Understanding Etruscan Art and Architecture through 3D modeling: the case of Volterra

Archaeology and modern 3D modelling and representation technologies form an unbreakable bond, considered essential and indispensable by many experts and scholars. Although with different goals and purposes, new hardware and software available and specially designed web platforms allow the archaeologist adequately trained to create, visualize, analyze, and share 3D data derived from computer graphics or from image- and range-based acquisition procedures. Currently, a very important topic is the relationship between user and 3D model: from the simple passive fruition, we are moving increasingly towards a real interaction within immersive virtual environments. In this sense, the contribution of the archaeologist is critical to determine what to display and what to interact with, according to the end user and his skills and knowledge. In fact, the following case studies related to sites, monuments and artefacts of the Etruscan town of Volterra represent the evolution of this interaction/relationship, helping to make the fruition of archaeological evidence, that at present is still difficult to access and understanding, easier and more interesting

Natural Gesture Interaction In Archaeological Virtual Environments: Work In Progress

Archaeological data are heterogeneous (i.e., data-sheets and pictures, stratigraphic data, 3D models), and innovative virtual reconstructions help to visualize and study those data. In this short paper, we describe our work in progress in the design of an innovative way to interact with the complexity of a virtual reconstruction, using natural gestures and advanced machine learning, in close collaboration with archaeologists.Los datos arqueológicos son heterogéneos (por ejemplo, ficha técnica e imágenes, datos estratigráficos y modelos 3D), y las nuevas tecnologías pueden ser capaces de ayudar en la visualizacion y el estudio de dichos datos. En este documento se presenta nuestro trabajo en curso que describe el diseño de una forma innovadora de interactuar con la complejidad de una reconstrucción virtual, mediante gestos naturales y avanzadas técnicas de aprendizaje, en directa colaboración con los arqueólogos

INTERACCIÓN GESTUAL PARA ENTORNOS DE INMERSIÓN ARQUEOLÓGICOS: TRABAJO EN CURSO

[EN] Archaeological data are heterogeneous (i.e., data-sheets and pictures, stratigraphic data, 3D models), and innovative virtual reconstractuions helps to visualize and study those data. In this short paper, we describe our work in progress in the design of an innovative way to interact with the complexity of a virtual reconstruction, using natural gestures and advanced machine learning, in close collaboration with archeaeologists.[ES] Los datos arqueológicos son heterogéneos (por ejemplo, ficha técnica e imágenes, datos estratigráficos y modelos 3D), y las nuevas tecnologías pueden ser capaces de ayudar en la visualizacion y el estudio de dichos datos. En este documento se presenta nuestro trabajo en curso que describe el diseño de una forma innovadora de interactuar con la complejidad de una reconstrucción virtual, mediante gestos naturales y avanzadas técnicas de aprendizaje, en directa colaboración con los arqueólogos.Albertini, N.; Brogni, A.; Caramiaux, B.; Gillies, M.; Olivito, R.; Taccola, E. (2016). NATURAL GESTURE INTERACTION IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS: WORK IN PROGRESS. En 8th International congress on archaeology, computer graphics, cultural heritage and innovation. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 284-287. https://doi.org/10.4995/arqueologica8.2016.3400OCS28428

Designing natural gesture interaction for archaeological data in immersive environments

Archaeological data are heterogeneous, making it difficult to correlate and combine different types. Datasheets and pictures, stratigraphic data and 3D models, time and space mixed together: these are only a few of the categories a researcher has to deal with. New technologies may be able to help in this process and trying to solve research related problems needs innovative solutions. In this paper, we describe the whole process for the design and development of a prototype application that uses an Immersive Virtual Reality system to acces archaeological excavation 3D data through the Gesture Variation Follower (GVF) algorithm. This makes it possible to recognise which gesture is being performed and how it is performed. Archaeologists have participated actively in the design of the interface and the set of gestures used for triggering the different tasks. Interactive machine learning techniques have been used for the real time detection of the gestures. As a case study the agora of Segesta (Sicily, Italy) has been selected. Indeed, due to the complex architectural features and the still ongoing fieldwork activities, Segesta represents an ideal context where to test and develop a research approach integrating both traditional and more innovative tools and methods

Appendice di reperti, in M. Bonamici, Ricerche nel quartiere industriale di Populonia

Pubblicazione analitica di una selezione di reperti ceramici provenienti dallo scavo degli anni 1977-1980 e 2004-2006 degli edifici industriali situati sul Poggio della Porcareccia a Populonia

I rapporti: confronti, analogie e differenze fra le fornaci a calce e i mattoni dell’Elba e i forni fusori dell’area industriale del golfo di Baratti; lavorazione del ferro in età etrusca dalla fine del VI secolo a.C. alla metà del III secolo a.C.

Il contributo analizza la produzione del ferro in età etrusca incrociando le notizie ricavate dalle fonti antiche con i dati raccolti sul campo, in particolar modo dai cosiddetti Edifici Industriali di Populonia-Baratti

Uno sguardo su Pisa ellenistica da piazza del Duomo. Lo scavo del saggio D 1985-1988

Between mid-eighties of the last century and the beginning of the new millennium, archaeology in Pisa experienced a thriving period of investigations in urban context that profoundly redesigned the appearance and redefined the role of the city in the pre-Roman age. In fact, Pisa, long believed to be a Ligurian settlement although with tardive Etruscan cultural acquisitions, it has instead turned out to be an Etruscan centre since its most ancient origins. The city was fully integrated into the commercial traffic of the entire Mediterranean basin thanks to its strategic position and the immediate availability of valuable resources, such as the Apuan marble. Among the investigations, which are still largely unpublished, a work of particular relevance is the one done between 1985 and 1988 in Piazza del Duomo in the sector called saggio D (sounding D), located just to the east of the Leaning Tower: this area constituted the core of the urban settlement in Etruscan and Roman times, lapped northwards by a river today disappeared, the Auser. The excavation, carried out by the Archaeological Superintendence for Tuscany in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Pisa, brought to light a stratigraphy articulated without interruption between the Archaic age and the end of the Imperial age (6th century BC - 5th century AD). This archaeological deposit included a complex sequence of buildings, oriented according to the cardinal axes along a north-south road axis, and physically superimposed on each other in more than one occasion. The site was occupied at least since the second half of the 5th century BC with structures and installations compatible with an area with a sacred vocation. Between 3rd and 2nd century BC, a series of transformations to which natural and anthropic factors seem to concur are recorded: this change corresponds to the period when Rome definitively took control of northern coastal Etruria, following the wars against the Ligurian populations. In terms of archaeology, the excavations allowed to identify a modification in the use destination of this sector of the ancient city as the main consequence: the area now acquires a residential connotation, although respecting the ancient road axis and the orientation of the previous buildings. The aim of this work is to provide systematic analysis and to catalogue the archaeological findings of the Hellenistic age recovered within the saggio D, in addition to a more detailed reconstruction of the stratigraphic sequence in the period between the mid-4th and the mid-1st century BC. With regard to the ceramic repertoire, there is significant novelty compared to the data available up till now: on one hand, ceramics classes still unknow for Pisa are attested for the first time, especially, the Etruscan early-Hellenistic fine productions and some categories of amphorae; on the other hand, in more general terms, the specimens recovered in the excavations between 1985 and 1988 significantly supplement the quantitative data relating to all the ceramics productions already documented in the urban and territorial context. From the above evidences, it is possible to confirm that the Hellenistic age represented a very prosperous period for the city. Firstly (half IV-mid-III century BC), Pisa played a vital role whitin the Etruscan commercial circuit known as facies dei porti, where it did not constitute simply a stage, but a pole of redistribution towards the Etruscan and Ligurian centers of Versilia and of the internal territory. Subsequently, following the maritime domination of Rome obtained at the end of the first Punic war, the city’s role continued to be relevant and strategic for the wars against Gauls and Ligurians, and for the trades directed towards the western Mediterranean.