Cyber-Archaeology: Notes on the simulation of the past

[EN] Thirteen years after the book “Virtual Archaeology” (Forte, 1996, 97) it is time to re-discuss the definition, the key concepts and some new trends and applications. The paper discusses the introduction of the term “cyber-archaeology” in relation with the simulation process deriving from the inter-connected and multivocal feedback between users/actors and virtual ecosystems. In this new context of cyber worlds, it is more appropriate to talk about simulation of the past rather than reconstruction of the past. The multivocality of the simulation opens new perspectives in the interpretation process, not imposing the final reconstruction, but suggesting, evocating, simulating multiple output, not “the past” but a potential past. New epistemological models of cyber archaeology have to be investigated: what happens in a immersive environment of virtual archaeology where every user is “embodied” in the cyber space? The ontology of archaeological information, or the cybernetics of archaeology, refers to all the interconnective relationships which the datum produces, the code of transmission, and its transmittability. Because it depends on interrelationships, by its very nature information cannot be neutral with respect to how it is processed and perceived. It follows that the process of knowledge and communication have to be unified and represented by a single vector. 3D information is regarded as the core of the knowledge process, because it creates feedback, then cybernetic difference, among the interactor, the scientist and the ecosystem. It is argued that Virtual Reality (both offline and online) represents a possible ecosystem, which is able to host top-down and bottom-up processes of knowledge and communication. In these terms, the past is generated and coded by “a simulation process”. Thus, from the first phases of data acquisition in the field, the technical methodologies and technologies that we use, influence in a decisive way all the subsequent phases of interpretation and communication. In the light of these considerations, what is the relationship between information and representation? How much information does a digital model contain? What sorts of and how many ontologies ought to be chosen to permit an acceptable transmittability? Indeed, our Archaeological communication ought to be understood as a process of validation of the entire cognitive process of understanding and not as a simple addendum to research, or as a dispensable compendium of data.[ES] Trece años después de la publicación del libro "Arqueología virtual" (Forte, 1996, 97) es el momento de volver a discutir sobre la definición, los conceptos clave y algunas nuevas tendencias y aplicaciones de la arqueología virtual. El presente documento analiza la introducción del término "cyber-arqueología" en relación con el proceso de simulación derivado de la interconexión y la retroalimentación multivocal y entre los usuarios / actores y ecosistemas virtuales. En este nuevo contexto de mundos cibernéticos, es más adecuado hablar de simulación del pasado que de reconstrucción del pasado. La multivocalidad de la simulación abre nuevas perspectivas en el proceso de interpretación, no imponiendo la última reconstrucción, sino sugiriendo, evocando, simulando múltiples resultados, y no "el pasado", sino un potencial pasado. Nuevos modelos epistemológicos de la arqueología cibernética deben ser investigados: Que ocurre en un entorno inmersivo de arqueología virtual cuando cada usuario es "materializado" en el espacio cibernético? La ontología de la información arqueológica, o la cibernética de la arqueología, se refiere a la interconectividad de todas las relaciones que produce el dato, el código de envío, y su transmisibilidad. Porque depende de las interrelaciones, por su propia naturaleza, la información no puede ser neutral con respecto a la forma en que se procesa y percibe. De ello se deduce que el proceso de conocimiento y la comunicación han de ser unificadas y representadas por un único vector. La información 3D se considera como el núcleo del proceso de conocimiento, porque propicia la retroalimentación, entre el usuario, el científico y el ecosistema. Se argumenta que la Realidad Virtual (tanto fuera de línea como en línea) representa un posible ecosistema, que es capaz de ser anfitrión de los procesos de conocimiento y comunicación tanto de arriba a abajo como de abajo a arriba. En estos términos, el pasado se genera y codifica por "un proceso de simulación". Así, desde las primeras fases de adquisición de datos sobre el terreno, las metodologías técnicas así como las tecnologías que usamos, influyen de manera decisiva en todas las fases de interpretación y comunicación. A la luz de estas consideraciones, ¿cuál es la relación entre la información y la representación? ¿Cuánta información quedará incluida en el modelo digital? ¿Qué clase y cuántas ontologías deberían ser elegidas para permitir una transmisibilidad aceptable? De hecho, la comunicación arqueológica debe ser entendida como una fase de validación de todo el proceso cognitivo de comprensión del conocimiento, y no como una simple adición a la investigación, o como un compendio de los datos prescindible.The Virtual Museum of the Ancient Via Flaminia was supported by Arcus spa and managed by CNR-ITABC (scientific direction) and National Roman Museum in RomeForte, M. (2011). Cyber-Archaeology: Notes on the simulation of the past. 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