ATOR (Arc-Team Open Research).
The blog spreads tests, problems and results of Arc-Team research in archaeology, following the guidelines of the OpArc (Open Archaeology) project.
Historical Research is one of the most important steps during a research project like "Torre dei Sicconi". If we want to understand and interpret what we are finding during excavation and survey, we need to compare our site with other contemporary sites nearby. Watch in the next chapter of our "Torre dei Sicconi" series Arc-Team researching between the walls of the medieval castle ruin.
Enjoy!
Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 7 - Historical Reseach
During the last "Frozen Pasts" conference, taken place in Innsbruck (A) from 12. to 16. October, we have presented - charged by the Cultural Heritage Department of South-Tyrol - the most important glacial sites discovered during the last 25 years in this region.
25 years ago, the dicovery of the iceman „Ötzi“ marked the beginning of a new discipline of archaeological research and cultural heritage preservation in South-Tyrol: The glacial archaeology.
Since than the Department of Archaeological Heritage has been focusing on several new high altitude sites, detected and reported exclusively by private persons: Leggings, socks and residues of shoes from the Iron Age on the Rieserferner (2.841 m Puster Valley).
For some years we have been investigating at the Langgrubenjoch (3.017 m Schnals Valley) remains of leather, pelt, and a wooden belt hook dating from the Copper Age, residues of a wooden building (roofing shingles made of larch) from the Bronze Age and other wooden findings from the Roman Age. Frequent visits to the main Alpine ridge since prehistory are documented by new finds on the Gurgler Eisjoch (3.134 m Schnals Valley).
Glacial archaeology meets modern conflict archaeology on the highest mountain group of the South-Tyrolean territory:
From the Stilfserjoch to Mt. Cevedale we have to deal with the remains of the frontline of WW1 between 1915 and 1918. Even the highest peaks like Mt. Ortler (3.905m) and Königspitze (3.851m) were permanently occupied by Austro-Hungarian and Italian mountain troops.
100 years later climate change uncover extraordinarily well preserved materials and structures which give us new insights into events and every day life on the high altitude positions.
Here is the presentation together with the live-recording of the talk.
The archaeological excavation is still one of the most important steps during a research project like "Torre dei Sicconi". The main goal was to understand the construction phases, to get information about the composition and ornamentation of the interiors and the every day live of the inhabitants of the castle. Watch in the next chapter of our "Torre dei Sicconi" series Arc-Team excavating between the walls of the medieval castle ruin.
This is the second presentation we gave at ArcheoFOSS 2016. This time the topic is more related with geoarchaeology and regards geTTexture (the open source application we developed in order to speed up the sedimentation est).
Here below is the link to the original presentation, for the reader who wants to see it directly online:
For those who prefer to see it on youtube, I just uploaded it on our channel:
Like for last post, I report here below a short abstract, describing shortly each slide of the presentation:
SLIDE 1
Title and overview
SLIDE 2
Compiling the archaeological recording sheet is one of the most time-expensive operation during an archaeological project both doing it manually...
SLIDE 3
... or using a database.
SLIDE 4
Considering the Italian standards (ICCD, "Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione"), often new archaeologists have difficulties in describing the composition of the archaeological layer.
SLIDE 5 and 6
SLIDE 7 and 8
No particular difficulties are detected in describing the artificial elements.
SLIDE 9 and 10
A little bit more complicated is considered to describe the organic and oranogenic elements.
SLIDE 11 and 12
The most difficult field is considered the geological one.
SLIDE 13
Geological materials are splitted into two categories: skeleton and fine earth
SLIDE 14 and 15
The skeleton is normally simpler to identify (both in the field and in the lab).
SLIDE 16 and 17
The fine earth is maybe the most complicated archaeological element to identify on the field, while specialist (geoarchaeologists) need to use specific equipement in the lab.
SLIDE 18
Fine earth definition on the field is foten carried on with anametric and sobjective methodology.
SLIDE 19
Like feel, ball and ribbon test
SLIDE 20
The sedimentation test gives more objective results with a minimum metric value.
SLIDE 21
Arc-Team used validated the use of sedimentation test also in emergency excavation (which have a stricter time-table respect other archaeological projects)
SLIDE 22
Thank to +Mattia Segata (Arc-Team's geoarchaeologist at ATLAB), the basic methodology has been improved considering the Strokes' Law.
SLIDE 23
+Giuseppe Naponiello (Arc-Team DataBase and WebGIS expert) improved a PostreSQL dabatase, developed on the Italian archaeological recording sheet. The Database is able to integrate the data coming from the sedimentation test.
SLIDE 24
Future integration are planned for basic analytical chemistry analyses on the field.
SLIDE 25
And for more specific laboratory analyses (e.g. Energy Disperive X-ray Spectrometry).
SLIDE 26
The DataBase can be easily integrated into a WebGIS
SLIDE 27
The slides is just a demonstration of the software (the code is taken from a prototype).
SLIDE 28
The slide is just an example of one of the videotutorial Arc-Team is producing to explain the sedimentation test and the use of geTTexture.
SLIDE 29
geTTexture will be one of the open source application for archaeology which Arc-Team is developing and that will compose the suite Arc-Tool.
SLIDE 30
Another extension of geTTexture Arc-Team is working on is related with colorimetry. The idea is to integrate a tool to record anametric analyses
SLIDE 31
or metric data coming from Open Hardware devices (e.g. Public Lab spectrometer)
ArcheoFOSS 2016 is concluded. I will soon post a report about my impressions regarding the conference, but today I start with the less funny work of uploading the presentations we gave during the event.
The first project we presented regarded the "ArcheoROV, an Open Hardware ROV specifically designed for archaeological aims" and describes the Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle we developed in partnership with the Witlab of Rovereto (TN - Italy).
Here below is the link to the original presentation, for the reader who wants to see it directly online:
ArcheoROV is designed to satisfy specific needs of underwater archaeology
SLIDE 5
Since 2006 Arc-Team works on "archeorobotics" in order to solve specific archaeological problems. The research branch was started after an aerial archaeological project in Armenia.
SLIDE 6
After two years of research, a first prototype of Open Hardware UAV (project UAVP) was ready to work.
SLIDE 7
The last prototype of Open Hardware UAV in action (documentin WW1 evidences and and iron age site.
SLIDE 8
The Open Hardware 3D printer Fa)(a3D in action (printing the cast of an Homo georgicus from Dmanisi and a metal ring digitally recovered from the body of a Ptolemaic mummy).
SLIDE 9
Testing the OpenLab spectrometer.
SLIDE 10
ArcheoROV's first target: exploration.
SLIDE 11
ArcheoROV's first target: safety.
SLIDE 12
ArcheoROV's first target: extreme missions.
SLIDE 13
ArcheoROV's development time-line.
SLIDE 14
From ArcheoROV 0.1 to ArcheoROV 0.5
SLIDE 15
ArcheoROV 0.5 3D model
SLIDE 16
Open Hardware used or fabricated for the project
SLIDE 17
Open Software used for the project
SLIDE 18
The main strenghts of the prototype
SLIDE 19
Future improvements via ROS and SLAM.
SLIDE 20
Credits
SLIDE 21
A gallery of the first Open Water and Deep Water test in Sardinia (Italy).
If we need a detailed view form above or a high resolution DTM/DSM it's time for our drone.
Watch in the next chapter of our "Torre dei Sicconi" series the UAV flying and working over the walls of the medieval castle ruin.
Working on archaeological documentation requires different types of equipment a techniques. Watch in this video some of them in action, while we are continuing to work on the picturesquely situated site of Torre dei Sicconi.
