Archeologia e Calcolatori 22 - 2011

This article is intended as a review of the contact points between information technologies and cultural heritage, starting from the classification and cataloguing methods applied both to scientific and historical research. The Author describes the aims, activities and results obtained by the Archaeological Superintendencies in Campania from the most important projects developed between 1987 and 2010. In these projects, thanks to the cooperation with private and other public institutions involved in ICT, specific patterns and models of cataloguing and territorial information systems were created related to the domain of cultural heritage, including databases and information retrieval, GIS and CMS applied to cataloguing objects and settlements, web sites and cooperative and distributed web systems for cultural contents dissemination. The Author analyses the various methods and purposes of the applications conducted for studying, safeguarding and promoting the historical and archaeological heritage, in order to define the phases of this technological development and outline the mutual influences and benefits for these different but increasingly interconnected fields of research.

From 2008 to 2009 the Department of Archaeology and the Department of Ancient History of the University of Bologna conducted the JiC - Jewellery in Context project. From the beginning, the JiC project pursued among its principal aims the creation and development of a database centred on the systematic census of ancient jewels, ornaments and other precious objects from the Mediterranean area, with specific attention to the context in which each artefact was found. Considering the typological variety and the different chronological, geographical and cultural ambits of provenance of the objects, the creation of an interactive web database - based on an open source server-side system - makes it possible for specialists in several distinct areas of study (Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Medieval Archaeology, Numismatics, History of Art, etc.) to cooperate with each other. In this regard and in order to preserve the specificity of the numismatic evidence in works produced by ancient goldsmiths, each form for the insertion of new records, as defined in the table Objects of the database itself, enables us to enter the description of coins mounted in jewellery. A specific set of fields contains detailed and particular connotations of each coin specimen: physical and technical data (such as metal, denomination, weight, diameter, die axis), information about the issuing authority, chronology, place of mintage, state of preservation, obverse and reverse types, references and further observations.

This paper focuses on the multidisciplinary charts regarding the sherds of Black-Gloss Pottery found in the settlement of Colle Rosetta (Sabina Tiberina, Rieti, Italy) in the 1970s, which emerged after deep ploughing. At present, the ceramic fragments are kept in the Civic Archaeological Museum of Magliano Sabina. Charts regarding archaeological data were drawn up for all finds (567 samples). Preliminary diffractometric, petrographic, chemical and SEM analyses were carried out on some sherds to confirm their probable local manufacture. In this article we describe how we created a database in which archaeological data have been associated with the results of the laboratory analyses. The interface has a main mask, in which information, conformed to the ICCD standards, concern details of style and topographical-archaeological data of the sherds, and a second one which regards data of the laboratory analyses carried out on the Sabina Tiberina sherds. Data concerning the analyses were entered into the charts to add to our knowledge of the ceramic fragments, and also to contribute to the cultural and technological debate on Black-Gloss Pottery manufacturers in the central Italic area.

The “Castellum Vervassium” project concerns a series of archaeological investigations regarding the landscape around an ancient settlement now known with the name of Vervò (Val di Non, Trentino, Italy). Among the different analyses (excavation, survey, remote sensing, etc.), in 2010 a sub-project was started to reconstruct a hypothetical ancient road network inside the target landscape. In order to optimize the scientific process, the entire research project was divided into three steps: a topographic study conducted with classical methodology, the determination of the least cost path through LIDAR data and the development of a WebGIS to improve scientific publication of the final result. Every single phase of the work-flow was supported by specific Free/Libre and Open Source software applications. During the classical topographic study, the simple and light GIS OpenJUMP was used to improve precision and to avoid time consuming operations with cartography (without compromising user control in qualitative analyses). For more complex quantity analyses, the software GRASS granted a high quality, mainly thanks to its modular structure. This program satisfied our needs in determining the least cost path between main nodes of the road network and managed huge amount of data analysing a LIDAR DTM of 1 meter accuracy. A WebGIS, based on GeoServer and OpenLayer, made it possible to share the basic topographic and archaeological information of the project with the community. This type of flexible media was the best choice for offering broad access to the data, thanks to different filters and pre-built queries that simplify the internal browsing of the system.

The integration of different approaches based on Artificial Neural Networks models has here been adopted to draw the guidelines of a map of a Mesopotamian administrative system. Two data sets concerning two different classes of findings have been contemporarily investigated using different models and procedures: a corpus of glyptic presentation scenes and group of administrative tablets from the archives of Umma. Both corpora are witnesses to the inner logics of late third millennium Mesopotamian state administration, and the investigations into them gave interesting contributions to the development of sound hypotheses for a general outline of the Ur III state bureaucratic culture. In fact, the results, obtained through different methodologies, show a large number of points of convergence, and the same features were recognized as "basic" both by Auto-CM and PST. In summary, through research on heterogeneous documents related to Ur III administrative communication, such as the relics of visual languages and traces of writing and sealing procedures, this work demonstrates how proper data mining techniques can partly reveal the very cultural background of some ancient centralized organizations and stimulate the development of new ways of considering the use and perception of those products.

Architectural design constitutes an important source of information for the study of prehistoric societies. In the protohistoric period, an architectural evolution took place in western Andalusia (Spain): the change from rounded to rectangular huts, and a new evolution to more complex houses formed by rectilinear thick walls and others less thick to shape small rooms. This paper analyses the metric and geometric features of the Acinipo protohistoric settlement (Ronda, Málaga, Andalusia) to determine the main architectural pattern in each construction phase. These analyses emphasize the evolution in the design from rounded huts to rectangular ones, but this type of construction returns to its origins with the more recent circular and elliptical huts. The comparison between these features reflects the similarities and differences arising over time in the settlement. Geometrically, regular shapes such as circles, ellipses and rectangles, as well as the orthogonality and parallelism concepts, were applied to the design and building of dwellings. Therefore, the individual huts were aligned to form a regular structure of the town, maintaining the surface area through time. The results provide evidence that geometry constitutes one of the most important multicultural symbols in the world of the architecture and its evolution shows the evolution of society.

In recent years Remote Sensing applications in archaeology have become increasingly frequent. This plurality of applications depends mostly on the rising interest of the scientific community in modern methods for surveying geographic data, which have become increasingly powerful, automatic and reliable. Remote Sensing, with its various techniques, offers the rapid acquisition of a huge quantity of metric and qualitative data in order to describe or to identify archaeological sites. For an appropriate and widespread use of these data, it is still necessary to have recourse to GIS techniques; as a matter of fact, only the combined use of both methodologies provides a full exploitation of their potential for an in-depth understanding and an effective utilization of data related to an archaeological site. The authors illustrate some case studies concerning use of remote sensed data for cartographic applications and detection of possible buried archaeological structures.

The increase of 3D acquisition and modeling techniques applied to archeology is due principally to (i) their capacity to survey archeological artifacts with high precision and a non-contact approach and (ii) the possibility to create 3D digital models useful for data analysis, simulation and preservation. These benefits in terms of knowledge oblige the contemporary archaeologist to acquire a better understanding of 3D acquisition and modeling principles and practice. This evidence arises from the necessity of adopting a common language for experts in 3D data management and archaeologists with the principal aim being the understanding of each other’s requirements and sharing of the purposes of the project. In this article the authors propose a concise but exhaustive explanation of the working principles of active and passive 3D acquisition techniques. For each one a description of instruments and methodologies is developed, pointing out pros and cons of every technique. In conclusion, a sensor fusion approach is presented as an interesting solution to increase the instrument performances while obtaining at the same time a quality improvement of 3D acquisition and modeling results. A final multi-resolution application about Pompeii Forum 3D modeling follows and closes the article.

Architectural structures are 3D volumes and their features, which are recognized in the field through archaeological investigation (stratigraphic, metric and formal data), are distributed within the three-dimensions. Stratigraphic wall analysis normally needs front elevations or photo-mosaic images to draw the boundaries between each Stratigraphic Unit (SU). The Stratigraphic 3D component is not recorded because it is not taken into account by these supporting documents. With the support of photo-modelling and stereophotogrammetry, instead, it is possible to record the perimeter and volume of each SU in 3D space and also obtain isomorphic reproductions of the detected object. These copies are high quality photo-textured models that provide a complete overview of architectural volumes and the close dimensional framework (length, depth and width) of mouldings and decorative architectural elements. Moreover, the coordinates of any point can be extracted from these models in order to obtain traditional charts (maps, sections, elevations and axonometric views, useful to understand the process of installation of building elements). The purpose of this paper is to describe different techniques capable of acquiring 3D data of wall stratigraphy in order to define new methods of documentation based on the use of photo-modelling and stereophotogrammetry. The data used for this research refer to excavated sites or high-preserved fabrics of different ages and functions such as the late medieval bell-tower of the basilica of San Severo (Classe, Ravenna), the modern tower of Monte Erno (FC) and the church of San Bartolomeo in Tipano (FC). Starting with these cases, in this article we explore some of the technical aspects of data processing like speed, measurement accuracy, information content and equipment cost.

Fabric analysis in archaeology is the study of the spatial arrangement of a deposit through measurement of bearing and plunge angles of its singular components (natural and/or artificial) and through analysis of their mutual spatial relations and with the external environment. In recent years some archeologists (Lenoble, Bertran, McPherron, etc.) have developed a standard procedure for angular data collection and for statistical treatment of this information. The author proposes some conceptual and methodological innovations to improve this method: the application of fabric analysis to any historical and depositional context (in particular, anthropic contexts); the use of "ab plane" (instead of "a axis") for measurement of bearing and plunge of clasts; the development of spatial analyses associated with traditional statistical treatments; the management of data through geodatabase and GIS directly connected to the statistical software. In the future, this method will need other improvements in order to provide more information about origins, causes, and dynamics that produced a specific deposit from fabric analyses.

The mapping project of the so-called area of the "Terme di Elagabalo" on the north-eastern side of the Palatine hill is the result of a long term cooperative effort between the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and the Institute of Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage of the CNR (ITABC). This site has been under excavation since 2007, under the scientific supervision of the Department of Methodology and Techniques for Archaeological Research of the University of Rome "La Sapienza". As part of this project, one of the doctoral theses is addressing the subject of the compound of the Severian Age present on the site, with the purpose of identifying the history and function of the monument, by understanding and analysing the structure of the walls. Masonry mapping is an essential element for the study and analysis of archaeological monuments. In this case, a new technique was introduced which is the 3D scattergram photogrammetry, developed by the research department of ITABC. This new monitoring technique provided graphic documentation such as plans, views and sections especially where the traditional method had limitations and therefore it is extremely useful for the archaeological analysis of monuments and their contexts. Furthermore an objective 3D rendering was produced, thus providing a new form of scientific documentation for a better understanding of the current state of the monument and also for further research and monitoring. The purpose of proposing a doctoral thesis on this subject was to educate and train a new breed of professionals in the area of technology applied to cultural heritage.

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.

During the years 2006-2007, three teams of scientists (archaeologists with geophysicists) detected the archaeological surface of the Late Antique villa at Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi (Siena, Tuscany) using GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar), Resistivity and Magnetometry. Their aim was to identify archaeological remains and consequently spend less time and money on digging. At the conclusion of the fieldwork and data treatment, they used a CAD program to overlap geophysical and archaeological layers and check geophysical results on archaeological remains. Despite surveys in many other archaeological sites, they obtained few results: surveys located anomalies in less than 1/4 of the archaeological remains excavated in 2008 and 2009. In this paper the authors attempt to analyze (and try to find better solutions for the future) errors in the geophysical surveys caused by incorrect calibration of the database, low accuracy of grid intersections and excessively long grid lines, in relationship to site conditions and the kinds of archaeological remains. These technical problems in fact certainly create a less than optimal operational synergy between archaeologists and geologists during the post-processing of the data: an analysis of these problems may help to improve future projects of this type.

The project for the urban redevelopment of Paolo Orsi Square (ex slaughterhouse) in Rosarno (Reggio Calabria, Italy) represented an important opportunity to investigate the archaeological area and experiment new technologies in a very important sacred area of the ancient polis of Medma. The Greek colony is located under modern Rosarno and in particular, in the eastern part, under Paolo Orsi Square, there was a sacred area. An OhmMapper (Geometrics-US) archaeological resistivity survey was carried out in the area occupied by the ex-municipal slaughterhouse, where a small part of the structures of a sanctuary (6th-2nd cent. B.C.) was brought to light. Data acquired through the resistivity survey were used to create 2D and 3D models of the subsurface; in these models it is possible to identify with a good level of precision the geometry and depth of archaeological features. These results helped us to reconstruct the direction of the walls and the location of the main structures related to the sanctuary, without invasive procedures. Thanks to the results of the geophysical survey, some areas of considerable archaeological potential were preserved during the project of urban redevelopment, conducted thanks to POR (Programmi Operativi Regionali) funds.

During the 2008-2009 season the Archaeological Superintendence of Emilia Romagna began an emergency archaeological excavation under the city of Bologna, very close to the complex of an Etruscan sanctuary attributed to the ancient city of Felsina. For the systematic management of all the mostly paper documentation gathered during the excavation an information system within the scope of GIS technology was planned and setup. At first , we focused our attention on data normalization; afterward, our attention was drawn to the advantages obtained by using GIS technology, which makes it possible for complex phenomena and spatial-temporal relations to be represented and analyzed at multiple levels, as well as acting as a support for objective interpretative evaluations. Using this system we were able to create thematic and chronological maps, and analyze all the intra-site phenomena. This project provides an effective example of how GIS technology can also be applied retrospectively, when the excavation has already been concluded and the data were recorded in the traditional way; it therefore represents a valuable instrument for implementing the knowledge of an archaeological context.

The diffusion of the use of Geographical Information Systems in archaeology has considerably increased in recent years. This multiplicity of applications is due mainly to the growing interest of archaeologists in modern methodologies for the management of archaeological data, surveyed by topographic, photogrammetric and remote sensing techniques. GIS have become a fundamental tool for managing, sharing, analyzing and visualizing spatially referenced data and they are completely substituting the traditional techniques used by archaeologists, based upon filling out forms, graphics and other paper documents. Besides in the modern global society, dominated by mass media such as Internet, the issue of utilization has become more and more important, and most of the more recent GIS applications (Multimedia GIS, WebGIS) take this aspect into consideration.

Compared with other objects of our cultural heritage, the various construction remains that belong to the ancient architectural heritage are generally associated with the most challenging problems with respect to their preservation. Difficulties and problems become unpaired when the ancient heritage is the assembly of several monumental constructions, as in the case of the imperial complex constructed by Adriano in Tivoli, known as Hadrian’s Villa. Under these circumstances, any risk analysis and subsequent study of preservation measures will require a two stage approach. In the first stage, a detailed knowledge of each single element or structure within the complex must be acquired. In the second stage the available knowledge pertaining to the various monuments must be combined and the entire complex combining the single architectural artifacts into a monumental unity must be re-examined with respect to its original status and its historical modifications. Hence a great wealth of information and a profound knowledge have been acquired on several monuments in this complex. Therefore, it is now possible to propose sound hypotheses on each one of these architectural artifacts as well as to propose an interactive data system for risk analyses and risk assessment with respect to the preservation of the complex. Taking the opportunity of the "Risk assessment map of the cultural heritage" compiled by the Central Institute for Restoration (ISCR), a research project was undertaken to develop an analysis model of the villa which would allow an estimation of the global risk of the various ancient structures. This project is based on the use of a GIS to develop a matrix of risk indexes as well as a database grouping all available information on the single monument. The development of this system will make it possible to cross reference the data acquired within the various fields of investigation involved in the survey phase, the preservation phase and the restoration process of each monumental unit and the complex as a whole.

The subject of this paper is the representation of archaeological data at Pompeii by using GIS technology. The evolution of the original basic pattern of many domestic spaces (cubicula or entire dwellings) from the Samnite period to AD 79 in Regiones V (insulae V,3 and V,4) and VI (insulae VI,7 and VI,14) let us understand that they were transformed by adapting to the changes that occurred during the history of the ancient site, where building activities intensely affected the urban arrangement until the final destruction of the city in AD 79. Spatial analyses and predictive models, performed by combining excavation data and architectural studies, provide a very wide and complex range of information, such as layers of chronological phases or patterns of distribution trends, as well as 3D modeling to obtain precise and realistic 3D representations of wall-structures and the terrain (DTM). In this case study, GIS helps us understand the formation process of archaeological stratigraphy which is a result of the changes which took place during the history of the ancient site. Very different from the usual approach of intra-site GIS for archaeological excavations, this type of analysis arises from a broader perspective of the ancient urban landscape and of all those features useful for the spatial and conceptual definition of "neighbourhoods" in relation to the street network, as parsed through geoprocessing functions. The analysis conducted confirms that the distribution of architectural spaces and the evolution of the urban landscape in these city-blocks imply a close relationship with social and economic pressures. It is important to stress the value of a GIS integrated approach in the process of interpretation of an archaeological context, especially in terms of accuracy and of usability of the results for the management of a Cultural Heritage resource.

This paper illustrates a research project aimed at testing a method of GIS-based evaluation which was conducted using specific criteria and an "objective point of view" during an archaeological impact assessment. The authors tested the use of a database, linked to a GIS platform, to assign fixed values in order to evaluate the "potential", the "value of the context" and the "risk" of single archaeological sites affected by new projects of urban development. Based on the application of the same methodology and language used by the scholars involved in the environmental impact studies and coming from other scientific fields (natural sciences, economics, etc.), the assessment idea is proposed in order to stimulate archaeologists to use not only qualitative, but also quantitative values, like the procedures for the environmental impact assessment. Some case studies relative to the Venetian Lagoon, Mestre and Comacchio (FE) conclude the paper.

Review article.