Archeologia e Calcolatori 19 - 2008

The paper introduces the concept of webmapping in the archaeological and historical sciences. The interest in offering an online mapping service is developed in terms of collaborative working, technical support, e-learning, mapping functions, and hardware and software architecture. The integration of the webmapping functions in the more general case of a Geoportal is also considered. Examples of operational Geoportals and projects in progress are also briefly described, most of them being detailed by their authors in the present volume.

The Etruscan town of Cerveteri and its territory have been investigated since the 1980s by the Istituto di Studi sulle Civiltà Italiche e del Mediterraneo Antico of the Italian CNR, becoming a field of experimentation for computer applications to archaeological surveys and excavations. In recent years, a new multimedia project, aimed at creating an interactive itinerary, has been planned in order to develop the Caeretan information system and experiment with the potentials of new webmapping and webGIS tools. This article gives a general overview of the Italian panorama in this sector of applications and describes the main steps of the itinerary (from the Villa Giulia Etruscan National Museum in Rome to the town of Cerveteri, following the Roman consular road the Aurelia) as well as the procedures to be followed for its accomplishment.

This article reviews some approaches to spatio-temporal modeling and visualization techniques developed over the last decade as part of the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) and the TimeMap project. Heurist, an academic social bookmarking application developed by the Archaeological Computing Laboratory (ACL) at the University of Sydney over the past three years, inherits much of this work, and moves beyond in modeling networks of relationships between events, providing a capable infrastructure for developing spatio-temporal visualizations of historical data. It handles a full range of structured bibliographic records and provides a rich, expansible set of database record types, controlled data entry forms, record linking and a wide variety of search and output capabilities, including maps and timelines. As for the future, the challenge is to develop methods of visualization which combine the simple, intuitive nature of a timeline with the essential relatedness of historical events, while also representing their spatial location. Incorporating such visualizations into a pedagogical approach to history can be used to enrich museums and classroom teaching.

The Patrimony Atlas of Seine-Saint-Denis (north of Paris) is an information tool related to the archaeological, architectural and landscape patrimony of Seine-Saint-Denis, accessible on the Internet address http://www.atlas-patrimoine93.fr/. It is distributed by the Cultural Patrimony Service of the Department of Seine-Saint-Denis, and is registered in the National Patrimony Atlas project of the Ministry of Culture. It is organized into three categories. The documentation platforms gather: a geographical catalogue which includes 50 levels of information geographically referenced, which are free of copyrights and can circulate online; a bibliography with 3700 references classified according to borough, subject and time period; an iconographic catalogue with 2800 images, the issues of archaeological maps and patrimony inventory that collect and collate past data. The “territorial views” offer a rapid access to a selection of ancient maps that represent a selected point on the territory on a contemporary basis, like the Napoleonic cadastral tables. The “Documents” file gathers the documents in a PDF format: university projects, thematic studies, articles and monographs, methodologies, summary charts, as well as hypertext documents, a presentation of the evolution of the road network in the latter part of the 18th century, a “Mathériauthèque numérique” dedicated to construction materials, and an “Atlas des colleges” of Seine-Saint-Denis. In its present version (2.5.3, put online in March 2008), the Seine-Saint-Denis Patrimony Atlas receives between 12,000 and 14,000 hits per month.

For cities such as Rennes, that combine a past as an ancient capital city with the status of a modern metropolis, the value of its archaeological patrimony is complicated and complex. In many cases, the poor state of preservation of vestiges is due to the successive occupations and to intense pressure for modern urban development. These factors did not allow for any consideration to preserve its patrimony. Computer technology can contribute to solve some of these problems. First, it is necessary to have a comprehensive knowledge of these vestiges. Then, a spatial analysis would make it possible to create thematic, chronological and spatial connections of the elements that make up the topography. The ability to manage all the scientific information, in its various forms, generated by the archaeological activities on the territory of the city, is essential. The pertinence of the organization of scientific data and the relative specific connection of these to the urban setting not only depends on the quality of the topographic study and urban morphology but also on the potential development. This article presents a dynamic model structure for archaeological information, as well as the application through the development of a Geographical Information System, the SIGUR application. This is a vital step before any online distribution of information to enhance patrimonial value, or before any division of this information, through the creation of collaborative sites to encourage scientific partnerships.

Publishing provenance data on the Internet requires the integration of various resources, some of them easily accessible, some of them costly and protected by various copyrights. The work is based on thematic and archive maps, special fieldwork and research projects, data published in technical literature and stored in related databases. This paper will survey the accessible resources used for creating an “Atlas” of prehistoric raw materials for the Carpathian Basin, both commercial and public domain elements and will concentrate on the additional new value as well as problems of continuous maintenance. New developments in supporting reference collections at the Hungarian National Museum will be discussed as well.

The “Géoportail” is a French creation responding to the INSPIRE European directive; the website http://www.geoportail.fr/ is published by IGN (Institut Géographique National) and allows for easy and free or low cost access to many geographic reference data. IGN develops various kinds of services like visualisation, download, formats and coordinates transformation and API Géoportail; it publishes these services independently or in partnership with other public agencies, companies or associations. Archaeologists may use the API Géoportail to augment the value of their results or to show partial results on a public website http://www.geoportail.fr/.

Alpage program, based on a collaboration between historians, geographers and computer researchers, aims to build a historical GIS of Paris. First, we reconstructed the pre-Haussmannian plan of Paris by georeferencing and vectorizing the survey of the cadastre made by P. Vasserot (1810-1836). Then, on these fundamental layers, historical information layers, like medieval and modern ones, will be built by different researchers according to their specific interests (churches, town walls, fiefs, parishes, etc.). Since this tool is technologically complex and since it is intended to be a reference work for further historical studies about Paris, we must immediately take into consideration the organization of further collaborative work. Accessing the GIS data, both to share them with different types of users and to edit new data in it, is an essential question, although it is often considered a trivial one. The issue of the use of a tool by the researchers seems nevertheless to be decisive and intrinsically linked to the success of a GIS. Meeting the needs and expectations of the users, webmapping might be a good solution for editing the geometric and attribute data in a GIS. But today, setting up this kind of platform for collaborative work is still difficult and time consuming. That is why, for Alpage, a temporary solution was found, revealing what organization theorists call a “community of practice”: it combines a centralized management of the references and object identifiers via the web and an independent edition of the objects by thematicians on their own computers. For this reason the DBMS ALPAGE-References has been adapted and posted on the website of the LAMOP.

As part of the archaeological research program conducted in Itanos since 1994, an archaeological survey was carried out on a substantial portion (about 20 sq. km) of the territory of the ancient city. The area surrounding Itanos offers an exceptional site that has not been occupied by any important human settlement since the Middle Ages. It thus appears as a fossilized map of the ancient occupation and presents an exceptional case in the history of the Cretan landscape. During the past few years, archaeologists have collected a huge quantity of information, that will now be presented to the scholarly community. All data have been organized in a database that is fully compatible with a GIS system. Since 2006 this searchable database offering the records of the survey has been made available online on the website of the French School of Archaeology. It is the intent of this article to present the heuristic and technical principles which lie at the basis of the project. Moreover, a GIS platform, offering a digital elevation model and a chronological distribution of all the archaeological sites surveyed, has recently been accessible on the website of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies. This GIS platform will be continually augmented by additional data and will eventually offer a powerful interpretive tool to archaeologists, which will integrate the physical conditions of the landscape which are at the core of historical explanation.

The Historic Atlas of Val-d’Oise is a tool with the objective to propose information concerning the evolution of the territory of Val-d’Oise. This application is an important step towards the development of the archaeological GIS project which is now a part of the Val-d’Oise Department project of GIS. The interpretation of the evolution of this project shows us how the archaeological methodologies develop with these tools, and how the informational and the technological foundation gives us the opportunity to develop this online application.

The Atlas of Near Eastern sites (ASPRO - Atlas des Sites du Proche-Orient) is an analytical index of nearly 2000 archaeological sites occupied between 14,000 and 5700 BP (about 14,000-4500 BC) in an area extending from the Sinai to Turkmenistan and from Anatolia to the Arabian-Persian Gulf. Its objective is to propose consistent information concerning a wide area and a long period of time, based on evidence which is often difficult to access, and to free this information from the compartmentalization of knowledge. This corpus, which was published in 1994 in book form, and is now out of print, has recently been made available online in an interactive cartographic interface, at the following address: http://www.mom.fr/Aspro/login.jsp. The objective of this development is to sustain consultation of the corpus, to increase its diffusion, while offering new functionalities with more flexibility: consultation through different entries, including the cartographic entry. Thus, it will now be possible to respond to requests on the different tables which compose the base (sites, periods, bibliography, dating), and to display the results in the form of an interactive list (access to files) and in cartographic form. The display is presented in different scales and the sites may be visualized on several thematic maps (hypsometry, pluviometry, bio-geographic zones). The latter also enable selection by spatial intersection. The technical system is now in place, and the project can proceed to a new stage: the updating of the corpus through sharing of information, then validation by a group of specialists.

The nature of flints used in prehistory is essential information for increasing our knowledge of old settlements. The study of this raw material as well as the identification of its source, contribute to the evaluation of the mobility of prehistoric men and their behavior in relation to mineral resources, thus contributing to a better understanding of certain problems related to prehistoric economies. An innovative multi-field approach, based on a series of geological surveys of the siliceous formations of the French Massif Central, of Morocco and of northern Bulgaria, makes it possible today to better determine the limits of the areas exploited. The study is based on a complete examination of the evolution of flint on three scales (macroscopy, microscopy, ultramicroscopy) thus representing an improvement over petro-archaeology which traditionally uses the methods of petrography, mineralogy and micropaleontology. Moreover, the reconstitution of the initial shapes of material clarifies the technical procedures implemented for their exploitation. This methodological innovation, based on a rigorous sampling, makes it possible to present the results of an integrated analysis of the geological samples in their areas of natural diffusion. It proposes a refined paleogeographic vision of the removal made by men in these areas and of their anthropic and natural transformation at the archaeological site. The original diffusion of this scientific study, which is still in progress, is based on a platform of content management and groupware, called Map’N, which integrates access to cartographic webservices and online functions of geocoding of the iconographic and cartographic documents used or produced by these research projects.

As part of the projects SIGRem and AtlasMed involving teams from the University of Reims, two steps were developed for the use of spatial data of various origins (archaeological, geographical, historical, etc.) with a Geographical Information System. Firstly, a global database called GISSAR was constructed and linked to a GIS begun in 2003 to allow the grouping and the working of information coming from different studies in the field of archaeology. Then, this collection of data files (photographs, plans, cards, texts, pictures, etc.) of all kinds should be considered when managing information, to put results online.

A spatial analysis of pottery dumps is proposed on a layer of the Neolithic site of Chalain “station 3” (Jura, France). The proposed method analyzes, through diagonalization, a table of presence/absence of square meters per vase, then, through data analysis techniques, a co-occurrence matrix of the number of re-assemblages of pottery sherds within the square meters. The results show that dump areas are well correlated to the ancient buildings.

“Le Stratifiant” is a simple tool for stratigraphic data processing, which can create stratigraphic diagrams with various functions: inscription in the absolute time, according to the TPQ (terminus post quem) and TAQ (terminus ante quem) available, the processing of dubious relations and the phasing of data. Developed under the software Microsoft Excel, “Le Stratifiant” can communicate with excavation databases.

The proposed principle for understanding the urban fabric is based on considering the town as a set of complex objects, taking a systemic approach. The town system used to study the urban fabric over large time spans is composed of three sub-systems relating to historical objects from the level of the excavation to that of the former urban space: function (social use), space (location, surface area and morphology) and time (dating, duration and chronology). The historical object is the analytical unit of the space studied. It is the Cartesian product of the three sets, Social use, Space and Time, from which it stems. On the basis of this process, the Historical Object (OH) is broken down into three types of simple object, functional (EF), spatial (ES) and temporal (ET). The thematic approach to the OH in an urban environment is based on social use, organized according to a hierarchical thesaurus. Space, the most formalized of the three sets, is structured on the model of a planar topological graph without isthmi. Time, always considered as continuous and linear, will be modelled through analogy with space using temporal topology defined in the field of artificial intelligence. The relationships between these three sets each characterize an interaction (social use-space, social use-time, time-space, or function-space-time). In addition to reconstructing the OH, they allow urban changes to be observed by analyzing the distributions and mapping of each of the entities singly or two-by-two. The originality of this procedure lies in its approach whereby it is possible to start not from the mapping of a phenomenon at a time t1 and comparing it to that at a time t2, but to look at it in the same way whether its input is social use, space or time. The heuristic value of this modelling lies in the shift from description (what, where, when) to understanding the phenomena of change (how, why).

Webmapping allows us now to network tools originally integrated into GIS desk software. They can be found under free licence, with some of them in open source, and answer to the needs of scientific research as well as to their financial budgets. Research centers, corporations or institutions interested must at first define their expectations in order to elaborate the appropriate GIS to put online. With the use of static maps in HTML, vector images in SVG format, image managing with the Applet Java or the designated map servers, it is possible to create complete and complex maps. An administrator can easily adapt the interface and the tools available to the user’s needs. These solutions are compatible with the format of the files generated by other applications and do not require a meltdown of map files in order to be switched onto a new format. These programs can be associated with others available in open source such as GeoServer, in Java language, and MapServer, programmable in C++. Acting as a transactional interface, the GeoServer system consists in stocking and editing spatial objects into a network. MapServer is an asset for customizing and advancing the broadcasting tools for online dynamic maps. This year we have successfully presented our Master 2 University project in Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne entitled NeoArcheo. It puts into practice the web tools and services mentioned above.

The Center for Digital Geospatial Resources “Methodologies of Modelling for the Spatial Information Applied to Human Sciences and Society” (M2SIA– M2ISA) was created in March 2006 by the CNRS. The purpose is to facilitate the pooling, exchange, access, transmission, broadcasting, and mutualization of spatial data as well as respect the international geographical standards of the ISO/TC211 from a portal and from a geoportal. The CSDR M²SIA (CRN M²ISA) is constituted by ten partners who belong to the network of the MSH. This structure depends on multi-third party architecture in an open environment. One of the third parties of this architecture is formed by the suppliers of data who correspond to the various MSH sites. These sites give cartographic services created under the ArcIMS software with the AXL language. These services are automatically joined into the architecture and directly consumable by the simple user via an interface developed in Javascript, HTML. The AJAX and Web 2.0 technologies are implemented.

The author describes a free software, originated in the same sphere as videogames programming, able to work under OpenGL and SDL. Its architecture is based on Delaunay triangulation algorithms and is aimed at rapidly creating 3D realistic Digital Terrain Models. The purpose of this free license software is to give archaeologists a simple tool to overcome complex traditional topographic design software. It allows direct data transfer from acquisition tools to servers for an immediate online elaboration (consultation, updating, changes, etc.). The optimal final result could be the combined use of this free software for topographic calculus.

Recent work, in the field, on the dimensions and weights of loomweights from excavations in Insula VI.I, Pompeii suggested that there was structure in the form of evidence of bi-modality in the weights. The paper has two purposes. One is to illustrate a variety of statistical methods that were used to confirm the validity of our observations. The other is to discuss what the archaeological implications of this might be. A more general point is that if more attention is given to what are often regarded as “uninteresting” artefacts some interesting results may emerge - specifically, it can be asked whether loomweights have chronological significance for interpreting archaeological sites (at Pompeii at least).

The present work is a first attempt to apply some statistical methods to the study of the so-called Iberian thymiateria, coming from the archaeological site of El Cabecico del Tesoro (Verdolay, Murcia). These terracotta objects have been analyzed using four different methods of calculation, for the purpose of verifying the possible similarities and differences among them, considering the results of both statistical and traditional (iconographical) methods.

While the application of computer technology to archaeology has been characterized by numerous experiments, there has been no specific attempt to standardize processes. Archaeologists operating in the field seem to privilege “ad hoc” solutions in which the computer has been more or less actively featured. Without any pretence of presenting a model, this paper describes a series of field experiments conducted by the archaeology team of the University of Foggia, and reflections based on the growing use of computers in the various phases of our research. Beyond this, we hope to show the necessity and importance of reaching some kind of consensus regarding methodology and technological innovation. Computer technology has allowed us to rethink the process of documentation by introducing important innovations in all phases of research, from recovery of data to analysis, interpretation and reconstruction right through to the dissemination of results.

The paper presents the results of the ongoing research coordinated by the Chair of Ancient Topography at the University of Padova. The work concerns the medieval site of “Mura della Bastia” in Onigo di Pederobba (Treviso), in the North-Eastern part of Italy. Historical information from written documents and results obtained from the archaeological investigation at the Onigo castle (1994-2007) are discussed. The study provided the historical reconstruction of recent collapses of the Onigo tower and allowed the virtual reconstruction of still-cohesive blocks, which had fallen down in 1989, and which were recovered during the summer of 2007. At this time, five of the ten building blocks have been positioned; the procedure was carried out by comparing the panoply of each agglomerate with the prospect of the tower, which was obtained from the photogrammetric rectification of the historical images (2D). The 3D survey of the tower and of nine blocks was performed with a Leica HDS 2500 laser scanner. The resulting point clouds were aligned with Cyclone software, also using the coordinates of some laser scanning targets, which were measured with the Leica TC 2003 total station in a local reference system. The final 3D model obtained by the co-registration of the scans was textured with the digital images acquired with a Canon EOS 1 ds Mark II camera. Subsequently, three of the five recognized blocks were positioned on the 3D model using Reconstructor software.

The Petra monumental site is located on the left rim of the Rift Valley in central-southern Jordan. The entire valley, which is tectonic in origin, rests on Late Cambrian quartzarenite rock formations of continental origin. Past research conducted by our team has allowed us to identify the following main causes of the weathering processes: thermal expansion and shrinkage of rocks caused by the great differences in day and night temperatures contribute to the loosening of quartz grains that lead to the disintegration of the rock. Heavy rainfall and above all surface runoff contribute significantly to the removal of weathered materials from the surface. Other forms of decay are caused by the presence of salts along the fractures. Both fieldwork and laboratory analyses performed in the past in a climate chamber have demonstrated that the products usually used in conventional restoration work are not very effective, due to the “extreme” climate and the chemical and physical characteristics of the rocks. The project proposes the realization of a GIS aimed at acquiring complete knowledge of the man-made structures and hydraulic system underlying the routes of the canalisations and identifying the cisterns. This work is meant to contribute a valid support aimed at the restoration, which will involve several different disciplines, including the geological and chemical analysis of the rocks, the topography and the 3D photogrammetry.