Skip to main content

Cultural Heritage and Digital Technologies

Theory, Methods and Tools for the Study and Dissemination of Knowledge in the Archaeological Practice

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Digital Methods and Remote Sensing in Archaeology

Abstract

Over the years, the World of Archaeology has looked at modern technologies of 3D data acquisition and visualization in an opposite way: from an initial suspicion and refusal, it has passed to an excessive and sometimes uncritical enthusiasm. Once accepted that the use of Digital Technologies in Archaeology might not be a goal but the way by which to create knowledge, modern archaeologists must create a strong theoretical basis, and coordinate interdisciplinary teams able to cover all the different phases of the archaeological research. In order to have a both scientifically rigorous and efficient communication, it is necessary that the archaeologists are aware of the features, both positive and negative, of the devices to be used for the dissemination and sharing of very different kinds of data. Among these new tools, virtual immersive environments play a key role for the archaeological practice, since they allow for the visualization and analysis in real-time of different types of data and the interaction with them. The case study of the agora of Segesta represents an example of these new trends.

Sections “From a Processual- to a Cyber-Archaeological approach” and “Theoretical Issues” are by Riccardo Olivito; Sections “Museums and Virtual Museums” and “Studying and Knowing the Past Through Virtual Immersive Environments” are by Emanuele Taccola; Section “Digital tools and Virtual Reality” is by Niccolò Albertini; Section “Conclusions” is by Riccardo Olivito and Emanuele Taccola.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abate, A., and O. Cannistraci. 2012. La stoa Nord dell’agora di Segesta: alcune note preliminari sull’elevato architettonico dell’ala Ovest. In Agorai di Sicilia, agorai d’Occidente, ed. C. Ampolo, 305-319. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Albertini, N., V. Barone, A. Brogni, S. Legnaioli, D. Licari, and E. Taccola. 2014. The agora of Segesta in immersive virtual environments. Science and Technology for the Safeguard of Cultural Heritage in the Mediterranean Basin, Proceedings of the sixth international conference4. Vol. I:299-304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ampolo, C., and M.C. Parra. 2012. L’agora di Segesta: uno sguardo d’assieme tra iscrizioni e monumenti. In Agorai di Sicilia, agorai d’Occidente, ed. C. Ampolo, 271-285. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antinucci, F. 2007a. Musei virtuali : come non fare innovazione tecnologica. 1. Aufl. Percorsi, vol. 101. Roma: Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antinucci, F. 2007b. The Virtual Museum. Archeologia e Calcolatori Supplemento 1:79-86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, F.C. 1932. Remembering; a study in experimental and social psychology. The Cambridge psychological library. Cambridge Eng.: The University press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateson, G. 1972. Steps to an ecology of mind; collected essays in anthropology, psychiatry, evolution, and epistemology. Chandler publications for health sciences. San Francisco,: Chandler Pub. Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateson, G. 1979. Mind and nature : a necessary unity. New York: Dutton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berggren, Ă…., N. Dell’Unto, M. Forte, S. Haddow, I. Hodder, J. Issavi, N. Lercari, C. Mazzuccato, A. Mickel, and J. Taylor. 2015. Revisiting reflexive archaeology at ÇatalhöyĂĽk: integrating digital and 3D technologies at the trowel’s edge. Antiquity 89:433-448.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binford, Lewis R., and G.I. Quimby. 1972. An archaeological perspective. Studies in archaeology. New York,: Seminar Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J.S. 1962. On knowing; essays for the left hand. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrozzino, M., and M. Bergamasco. 2010. Beyond virtual museums: Experiencing immersive virtual reality in real museums. Journal of Cultural Heritage 11 (4):452-458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J.T. 2010. The Fallacy of Reconstruction. In Cyber-archaeology, ed. M. Forte, 63-73. Oxford, England: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costopoulos, A, and M.W. Lake. 2010. Simulating change : archaeology into the twenty-first century. Foundations of archaeological inquiry. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damasio, A.R. 1994. Descartes’ error : emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: G.P. Putnam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dell’Unto, N. 2014. The Use of 3D Models for Intra-Site Investigation in Archaeology. In 3D Recording and Modelling in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage. Theory and best practices, eds. F. Remondino, and S. Campana, 151-158. BAR International Series 2598. Oxford: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Djindjian, F. 2007. The virtual museum: an introduction. Archeologia e Calcolatori Supplemento 1:9-14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foerster, H. von. 1984. On constructing a Reality. In The Invented reality : how do we know what we believe we know? : contributions to constructivism, ed. P. Watzlawick, 41-61. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forte, M. 2005. Communicating the Virtual. In MIDECH ’05, Multimedia.Information@Design for Cultural Heritage, eds. M. Rossi, and P. Salonia, 74-84. Roma: Aracne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forte, M. 2010. Introduction to Cyber-Archaeology. In Cyber-archaeology, ed. M. Forte, 9-13. Oxford, England: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forte, M. 2014. 3D Archaeology: New Perspectives and Challenges—The Example of ÇatalhöyĂĽk. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 2 (1):1-29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forte, M., and A. Siliotti. 1997. Virtual archaeology : re-creating ancient worlds. New York: H.N. Abrams.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freedberg, D., and V. Gallese. 2007. Motion, emotion and empathy in esthetic experience. Trends in cognitive sciences 11 (5):197-203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallese, V. 2014. Arte, corpo, cervello : per un’estetica sperimentale. MicroMega (2):49-67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, J.J. 1950. The perception of the visual world. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, J.J. 1979. The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glasersfeld, E. von. 1995. Radical constructivism : a way of knowing and learning. Studies in mathematics education series, vol. 6. London; Washington, D.C.: Falmer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodder, I. 1986. Reading the past : current approaches to interpretation in archaeology. Cambridge Cambridgeshire; New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lake, M.W. 2014. Trends in Archaeological Simulation. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 21 (2):258-287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesure, R.G. 2005. Linking theory and evidence in an Archaeology of Human Agency: iconography, style, and theories of embodiment. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 12 (3):237-255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maturana, H.R., and F.J. Varela. 1980. Autopoiesis and cognition : the realization of the living. Boston studies in the philosophy of science, vol. 42. Dordrecht, Holland; Boston: D. Reidel Pub. Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maturana, H.R., and F.J. Varela. 1987. The tree of knowledge : the biological roots of human understanding. 1st Aufl. Boston: New Science Library : Distributed in the United State by Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niccolucci, F. 2007. Virtual museums and archaeology : an international perspective. Archeologia e Calcolatori Supplemento 1:15-30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olivito, R., and E. Taccola. 2014. 3D modelling in the agora of Segesta: techniques and data interpretation. Archeologia e Calcolatori 25:175-188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olivito, R., E. Taccola, and N. Albertini. 2015. A Hand-Free Solution for the Interaction in an Immersive Virtual Environment : the Case of the Agora of Segesta. ISPRS-International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XL-5/W4:31-36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pescarin, S. 2014. Virtual reality and cyberarchaeology – virtual museums. In 3D Recording and Modelling in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage. Theory and best practices, eds. F. Remondino, and S. Campana, 129-133. BAR International Series 2598. Oxford: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pescarin, S., W. Hupperetz, A. Pagano, C. Ray, and M. WallergĂĄrd. 2014. Evaluating Virtual Museums: archaeovirtual test-case. In Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 40th Conference in Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Southampton, United Kingdom, 26-30 March 2012, 76-84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pescarin, S., E. Pietroni, L. Rescic, M. WallergĂĄrd, K. Omar, and C. Rufa. 2013. NICH: A preliminary theoretical study on Natural Interaction applied to Cultural Heritage contexts. In 1st Digital Heritage International Congress, 355-362. IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Proulx, Jerome. 2008. Some differences between maturana and Varela’s theory of cognition and constructivism. Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity and Education 5 (1):11-26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renfrew, C. 1994. Towards a cognitive archaeology. In The ancient mind : elements of cognitive archaeology. New directions in archaeology, eds. C. Renfrew, and E.B.W. Zubrow, 3-12. Cambridge England; New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taccola, E. 2012. Ricostruzioni 3D per l’agora di Segesta. In Agorai di Sicilia, agorai d’Occidente, ed. C. Ampolo, 287-289. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, E., and F.J. Varela. 2001. Radical embodiment: neural dynamics and consciousness. Trends in cognitive sciences 5 (10):418-425.

    Google Scholar 

  • Varela, F.J., E. Thompson, and E. Rosch. 1991. The embodied mind : cognitive science and human experience. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watzlawick, Paul. 1976. How real is real? : Confusion, disinformation, communication. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witmer, B.G., and M.J. Singer. 1998. Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Presence: Teleoperators and virtual environments 7 (3):225-240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zubrow, E.B.W. 2010. From Archaeology to I-archaeology : Cyberarchaeology, paradigms, and the end of twentieth century. In Cyber-archaeology, ed. M. Forte, 1-7. Oxford, England: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Riccardo Olivito .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Olivito, R., Taccola, E., Albertini, N. (2016). Cultural Heritage and Digital Technologies. In: Forte, M., Campana, S. (eds) Digital Methods and Remote Sensing in Archaeology. Quantitative Methods in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40658-9_20

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics