Archeologia e Calcolatori 15 - 2004

Introduction to the Special Issue.

Two major features have emerged lately in the communication patterns of archaeological research: (a) an increasing use of the Web as a channel of information transfer, to complement or occasionally replace printed publications; (b) an exploration of new forms of archaeological discourse related to that trend. The Arkeotek project combines the two approaches in a specific domain of archaeological research described as 'the archaeology of techniques' (hence its acronym). The present paper exposes the objectives and status of the European association recently set up under that name (2002), as well as its initial works and plans for the coming years. A comprehensive introduction deals with the origins and guiding principles of the project. The paper ends with a square review of the problems that lie ahead.

Theoretical archaeology has known many important contributions in the last 20 years, both inside and outside the general archaeological handbooks. On the contrary, the methodology of computer applications has received less attention, because the formal linguistic character of computer procedures has been scarcely understood. A relevant exception is the fundamental logicist theory of J.-C. Gardin, which was conceived outside computer applications, but soon found its place in their methodology. Two recent books (with CD), publishing the results of such experiments, are discussed

The project of building a cognitive framework to formalise an archaeological language, proposed here, is oriented, not to computerise any archaeological language, but to offer a tool giving a framework mainly for the formalisation and the validation of an archaeological reasoning, as well as to deliver a readable procedure, which completes the conventional natural language of the archaeological publishing. The cognitive framework is based on a decomposition of the methodological iterative procedure into three levels: 1. Acquisition, 2. Structuring, 3. Modelling, in which a cognitive grammar is defined. A cognitive grammar normally defines statements and predicates. The statements have been classified, among the more frequent archaeological statement types, which are generally, for both real and virtual objects, the results of a correlation of intrinsic and extrinsic archaeological information. The predicates are also classified following the nature of decisions they imply, either general to Human sciences, or specific to Archaeology: – identification/differentiations (generalisation of a statement at a n+1 rank), – stabilisation/destabilisations (delimiting the validity value of a statement), – exploration/renunciation (reduction of the potential ways), – paradigmatisation (hypothetical introduction of a rule at an upper level), – appropriations/disappropriations (explicit projection of the archaeologist point of view in the reasoning). The cognitive grammar is used at each of the three levels of the previously defined methodological framework. The formalisation of such a cognitive framework is materialised by a set of statement objects and predicate objects, at each three different levels. Each object may be defined as trivial (needing no more formalisation) or may be linked to another similar cognitive structure, at the origins of the decomposition of the construct into a general system of nested cognitive objects. The archaeological construct, for the scientific publishing, may be materialised by a conventional natural language, to which nested formal constructs are annexed, enabling the reader to more easily validate the logic of the reasoning. The paper is illustrated by examples of applications.

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.

Almost everything that is written or said about the use of information technology within archaeology relates to hardware and applications and there is a general poverty of (published) material which considers the implications of the application and use of these tools on the way that the discipline of archaeology is practised. Although we are generally comfortable with the idea that technology has changed the way we live our everyday lives, and the ever-increasing pace of that change, for some reason there appears to be a general reluctance to consider that such changes and the pace of these changes may also impact on archaeology. This paper proposes that computer-using archaeologists have for too long ignored a critical area of research: the consequences of the new information and communication technologies we use. Archaeologists point with justifiable pride to the tradition of self-critical analysis of new ideas and methodological changes within the subject. Archaeologists question their data, their methodologies, their theories, their conclusions, the very basis of their subject, yet it appears that archaeology operates within a 'bubble', somehow immune to the consequences of the new technologies that are more and more a part of both the world around us and of archaeology itself. Furthermore, archaeologists are accustomed to theorising about technological changes in the past (ranging from new flint technologies, bronze and iron working, the evolution of the plough, developments in literacy, and so on), and may bring new perspectives to contemporary analysis of the technological world around us.

This article presents a detailed overview of the principal languages for the representation, interchange and exploitation of data, both textual and graphical. In particular, a detailed discussion is made of the procedure of text encoding. The approach taken in the article emphasises the importance of the World Wide Web for data dissemination and the fundamental issue of standards: HTML, XML and its derivate languages are analysed in detail. Importance has been given to the languages that represent not only the characters that textual sources contain but also the structure, content and appearance of the data. Two types of markup languages are presented: procedural and descriptive. A procedural markup specifies how the document should be presented. Descriptive (or logical) markup languages describe the structure of a document, such as SGML. The article considers the topics of international standards as the TEI Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange for the description of marked-up electronic texts and the RDF metadata recommendation. The first section concludes with a presentation of the innovative aspects of the Semantic Web. The second part focuses on spatial, graphical and multimedia data, and their display and exchange over the Web. The development of the Geography Markup Language (GML) is introduced and discussed, as well as other vector formats derived by XML, such as SVG, to construct structured spatial and non-spatial information for data sharing over the Web. Importance has also been given to the virtual reality languages such as VRML, an ISO standard, and the XML-based X3D. In conclusion the article aims to present a broad view not only of the technical aspects of data encoding but also the analysis of the standards, which are fundamental in the light of data interoperability and exchange

The Central Institute for Cataloguing and Documentation (ICCD), a body of the Ministry of Cultural Resources and Activities that handles the cataloguing and documentation of Italy's cultural heritage, recently concluded the project undertaken for the creation of the General Cataloguing Information System (SIGEC), an effort focused on making possible the integrated management of the different types of information - alpha-numeric, multimedia, geographic - available on the resources. An especially interesting aspect of the SIGEC, and one of its strengths, is the possibility of cross-referencing the informative data on the resources to their home territory, revealing the logical, historical and spatial relations between the environmental and anthropogenic elements, as well as the other entities of cultural interest, found in a given geographic setting. The result is an improved and better informed knowledge of the resources in question, which are placed in their proper context of time and space. While these considerations are valid for all types of cultural resources, they are especially pertinent to the archaeological heritage, which, as tangible evidence of past civilisations, takes on particular value and meaning at the precise moment in which it is placed in the historical and territorial context in which it originated and existed. The complexity and variety of the cultural resources have made it necessary to formulate specific technological and cataloguing tools with which, under the SIGEC, the geographic data generated by the customary GIS instruments is correlated with the descriptive information obtained on the resources, as well as with the sum total of the relevant documentation (graphic materials, images, multimedia pieces). In the specific case of archaeological resources, both the measures currently in force and those being updated or drawn up for the first time have been supplemented with the core information necessary for the application of the functions of the system. In addition, the cataloguing standards have been reformulated, creating a multifaceted structure in which the chart for the Archaeological Site (SI) serves as the historical-territorial reference framework for the other types of charts (SAS, Stratigraphic Survey; MA-CA, Archaeological Monument - Archaeological Complex; RA, Archaeological Artefact; NU, Numismatics; TMA, Table of Materials), making it possible to determine the space-time context of the resources described therein.

Europe is a very old and very small continent. The accession of ten new states to the EU in spring 2004 reminds us that the political boundaries we police and survey would have made little sense to the ancient populations who moved freely across our frontiers. Our disparate national and local heritage services represent different traditions and experiences of researching, recording, presenting and managing what should be among our principal assets. This diversity risks undermines research and conservation, it inhibits international strategies for heritage management and institutionalises anachronism. Can information technologies support the EU's stated aim of creating a single European research area for archaeology? This paper investigates the long-standing question of how different archaeological data sets in different parts of Europe may be aligned more closely to support research learning and teaching. It identifies emerging technologies to for resource discovery, integration and delivery, placing these in the context of organisational evolution. It asks how these organisations and technologies might work together to support archaeological information at a continental scale.

This article discusses the criteria and methodology applied for the insertion and later development of the archaeological terminology into the Andalusian Thesaurus of the Historical Heritage (TAPH), published in 1998. Firstly, the background and precedents that gave way to the creation of such documentation language are dealt with. Secondly, we comment upon the problems encountered in the integration of the archaeological vocabulary within a thesaurus that comprises several other heritage-related disciplines such as Architecture, Ethnology or Art History. Thirdly, the significance of the TAPH five years after its publication is evaluated, with a special emphasis in the process of its implementation and computerisation within the Information System of the Andalusian Historical Heritage.

Central to the arguments developed in the paper is an examination of the contextual approach to the interpretation of archaeological data. The management systems for excavation data are seen as strategic instruments for realising the potential of the means of analysis and interpretation of contexts. In this regard, the problem of which standards to adopt in the definition of finds, in particular portable items, becomes crucial. The paper discusses the most suitable criteria for the creation of dictionaries (structures for cataloguing) aimed at evidencing the functional aspects of portable finds, as an instrument for the best interpretation of contexts. The experience of the Archaeological Computer Laboratory of Lecce University is presented.

There are marked 'incommunicability symptoms' in language with which archaeology should communicate, in particular, with urban and landscape planning, and also possible relationships with new methods of landscape interpretation and management. In a vanishing context no longer based only on historical instance, 'interdisciplinarity' is a possible solution.

The problem of coding archaeological finds is discussed. The different items susceptible to coding are described according to the kind of information that must be collected. Some new coding techniques are described in particular: the landmarks technique, to be used for the shape analysis of corpora of finds all having a similar shape; the textual coding, useful for the study of images, once both the elements and attitudes and the sub-images composing the image are taken into account; a symbolic coding, to be used in the study of the syntactical structure of the images, describing the relations among items, regardless of the iconographical content. An overview of the exploratory analysis issues is given as conclusion.

Starting from the remark that scientific progress and cultural background proceed in a dialectical way, this paper seeks to deepen the relationship between scientific thought, archaeology and information technology. The still rationalist approach of information technology presses archaeologists toward applications where the quantity of data to manage and manipulate is dominant. The importance of quantitative methods is not balanced by an adequate reflection about the connection between archaeological theory, information technology and mathematical formalism. In archaeological field rules, as in other scientific areas, an attitude within the common expectation of confidence towards information technology seems deterministic; in this view technology is neutral and independent in comparison to the changes of the society. This is the dominant framework of archaeological computing closed within autarchy, self-reference and productive myth. The paper examines the possibility to define a different way of formal description and then analysis of archaeological objects. These different approaches, borrowed from other disciplines, are not dependent only from the theoretical model that the archaeologist selects for the digital reproduction of reality. They are a reflexive attitude and research experience which enables archaeologists to articulate in a flexible way data description and formalization without falling into the trap of the true/false opposition and the presumed neutrality of quantitative methods in archaeology.

The study of dental morphological traits in prehistoric populations is a new method of analysis and allows us to determine important characteristics of different human populations. In this paper we study the dental feature traits proposed by the ASU System (developed by Turner et al. in Arizona State University) by means of an alphanumeric and graphic database recording the dental morphological characteristics and the possible dental diseases (caries, dental wear, etc.). These traits are easily observed, and persist many years in dentally harsh life styles, evolving very slowly and without sex dimorphism. The multivariate data set obtained using the ASU System is defined by means of multistate qualitative variables, and the methodology of statistical analysis is the following: - The MMD test (Mean Measures of Divergence) was developed by Sjovold (1977) to observe the differences between two or more previously established and defined groups by means of multistate qualitative variables. It is also possible to test if existing differences among populations are ethnic, cultural, etc. - A Cluster Analysis algorithm developed by one of the authors (Esquivel1988) that enables us to build a grouping using qualitative multistate variables by means of specific developments in Information Theory established by Claude Shannon. Therefore, it is possible to determine the similarities of dental morphological traits between human groups, and compare these results with other previous information from archaeological data. This methodology has been applied to analyse human genetic diversity using exclusively dental morphological characteristics to determine the diffusion of the culture of the Argar, a prehistoric culture which existed in 1300-1500 BC The analysis has been applied to the teeth of 116 subjects belonging to the Argaric culture in the neighbouring settlements of Castellón Alto and Fuente Amarga (Granada, Spain), and the teeth of 58 subjects belonging to the non-Argaric settlement of La Navilla, also 1300-1500 BC, about 150 Kms. Distant. The results show a biological continuity, endogamy phenomena and genetic drifts. Finally, the study of the maxillar pathology like cavities and dental wear tells us about dental health, food and food preparation.

By editing the Monumenta Linguae Messapicae (Wiesbaden 2002), realised between 1996 and 1999 at the University of Tübingen as part of a DFG Project, a new software, developed and widely used in the archaeology field, was for the first time improved for epigraphic aims: the Bonn Archaeological Software Package (BASP). In detail, the 'seriate' tool, which is included in the Package, enables the chronological ordering of inscriptions coming from defined contexts, sequencing the Units (=Inscriptions) by a principle of association of similar letter types. A chronological oriented track chart ('Streugraphic') is the result of the processing, where single epigraphic phases can be distinguished and observed: each phase can moreover be dated, if acceptable dating sources are available for some items. The new software tool can open interesting research output for Epigraphy, since it makes possible the drawing of chronological grids of inscriptions by stable coordinates. Furthermore, the insertion of new inscriptions in the chart and their relative chronological assignment can easily be obtained with the new method.

A project for a Demotic Inscriptions on Ostraka Database is being carried out in collaboration between ILC/CNR (Pisa), the Department of Electronic Engineering (Calabria University) and the Department of the Ancient World History (Egyptological section, Pisa University). The aim of the project is to analyse the digital colour images of demotic texts on ostraka (Medinet Madi, in Fayyum region) with the aid of computational tools. The module described in the paper is a neural component able to learn the graphical features of each demotic symbol, which has been previously segmented in the images thanks to a semiautomatic procedure. A specific neural network tries to recognize the text written in the images linking the symbols segmented within the ostraka images database to the correspondent symbols available on a virtual keyboard. The graphical interface is particularly useful for teaching and research activities on this type of archaeological documentation.

The case of the peculiar kind of jewellery with coins made by the XIX century Castellani manufactory from Rome, is the reason why a program of data elaboration has been implemented, to manage a quantity of written information (archives and figurative and technical descriptions) together with images: five different sheets are needed to join all the main elements. On this basis, an analogous database can be developed to investigate texts such as the XVI century manuscript by Pirro Ligorio, where coins are used to write a historical prosopography illustrating by means of drawings the history of the most famous old men. However, the coins are not always reproduced in the right way or the same coin is used on different occasions: a program like this can detect these cases. Computer analysis together with traditional humanistic research, will achieve, on a historical basis, remarkable results.

Point pattern analysis has been one of archaeology's quantitative approaches since at least the 1970s, and has been applied at a range of scales, from the region to the site. Various techniques have been 'borrowed' from other disciplines, notably ecology, such as quadrat analysis, nearest-neighbour analysis and kernel density analysis. There have also been 'home-grown' techniques such as Local Density Analysis, Presab and Unconstrained Clustering, as well as the use of Cluster Analysis itself. This paper reviews these developments, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. A statistical advance was made in the 1970s with the development of the K function approach. This has become embodied in the ecological statistical software package ADE-4 as the Ripley and Intertype programs. These programs were found in a search for suitable affordable software for teaching spatial analysis at post-graduate level, and have been used in this role for three years, taking as a test-bed the Danish mesolithic site of Barmose I. The outcome of this work is presented as a case study and compared with earlier analyses of this dataset. The value of ADE-4 for archaeological spatial analysis is assessed.

Topology is the science to manage and identify spatial relationships between geometrical features. Application of topology in archaeology means the possibility of analysing the logic of space as it was in the mind of ancient communities or as it has been fixed in stratigraphical contexts by post-depositional effects. Qualitative definition of proximity, continuity, connection and of many other spatial properties, included since the earlier registration on the field for each archaeological feature, broaden the capability to find out spatial relationships and formal representation of logical expression of space. The intent of this paper is to deal with the apparently difficult aspect of topology, starting from recent applications in architecture or, only partially, in archaeology. It suggests to find out methods of approach through a new form of stratigraphical unit and through representations of system theories and graphs. A case study of architectural protohistorical complex is presented for application of these principles and facilitate the comprehension of the use of topology. The development of GIS is always more directed to record and ensure spatial topological data and it appears to be the best way for future applications in archaeology.

The paper focuses on the problems related to archaeological excavation data management through the use of a GIS solution; it considers aspects ranging from the planning of an open and functional data model, fitting the complexity of stratigraphy, to the possibilities of data processing such as the production of thematic maps or the elaboration of interpretative and predictive models using statistical and mathematical tools. It also discusses the difficulty of 3D data recording, as well as the recent technological development of Internet mapping servers and web-based dynamic GIS systems.

The Second University of Naples has been working, for the last three years, on a cultural heritage atlas of the most interesting areas of the Caserta district, for the first time considering this region as a single unit, in terms of archaeological and historical evidence, from antiquity to modern times. Therefore, the data model - designed to classify the evidence - permits the virtual repatriation of cultural resources that have either been transferred or destroyed throughout the last centuries. It also permits the expansion of the scale of investigation, from the reading of the landscape through time to the archaeological excavation of the most significant areas, such as Calatia (Maddaloni, Caserta). Nevertheless, the object of the research was a multi-faceted reality, in terms of quality, spatial and temporal dimensions and chronology. For that reason, the information system developed has a complex architecture, structured on the usual four dimensions, including the temporal level. Great importance has been given to the development of a multi-medial information system, supporting all the different experts involved in research (archaeologists, experts in ancient topography, art historians, architects) and the different sources, such as aerial photographs, ancient cartography, files, images, both ancient and new. The hardware is also innovative: it enables the user to integrate both Intranet and Internet solutions and to use both fixed and mobile equipment, as well as to acquire images both through scanners and digital cameras. The engine for data base processing is SQL Server at the moment, even if a future exploitation of Oracle is considered; the input/output clients are carried out through Microsoft Access 2002. The GIS engine is ESRI and it is fully integrated with the applications through a viewer, designed to allow bidirectional queries, both from cartography to database and vice versa. This information system is structured to run on Intranet at the moment; meanwhile a consultation and input data pilot project of image files has been started up, before sending the information collected on Web. The viewer GIS has been set up for use in a Web GIS context.

In 1998 the Laboratory for History, Archaeology and Topography of the Ancient World of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa began an experiment with archaeological databases and GIS. Initially, we made a GIS for the Entella survey. Since then, the experiment on this sample-survey has become a more structured system for the management of archaeological data (excavations, surveys, pictures, artefacts, etc.). In particular, we have focused our attention on data normalisation. Since 2002 we have also used a GPS receiver for the Kaulonia survey in order to geo-reference the sites. At the moment, the GIS manages only survey data, but it could also include excavation data. Using this system we are able to create chronological maps, and analyse infra- and intra-site artefact distribution.

Interpreting the results of computerised methods in archaeology cannot be done without a reference to theoretical archaeology. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the theoretical assumptions behind the use of GIS and visibility analysis in modelling controlled territories. An underlying assumption is that changing locations of settlements are related to changing needs of communities in their environment. The relationship between visible areas and those needed for subsistence is reviewed in a specific context. The case studies presented are those of Nepi and Gabii. The different position these sites had in central Italian settlement hierarchies is discussed in relation with the interwoven relationship between assumptions on and interpretations of the results of visibility analyses.

This article defends the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the management, analysis, examination and modelling of the archaeological data concerning the territory. Within this context, we outline some types of analyses that are being carried out with the use of GIS applied to the case of Segeda. Drawing on these and other experiments, we conclude that GIS technologies and their well-established capacity for the integration, analysis and examination of information from different sources constitute a particularly effective tool for the modelling of complex realities such as the one we are concerned with in our project.

The revolution of digital technologies in the past has focused attention mainly on the technical power and not on the semantic level of informative and communicational aspects. In the field of virtual heritage the risk was/is to enhance the amazing esthetic features despite the informative/narrative feedback and cognition within the virtual worlds. How much information can I get from a virtual system? How does it communicate? How can we process this kind of interactive information? The importance of the virtual reality systems in the applications of cultural heritage should be oriented towards the capacity to change ways and approaches to learning. The Virtual communicates, the user learns and creates new information. Typically we define as linear learning, tools and actions, such as books, audio guides, catalogues and so on (in this case the communication is a linear sequence), and reticular learning VR systems where the user is immersed within reticules of information and visual data. In this paper we try to analyse the relations between virtual reality, cultural heritage and cybernetics according to an ecological approach.

The emphasis of archaeological communication is no longer simply text on paper, but has moved on to encompass the expression of space and visibility. This paper discusses these new phenomena from the perspective of two recent projects, both of which presented spatial research material for dissemination on the World Wide Web. The first created a QuickTime virtual reality of Pompeii, Regio VI, and the second used an Internet based game engine to create a real-time virtual reconstruction of a Pompeian house. The paper also examines issues central to the integration of academia with the Internet and computing technology such as the advantages and disadvantages of using proprietary software and the opportunities and responsibilities presented by communication in the global community.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An increasing number of scholars involved in archaeological studies and research projects are looking to the Internet as a means of making their results known. With the idea that a web designer should not work too far from the perceptions of the possible web user and bearing in mind some of the more recent discussions in the 'web-usability' debate, the author offers some considerations on the real and effective usability of these web-publications, with particular regard to maps, GIS and cartography, since these types of publications, by the very nature of their construction, should maintain their high communication potential.