Volumes / Journal / 31.1

Archeologia e Calcolatori 31.1 - 2020

12 articles

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Image study of Mesopotamian cylinder seals through texts: the Procrustes transformation applied to Correspondence Analysis results

Alessandro Di Ludovico, Sergio Camiz

Abstract

The use of Textual Correspondence Analysis to investigate a corpus of iconographic compositions carved on Mesopotamian cylinder seals proved to be very useful to understand the peculiarities of the specimens from the points of view of geographic origin, typology and inner chronology. The presence of a relatively high number of rare forms in the data set – besides the hapax – led to think, however, that the extraction of the factors – so the outcomes of the analyses – could have been influenced heavily by them. For this reason, looking for an optimal composition and for the most effective encoding of the data set, a reduction of its rarest forms was performed to find the threshold which could allow to reconcile the need for keeping the useful encoded information with the best possible reduction of elements producing high inertia. Adopting the methodology known as Procrustes, the data table was thus progressively reduced, and each time investigated: the results so obtained were then used to reach a global assessment about how much each reduced data set could correspond to the optimized one.

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Capienza delle forme vascolari, da un metodo open source all’uso di modelli regressivi: il caso dell’insediamento protostorico del Monte Cimino

Lorenzo Cardarelli

Abstract

The volume of ceramic vessels provides several information about their use. However, due to the fragmentation of pottery coming from settlement sites, data concerning the volume are rarely published. The first goal of this paper is presenting a new method to calculate the volume starting from the archaeological drawings. The dataset could be extended with a predictive regression analysis. The sample analyzed involves cups and bowls found on the top of Monte Cimino (Viterbo-Italy), a settlement and cult site dated to the Final Bronze Age (ca. 1150-950/925 BC).

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A new computational method to quantify morphological standardization and variation within ceramic assemblages

Jenny Vo-Phamhi, Justin Leidwanger

Abstract

Analysis of ceramic standardization and variation provides a powerful tool for evaluating the scale, organization, and technological practices behind pre-modern production and for gauging the coordination and complexity of past economic systems. The selection of formal attributes to allow effective measurement and comparison of complex shapes, though, presents a crucial challenge to systematic study. Alongside fabric composition and surface treatment, consistent linear dimensions offer helpful metrics for assessing standardized production. More difficult to measure, though, are the many finely graduated variations in shape that can reflect how these processes were implemented and the limits to large-scale serial productions like those of the ancient Mediterranean world. We offer here a new method and computational pipeline, developed using open-source libraries, to quantify morphological similarities and differences among ceramics. Grounded in point cloud comparison, our method enables comprehensive 3D characterization of geometries down to the pixel level and leverages state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms and high-speed data structures for efficiency and scalability across large assemblages. Case studies of transport amphoras from two late antique shipwrecks off the coast of southwest Turkey demonstrate the robustness of the methodology and pipeline. Together, they provide an analytically rigorous and flexible approach to quantifying formal variation within a dataset. The first results suggest strategies for controlling the capacities of these transport jars within late ancient systems of production, but the method should also prove useful in formal analysis of artifacts of other forms and contexts.

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Analisi delle reti e archeologia: il caso studio della Galilea

Paolo Cimadomo, Carla Galluccio, Giancarlo Ragozini

Abstract

The area of Northern Israel has been a region of interest for archaeologists. Textual materials are various and useful to reconstruct the history of the region, as well as a lot of data coming from the material culture. This way, archaeologists may shed light on the complex framework of cultures that developed in this territory. In the period between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE, the growing influence of the Romans generated a substantial integration of Galilee into a global context. Through the application of new types of analysis, it is possible to reconstruct cultural and commercial trades of the area. The application of network analysis to archaeological questions is a pivotal subject of scientific debate. In this work, we aim to reconstruct the dynamic connections between Jewish settlements in Galilee on the basis of consistent evidence, speculating on the presence of links whenever proof lacks. Data referring to many types of artefacts were derived from the analysis of scientific papers and archaeological excavation catalogues. This way we obtained a multiplex network in which the nodes are the sites and the links are given by the presence of the different artefacts. Here we present the first findings from an exploratory analysis. Visualization methods are exploited, such as multi-force embedding and multi-task network embedding algorithm. More specifically, the latter, which is based on link prediction, seems to be particularly suited for the data we are dealing with, in which the absence of a link could be due to missing data. Moreover, in order to consider how connections have changed over the reference period, a temporal approach is used. Multiplex network analysis can also be used to model dynamic networks where each layer corresponds to the network state at a given moment.

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Integrated multi scale archaeological analysis in Béni Mellal-Khenifra District (Morocco). The case of the fortress of Ighram Aousser

Lorenza-Ilia Manfredi, Pasquale Merola, Chiara Cecalupo, Abdelillah Dekayir, Brahim Ouchaou, Yosef Bokbot, Mabrouk Seghir, Silvia Festuccia, Leopoldo Repola, Marilena Cozzolino, Vincenzo Gentile, Hassan Bounajma

Abstract

The fortress of Ighram Aousser is located in Morocco, 10 km W of M’rirt and 120 km S of Meknés, on the so-called mines route. The lack of an organic and complete documentation and a concrete need to acquire new data about unexplored areas have required a multi-methodological research including the analysis of historical sources, archaeological surveys, topographic investigations, laser scanner modelling and geophysical prospections. All data were stored in a Geographic Information System, which allowed spatial analyses and the creation of thematic maps. The integrated geoarchaeological approach has led to a new archaeological map providing an updated view of the rich archaeological heritage in that territory. The article also offers a complete account of the valorization processes, the international promotion of the site and its long-lasting mining tradition.

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Quantitative approaches to sacred Roman spaces in southern coastal Latium

Michael Teichmann

Abstract

The present paper aims at studying Roman sanctuaries from the late 4th century BC to the early 4th century AD in southern coastal Latium, a region of crucial importance for the development of Roman religion. Quantitative GIS-based research was undertaken to study sacred spaces in their natural and cultural landscape context. A first research question concerned the role of good accessibility of sanctuaries as a factor, which could have influenced the choice of construction sites for villas. Further research focused on the visibility of sanctuaries in respect to other elements of the cultural landscape such as villas and roads. Cost-distance and viewshed analyses were undertaken to answer these questions. As the analyses are based on published and archived site data, several issues related to the use of legacy survey data had to be faced. Results show that the role of sanctuaries as factors of attraction might not have been extremely high. While a few major sanctuaries with extraordinary visibility conditions are situated in the study area, the overall trend does not confirm the choice of particularly visible spots as a general rule.

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Archeologia preventiva e ricerca nella valle del Nevola (Marche, Italia). La scoperta “programmata” di una necropoli a Corinaldo

Federica Boschi

Abstract

The paper discusses the recent results achieved by the ArcheoNevola project, carried out by the University of Bologna within an agreement with several institutions aimed at the accomplishment of an operation of development-led archaeology in Corinaldo, in the middle Valley of the Nevola torrent (northern Marche, Ancona). The programme of activities reserved large space to the employment of non-invasive techniques, besides to the analysis of the historical documents and cartography and trial archaeological digs. The accurate process of evaluation has led to the important discovery of a Picene necropolis with circular funerary monuments and an extraordinary princely tomb with a survived rich grave-goods, marginally occupied by later Roman burials. Within this finding geophysics played a crucial role, as for the preventative understanding of the archaeological potential of the site as well as for the needs connected to the planning project underway on the area.

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La Grotta paleolitica di Roccia San Sebastiano (Mondragone, CE). Una metodologia per l’analisi dei dati in spazi simbolici

Leopoldo Repola, Carmine Collina, Marcello Piperno

Abstract

The Prehistory of the Mondragone area, in the province of Caserta, emerged in its importance thanks to the results of systematic surveys carried out since 1994 by the University of Naples “Federico II” and the Museum Biagio Greco together with the Archeological Superintendence of Naples and Caserta. Since 2001, the Museum has accomplished regular excavation campaigns of the very important Upper and Middle Palaeolithic deposit in the large cave opening in the site of Roccia di San Sebastiano, which represents the only evidence of Palaeolithic frequentation systematically and stratigraphically studied in the territory included between the Northern Campania coast and the Southern Latium coast. On the basis of such evidences, the authors illustrate a project aimed to produce a detailed territorial study to understand the dynamics of the frequentation and settlement of the area during Palaeolithic (Musterian, Uluzzian, Aurignazian and Gravettian) and the cultural behaviours of last Neanderthals and first Homo sapiens groups. The latest excavation campaigns allowed to unearth Uluzzian layers in two sectors of the cave and to investigate the Mousterian levels, from which a deciduous molar of a Neanderthal child comes. Moreover they permitted to consolidate the study of symbolic activities in the cave. Digital and tridimensional documentation techniques have been adopted for the description of the excavation surfaces and to understand the symbolic activities consisting in both parietal and mobiliary art evidences. The storage and elaboration of data is realized in a 3D application in order to elaborate detailed intra-site analysis in a predictive pattern of activities. This model allows the management of digital data in a single spatial system of representation, in which the digital copies of places, excavations areas and objects coincide with the relational matrices between the archaeological data and the possible events recorded in the physical layers.

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Use and reuse of spatial and quantitative data in archaeology: from 3D survey to serious game at Phaistos (Crete)

Francesca Buscemi, Pietro Maria Militello, Cettina Santagati, Marianna Figuera, Graziana D'Agostino, Damiano Antonino Angelo Aiello

Abstract

The article presents the results of a wider research carried out by a multidisciplinary group (archaeologists and engineers) of the University and the CNR-ISPC of Catania in the South-Western Quarter of the Minoan Palace of Phaistos (Crete). The article focuses on two digital survey campaigns carried out respectively in 2014, laser scanning, and 2019, Structure from Motion. Starting from the point cloud by laser scanner, the most recent, low cost and user-friendly photogrammetric tools (GoPro camera and software Agisoft Metashape) have been used during the 2019 campaign in order to update and to improve the previous dataset, which was used as a grid for georeferencing and scaling the new virtual model. Special attention was addressed to the comparison of the two datasets and to the reuse of the first one for georeferencing and scaling the second one. Furthermore, the research has been focused on the opportunity to exploit the obtained virtual model both for scientific purposes and for the outreach. The lack of accessibility of the South-Western Quarter of Phaistos Palace to the visitors attributes a special interest to this output. The virtual environment thus realized constituted an ideal starting point for the development of an educational fruition project based on a Serious Game approach. The cooperation of archaeologists and engineers in the development of the Phaistos game ensures a gaming experience not only pleasant but also provided with a strong educational profile.

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Il rilievo fotogrammetrico di Doclea

Antonio D'Eredità

Abstract

This paper deals with the practical application of photogrammetry in the study of the Roman city of Doclea in Montenegro, with particular reference to the use of Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques. Among the various research areas, archaeology of architecture and settlement archaeology make today an increasing use of photogrammetry for the in-field documentation of archaeological features. This method has an essential role in obtaining a reliable geometric survey that in turn forms the basis for the structural assessment of the architectural heritage thanks to consolidated methods such as archaeological stratigraphy and direct examination. In recent years, digital photogrammetry and the implementation of data processing technologies have made it possible to create three-dimensional models using images acquired through high-definition cameras. In addition to an accurate topographical survey, the aforementioned methods offer the opportunity to obtain a faithful representation of the real world, providing a basis for subsequent architectural and territorial studies. The use of drones equipped with cameras has proved to be particularly effective and capable of detecting large areas quickly and with good results. Due to its versatility and relative ease of use, photogrammetry could actually be deemed as an essential tool for the study and conservation of cultural heritage.

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HBIM data management in historical and archaeological buildings

Andrea Scianna, Giuseppe Fulvio Gaglio, Marcello La Guardia

Abstract

Recent technological evolutions in the acquisition and management of building data are offering new opportunities for digital reconstruction. At the same time, the BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodology, based on the implementation of libraries composed of parametric objects provided by the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) standard, allows the design and management of data of existing buildings, and, in particular, historical and archaeological buildings. In the latter case, the great variety of Cultural Heritage (CH) distributed over the European territory, and the ability of BIM to cover the life of buildings or/and other artefacts from a geometric, descriptive, physical and static point of view, have stimulated the development of the HBIM (Historic BIM) modelling. The HBIM approach should consider the complexity of historical or archaeological buildings or artefacts, with particular attention to possible fragmentation or incompleteness of parts. In this work, different approaches regarding the survey, restitution and data management will be described, finalised to the construction of an HBIM model, considering different possible variables, emerging from different study cases.

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Note e Recensioni

Alessandra Piergrossi, Alessandra Caravale, Virginie Fromageot-Laniepce

Abstract

Notes: "What is F.A.I.R.?", by A. Piergrossi (p. 253-257). Reviews: "Antonio Bertini, Immacolata Caruso, Gemma Teresa Colesanti, Tiziana Vitolo (eds.), Cultura in transito. Ricerca e tecnologie per il patrimonio culturale, Roma 2020, L’Erma di Bretschneider", by A. Caravale (p. 257-260); "Elisabeth Zadora-Rio, Henri Galinie (dir.), L’église de Rigny et ses abords. De la colonia de Saint-Martin de Tours au transfert du centre paroissial (600-1865), Caen 2020, Presses Universitaires de Caen, Édition numérique en libre accès (https://www.unicaen.fr/puc/rigny/)", by V. Fromageot-Laniepce (p. 260-262).

Publishers:

CNR - Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale

Edizioni All'Insegna del Giglio