, namely the fact that we are mostly unable to read more than a fraction of the articles and books published in our respective fields of research. The substitution of electronic to printed publications does not fully meet that challenge. Complementary measures are needed, taking into account an acknowledged reality: our works are for the most part consulted, not read. The schematisation of archaeological constructs developed in the logicist perspective is meant to facilitate consultations; it is related to the computational paradigm of the information age. As such, however, it fails to fulfil one of the functions of historical works, associated with the narrative mode of thought and discourse. This paper advocates a parallel development of the two genres in archaeology, one through electronic publications of a radically new form, the other through printed works explicitly conceived as literary versions or expansions of the former.

Since 1995, F. Giudice, professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Catania, has donated a corpus of published and unpublished Attic figured vases (about thirty thousand files). The progressive updating of the archive and the stylistic analysis of the new vases (Post-Paralipomena Project) has allowed prof. Giudice’s team to study the new data of trade of Attic figured pottery across the Mediterranean. According to the method presented in 1993 («Archeologia e Calcolatori» n. 4), the Mediterranean area is divided in 13 areas and 47 sub-areas; for each of them a system of histograms shows the presence of Attic pottery in the whole area and in the single cities with particular attention paid to the chronology. As an example, this paper analyses the distribution in the Iberian peninsula.

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.

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.

The author offers a summary of the research work carried out over the last decade at the Beazley Archive, which consists of two inter-related parts: a traditional paper archive and electronic programs. The electronic programs began in 1979 with a database of Athenian figure-decorated pottery. The structure of the database was based on extensive “catalogues”, which Beazley had compiled and published in many editions from the 1920s through the 1960s. Since 1992 the Beazley Archive has been able to include in its electronic services other types of objects Sir John Beazley had recorded in his personal archive, for example, sculpture and engraved gems. In 1998 the Beazley Archive was selected as a suitable site for testing new techniques of watermarking and digital finger-printing; with the availability of several means of image protection the Beazley Archive launched a multimedia version of the pottery database on the Web. With the experience gained from adapting the pottery database for the Web, the Beazley Archive has taken the decision to use this platform for programs about other types of classical archaeology and art.

The present paper draws attention to the problem of describing contextual information using an object-oriented approach to relational database techniques. Initially, it outlines the basic theoretical concepts for a structured description of complex information in a relational database. The insight gained from this exercise is used to demonstrate how a generalised object-oriented solution may be implemented using a standard relational DBMS. The implementation called GARD is an all-purpose recording system, where the user can create a particular database structure through its interface without making changes to the underlying table structure, and modify the database as needed parallel to the recording of data. Finally, an example using decorated bowls from the Danish Neolithic shows how complex relational information may be handled. This information has been entered into GARD and extracted again for analysis.

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.

The author illustrates a specimen of an archaeological map on a provincial scale and a prototype of an archaeological map on a municipal scale (Contessa Entellina area, near Palermo, ancient Entella) carried out by the Laboratorio di Topografia Storico Archeologica of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa within the GIS project of “Regione Sicilia”.

In 1996 the Istituto per l’Archeologica Etrusco-Italica of the Italian National Research Council proposed, within the Cultural Heritage Special Project, the research programme “Establishment of an Archaeological Information System model and its application to ancient Caere” (“The Caere Project”). Its purpose is to use an archaeological information system to study the ancient Etruscan town of Caere, where the Institute has been carrying out surveys and excavations since 1982, together with the Superintendence of Southern Etruria. The authors illustrate an aspect of the project, related to the computerisation of the “Vigna Parrocchiale” excavation data. In fact, an innovative procedure was followed, through the use of the Standard Generalized Markup Language in order to encode the yearly excavation diaries in hypertext format. In this way, an easily transferable HTML text illustrated with photographic and graphic information was established. This type of text, which will be immediately available on-line, has allowed us to test new kinds of queries and information retrieval, in order to diachronically investigate the successive stages of our excavation and to organise the documentation relative to different areas, until finally reaching the essential association and the subsequent analysis of finds, also through the use of a statistical approach.

The author illustrates some applications of the Idrisi GIS to the archaeological research he is carrying out in the Cingoli area, a territory having a considerable presence of prehistoric sites. In particular, he analyses the relationship between the archaeological sites and some landscape features. The archaeological record highlights a considerable concentration of Palaeolithic sites near areas of the flint outcrops (mainly in the inferior Palaeolithic). A further point of interest is represented by the different middle Palaeolithic sites mean altitude: compared with the inferior Palaeolithic situation, this difference could demonstrate a downwards displacement of settlements. With regard to the Neolithic, Aeneolithic and Bronze Age, the location of sites and their close relationships with Musone and Rudielle rivers could suggest the presence of a road running alongside these rivers and linking the two important valleys of the Marche Region: the Esino valley to the North, and the Potenza valley to the South.

This paper illustrates preliminary results of the research project “An inventory of the Terramare in the central Po plain: physiographic context, stratigraphic and structural characteristics, state of preservation”, part of the Cultural Heritage Special Project, promoted by Italian National Research Council. The project involves GIS and remote sensing applications in order to integrate different 2D-3D georeferenced data (sites, excavations, surveys, landscape and territorial data) such as: a) raster data (aerial photographs of different periods starting from 1950, regional cartography, DEM); b) vector data (cartography, thematic layers, archaeological sites, etc.); c) a DEM created by cartographic contour lines and using a total laser station on the ground; d) alphanumeric data (excavation databases, territorial databases). The methodological approach has been to represent and analyse archaeological data from micro-scale (intra-site) to macro-scale (inter-sites), in particular exploring the perspectives of 3D GIS visualisations. Attention was therefore concentrated on the topographical reconstruction of microrelief in relation with the aerial photos (of different periods) used as textures, geomorphological features and archaeological data. We can define this kind of processing as a visualisation of an invisible landscape, as much more information can be retrieved from the terrain than using traditional techniques (aerial photo-interpretation, survey, etc.); in many cases this is very useful in order to help plan an excavation. Regarding the acquisition and processing of multi-temporal, multi-layer and multi-dimensional data, this research deals with a large-scale detailed study of the data collected by topography, but enhanced by surveys and acquisition of data on the ground. In fact one of the main tasks of our project is the creation of detailed models on the basis of the microrelief.

Archaeological investigations over the last thirty years in Pontecagnano, an important Etruscan-Campanian site about 70 km south of Naples, have brought to light an interesting archaeological context consisting of a large ancient site and an extended cemetery with more then 7000 graves, dating from the 9th to the 4th century BC The need to acquire, analyse and display this rich collection of data has given rise to the project, addressed to the application of a vector GIS to handle archaeological records from funerary contexts. This work consists in the elaboration of a powerful cartographical database, including the spatial location of graves and their attribute data. In this way it is possible to create and display thematic maps in order to trace a reconstruction of the social organisation of the ancient settlement through the patterns of development of the cemetery. Meanwhile the exact recording of the excavated areas in the digital cartography, superimposed on the topography of the modern Pontecagnano, allows us to have a complete, updated view of the operations, in order to define a new townplan and infrastructural projects in the local area. The package chosen for the full integration of conventional archaeological data with maps is Mapinfo, a desktop mapping software in use in archaeological computing applications. The information has been organized into three tables: burial data, paleobiological remains and grave-goods. These tables are linked to the digital cartography, structured according to different layers representing the ancient levels of the graves and the topography of the modern town. The project, involving numerous public agencies with different institutional aims, is designed to offer a single tool responding to different needs: scientific research, territorial management, running of a museum, townplanning and informing the public.

The author illustrates the results of a research project on the scattered sherd dispersion in the Lower Sangro Valley, where he has supervised a survey since 1995. While a number of dispersion causes have been detected, the author analyses here only the effects of meteoric water spill and of the agricultural work on the landscape. The analysis was performed using the DISPERSE module of the GIS Idrisi 2.0 for Windows.

In this paper, the results of a scientific collaboration between the Institute of Etrusco-Italic Archaeology, the Institute of Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage and the Civic Museum of Magliano Sabina are presented. The aim of this research is to study the distribution of archaeological sites in the territory of Magliano Sabina (Tiber Valley) and their relationship with the environmental-historical context. This area is a section of the Tiber Valley, where the river has always represented an important element from an historical point of view. In the present day in this area the river no longer follows its original course, so it was decided to find its old course in order to better understand the distribution of the ancient settlements in this territory. On the basis of research carried out at the Archivio di Stato di Roma it was possible to verify that the river Tiber originally flowed in the lower part of Magliano Sabina, nowadays the area of “Piana di Ramelli”. The study of historical cartography allowed us to verify the change of the river course since 1589, the year of the construction of the “Felice” bridge. The data has been confirmed by the morphological and geological characterisation of the selected study area. A GIS of the area has been used to compare and integrate all data sets with the aim of producing thematic maps to better understand the environmental evolution of the territory of Magliano Sabina.

The paper summarises some preliminary results obtained by a research team of the Istituto per le Tecnologie Applicate ai Beni Culturali of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-ITABC) in the archaeological area of Sabina Tiberina (Rieti). The study makes use of statistical methods and information technology with the goal of implementing a GIS of the above mentioned territory. The area investigated, falling within the counties of Magliano Sabina and Stimigliano, presents a wide chronological stratification dating from prehistory to the Roman age. The anthropological pre-existence considered show differences depending on settlements themselves which are always numerous in the various ages; in fact the proximity of the river (the Tiber) is the reason for their existence, allowing a cultural transmission besides the natural function of trade route. This paper is divided into two parts. In the first, all data concerning surveys carried out with the goal of finding and classifying the settlements of Roman age are included. In the second, some descriptive-documentary aspects gained through developing the GIS, together with statistical processing aimed at the creation of maps of data and settlements, are commented upon.

This research analyses deposits of Roman amphorae, in order to individuate the trade, exchange of goods and economic-productive aspects of Patavium and its surroundings. The discovery of more than two thousand containers gives a good numerical base and an interesting starting point for the study of food stuffs. Those amphorae are used to reclaim land since the second half of the first century BC to all the first century AD The combined analysis of typological facts, of excavation context and of the materials allows the division of the land reclamation into three phases: the first between the second half-end of the first century BC and the beginning of the first century AD; the second in the first half of first century AD; the third in the second half-end of the first century AD The market in the first two phases seems to be dominated by Italic products with a variation: in the second phase the oil quantity increases and reaches almost the half of the traded amount, whereas the quantity of wine is reduced, differing with the oriental contribution. The relations with far regions are consolidated with the trade of food stuff, such as garum. Third phase is characterised by supplies of local wine of different qualities, especially oriental, and by a huge use of oil.

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.

Until recently the preservation of the library heritage has been a very difficult task: conservation policies have been mainly interested in undertaking urgent restoration measures without carrying out prevention measures. Indeed, an effective conservation policy must be followed in order to ensure all protective measures are undertaken for the removal of dangers and for the insurance of a suitable environment. In this way, restoration measures, that represent a traumatic event for a work of art, could be avoided. Therefore it is highlighted the need to create a “risk map” for library heritage. This risk map should be a tool capable of selecting instruments for conservation, restoration and preservation and allowing a correct choice both for objectives and methodologies and the limitations of the essential measures. The risk map will be able: to give extensive answers to a number of key questions for the setting up of conservation policies; to give advice for the better planning of conservation and restoration measures; to help deciding between a routine measure or special maintenance, control and monitoring of typical situations; to manage economic resources without wasting of public and private money.

This article describes the research work which is now being carried out in order to classify bibliographic information, related to the field of computer applications in archaeology, that is published yearly at the end of «Archeologia e Calcolatori». During the examination, information was recorded in a database using Access software. For classification purposes, particular attention was devoted to the research topic dealt with in the publication, which was divided into two separate sections: “subject field classification” and “computer typology classification”. One example of the way in which it is possible to consult the database on-line is now available on the Internet site of this Journal. In conclusion, the author describes the results obtained from a statistical analysis of data from the 266 articles which have been published over the last ten years in «Archeologia e Calcolatori».