Authenticity and cultural heritage in the age of 3D digital reproductions

This volume represents the first attempt to collate an organic collection of contributions on authenticity and the digital realm in heritage and archaeology. It analyses the concept of authenticity from different perspectives and with different multidisciplinary contributions, together with theoretical debate. The collection of papers explores the concept of authenticity in a comprehensive way, engaging with theories relating to the commodification of ancient material culture, heritage-making processes, scholarly views and community engagement. These papers also take into account current digital practices for the study of past material culture and how their use affects and redefines interpretation processes in archaeology. This will provide a key reference text for archaeologists, museum and heritage specialists, and other readers interested in authenticity, cultural heritage and 3D reproductions.This book was funded by the EU 7th Framework Programme (7FP), DIGIFACT 625637 Project (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/187953_ en.html) and ADS3DV 625636 Project (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/ rcn/187952_en.html). The book will be Open Access, thanks to FP7 post-grant Open Access (https://www.openaire.eu/postgrantoapilot)

Theorising 3D Visualisation Systems in Archaeology: Towards more effective design, evaluations and life cycles

3D visualization in archaeology has become a suitable solution and effective instrument for the analysis, interpretation and communication of archaeological information. However, only few attempts have been made so far for understanding and evaluating the real impact that 3D imaging has on the discipline under its different forms (offline immersive and not immersive, and online platform). There is a need in archaeology and cultural heritage for a detailed analysis of the different infrastructural options that are available and a precise evaluation of the different impact that they can have in reshaping the discipline. To achieve this, it is important to develop new methodologies that consider the evaluation process as a fundamental and central part for assessing digital infrastructures. This new methods should include flexible evaluation approaches that can be adapted to the infrastructure that need to be assessed. This paper aims at providing some examples of 3D applications in archaeology and cultural heritage and describing how the selection of the infrastructure is related to specific needs of the project. This work will describe the different applications and propose guidelines and protocols for evaluating their impact within academia and the general public

Ksar Said: Building Tunisian Young People’s Critical Engagement with Their Heritage

This paper describes the work undertaken as part of the ‘Digital Documentation of Ksar Said’ Project. This project, funded by the British Council, combined education, history, and heritage for the digital preservation of tangible and intangible aspects of heritage associated with the 19th century Said Palace (Ksar Said) in Tunis. We produced an interactive 3D model of Ksar Said and developed learning resources to build Tunisian students’ critical engagement with their heritage through inquiry learning activities within the 3D model. We used a user-centred approach, based on pre-assessment (i.e., co-creation of contents), mid-term evaluation (i.e., feedback on contents and preliminary design of virtual activities), and post-assessment design (i.e., user trial). Our results demonstrate the potential of this novel approach to virtual learning and inform future co-design, evaluation and implementation choices for improving the generative power of three dimensional virtual replication of heritage sites in the cultural heritage sector

Grasping the Materiality of the Past: Digital Archaeology in Lower-Division Courses

Archaeology is a material, embodied discipline; communicating this experience is critical to student success in lower-division courses. This article presents an overview and case study of how a digital approach to laboratory work can positively affect student learning. Virtual reconstruction serves, then, as an important bridge from traditional coursework to fieldwork. Highlighted curriculum samples include ill-defined problem sets, which help to scaffold students towards this fieldwork laboratory experience

Talking about Things: A Cognitive Approach to Digital Heritage and Material Culture Studies in Archaeology

This dissertation presents an innovative cognitive approach to material culture and the use of virtual reproduction in research, education, and communication in archaeology. This research aims to investigate the potential use of virtual copies of artifacts for knowledge production and acquisition in archaeology. Although scholars recognize the value of digital models for enhancing artifact studies in schools and universities and re-contextualizing objects exhibited in museums, some researchers suggest that these models lack information that is only available through real-world human-object interaction. This point opens up a question about the real value of digital object representations in both research and education. Studies demonstrate, in fact, that we do think with objects and that interaction with things is critical when trying to make sense of their use and function. The present study, done in collaboration with the program of Cognitive and Information Science at the University of California, Merced, intends to investigate how knowledge production and acquisition work through different media: visual examination, physical interaction, and three-dimensional virtual and material replica interaction. This is an innovative interdisciplinary project that can promote the advancement of research and education beyond the frontiers of current knowledge. The results of this research can be applied to a number of fields, including archaeology, museum display, and modern heritage management. This project will also help to clarify the growing area of human-object interaction studies

The role of ‘temporary’ dwellings for community resilience in time of displacement: The case of Italian earthquakes

Heritage-led interventions and sustainable innovation can ensure agency and empowerment making communities and their places more resilient and sustainable, as well as contributing to safeguarding culture and heritage from natural hazards. This session provides an opportunity to engage with disaster resilience thinking and practice across multiple specializations towards a more participatory and sustainable management of heritage and culture in line with the Faro Convention and the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.</p

Documentary: Italia Terremotata

This interactive documentary combines 3D visualisation and multi-modal storytelling to tell the story of Senerchia terremotata, that is, the earthquake that devastated the Irpinia region (South Italy) in 1980. Forty years after one of the most devastating earthquakes in Italian history, Italia Terremotata investigates its long-term impact on rural communities in Irpinia (South Italy). This film integrates 3D visualisation and multimodal storytelling to recount the story of the resilient community of Senerchia, one of at least 40 towns almost completely destroyed by the 1980 earthquake which left 2483 people dead, 7700 injured, and 250,000 homeless. After the earthquake, most of the inhabitants of Senerchia lived in prefabricated houses for more than 20 years before they were able to occupy the new town, built next to the ruins of the abandoned old town. The community of Senerchia, and other affected towns, are still recovering from this life-changing event. The case study of Senerchia exemplifies how displacement from ‘environments of trust’ often causes a risk of uprooting, loss of control over one’s physical space, and alienation, making communities very vulnerable and threatening their resilience. It also demonstrates how heritage impacts community resilience, particularly when communities lose their ‘sense of place’, and all the elements that contribute to rebuilding that sense after a catastrophic event: e.g. relationships with natural and built environments, and how the latter are mediated by social and power relations, traditions, and symbolism. This experimental film uses a place-centred approach and aims to define the ‘sense of place’ by combining intangible and tangible aspects of heritage: it originates from video-interviews collected during an ethnographic study about post-earthquake community resilience in Italy and integrates them with a 3D-replica of the old town created using laser-scanner technology, as well as 360° panoramas of both the old and new Senerchia. This multimodal storytelling moves through a digital space that reveals the strong entanglement that exists between social rebuilding and material reconstruction in the context of catastrophic natural events. Using the datasets produced for the film, the authors have also developed an immersive VR application allowing free navigation and selection of people’s stories in the 3D-reproduced environment. This application offers an insight into the role of immersive technologies in the critical and emotional understanding of a research subject compared to film. This research will also explore how 3D immersive non-linear storytelling can serve not only communities whose cultural heritage is in question but also a larger global audience

From Monadism to Nomadism: A Hybrid Approach to Cultural Productions

The First Annual Center for Research in the Humanities and Arts (CHRA) Graduate Student conference will be held at the campus of the University of California, Merced, on April 12-13, 2013. From Monadism to Nomadism: A Hybrid Approach to Cultural Productions will focus on the intersection and interplay of cultural studies, the social sciences, and the humanities and encouraging the exploration of various theoretical frameworks, case studies and fieldwork, and research. By juxtaposing issues such as intercultural negotiation, trans-(post)modern society, migratory aesthetics, diverse understandings within liquid societies, and symbolic struggle, this conference provides a venue to explore the post-(de)colonial dilemmas created by the reinvention and promotion of culture as a coherent and diverse reality

3D Virtual Dig: a 3D Application for Teaching Fieldwork in Archaeology

Archaeology is a material, embodied discipline; communicating this experience is critical to student success. In the context of lower-division archaeology courses, the present study examines the efficacy of 3D virtual and 2D archaeological representations of digs. This presentation aims to show a 3D application created to teach the archaeological excavation process to freshmen students. An archaeological environment was virtually re-created in 3D, and inserted in a virtual reality software application that allows users to work with the reconstructed excavation area. The software was tested in class for teaching the basics of archaeological fieldwork. The application interface is user-friendly and especially easy for 21st century students. The study employed a pre-survey, post-test, and post-survey design, used to understand the students' previous familiarity with archaeology, and test their awareness after the use of the application. Their level of knowledge was then compared with that of those students who had accessed written material only. This case-study demonstrates how a digital approach to laboratory work can positively affect student learning. Increased abilities to complete ill-defined problems (characteristic of the high-order thinking in the field), can, in fact, be demonstrated. 3D Virtual reconstruction serves, then, as an important bridge from traditional coursework to fieldwork