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Heritage
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Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in a Digitalized World: Methods and...
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Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in a Digitalized World: Methods and Practices

A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408). This special issue belongs to the section "Digital Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 21129

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Alessandro Sebastiani

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Guest Editor
Department of Classics, University at Buffalo (SUNY)338 Millard Fillmore Academic Core, North Campus, Buffalo, NY 14261, USA
Interests: roman archaeology; settlement networks in antiquity; ancient economies; digital humanities; cultural heritage; landscape archaeology; museology; material culture studies; archaeology and politics

Special Issue Information

This Special Issue of Heritage focuses on digital approaches to cultural heritage, archaeology, arts and humanities, as well as in the practises of place-making and dissemination of ancient architectures through the use of modern technologies. The importance of engaging with cultural heritage in all its forms has become a major issue in our disciplines as well as the need to enhance public awareness about our common past.

Contemporary research projects in cultural heritage and humanities have adopted a much more digital access to data, documentation, and visualization of ancient ruins and objects: from robots and drones, augmented reality and 3D models, to digital archives, publications, and museums, modern scholars have recently opened new directions in interacting with wider audiences, hoping to make all aspects of our common past approachable to everyone.

This issue aims to show readers the different types of digital approaches to the past. In fact, it contains a series of papers that introduce these different techniques through original practises of digital humanities to cultural objects and architectures, archaeological sites, and museum digital displays of artefacts and open the debate of digital data sharing, addressing the age-old question of ownership of this kind of data. Finally, they initiate the concept of place-making to a wider audience, that is, the need to restore the cultural identity to historical places through the dissemination of authentic narratives based on our scientific research of the monuments, their architectures, arts, and objects.

The theme of the Special Issue targets scholars who are involved and experiment with digital technologies and cultural heritage as a whole, with a specific focus on archaeology and the humanities. It also welcomes contributions from a variety of projects and ideas from the reconstruction, documentation, and dissemination of historical places through the use of digital means as the final purpose. 

Dr. Alessandro Sebastiani
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Cultural Heritage
  • Material culture
  • Digital humanities
  • Antiquity
  • Museums
  • Virtual and augmented reality
  • 3D modeling
  • Classics
  • Arts
  • Place-making

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 5614 KiB  
Article
Trace the Untraceable: Online Image Search Tools for Researching Late Antique Art
by Prolet Decheva
Heritage 2021, 4(4), 4076-4104; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4040225 - 31 Oct 2021
Viewed by 3033
Abstract
In the context of digital humanities and access to cultural heritage online, this paper explores the discoverability of Late Antique material in some searchable museum collections and in some major archaeological and art historical image and object databases. It follows an exploratory approach [...] Read more.
In the context of digital humanities and access to cultural heritage online, this paper explores the discoverability of Late Antique material in some searchable museum collections and in some major archaeological and art historical image and object databases. It follows an exploratory approach by using simple keyword searches, such as ‘late antique’ or ‘byzantine’, and comparing the results with chronological searches when a date or period filter is available. Although Late Antique material often comprises a smaller number of objects compared to more popular periods like the Roman and the Renaissance, these are difficult to research due to inconsistent labelling practices and the frequent lack of a customizable date range filter. The ongoing debates on proper periodization and nomenclature also need to be taken into consideration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in a Digitalized World: Methods and Practices)
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18 pages, 6940 KiB  
Article
A System for Monitoring the Environment of Historic Places Using Convolutional Neural Network Methodologies
by Massimo De Maria, Lorenza Fiumi, Mauro Mazzei and Bik Oleg V.
Heritage 2021, 4(3), 1429-1446; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4030079 - 28 Jul 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2593
Abstract
This work aims to contribute to better understanding the use of public street spaces. (1) Background: In this sense, with a multidisciplinary approach, the objective of this work is to propose an experimental and reproducible method on a large scale. (2) Study area: [...] Read more.
This work aims to contribute to better understanding the use of public street spaces. (1) Background: In this sense, with a multidisciplinary approach, the objective of this work is to propose an experimental and reproducible method on a large scale. (2) Study area: The applied methodology uses artificial intelligence to analyze Google Street View (GSV) images at street level. (3) Method: The purpose is to validate a methodology that allows us to characterize and quantify the use (pedestrians and cars) of some squares in Rome belonging to different historical periods. (4) Results: Through the use of machine vision techniques, typical of artificial intelligence and which use convolutional neural networks, a historical reading of some selected squares is proposed, with the aim of interpreting the dynamics of use and identifying some critical issues in progress. (5) Conclusions: This work validated the usefulness of a method applied to the use of artificial intelligence for the analysis of GSV images at street level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in a Digitalized World: Methods and Practices)
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23 pages, 31233 KiB  
Article
Digital Artifacts and Landscapes. Experimenting with Placemaking at the Impero Project
by Alessandro Sebastiani
Heritage 2021, 4(1), 281-303; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4010018 - 6 Feb 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3388
Abstract
This paper describes the public archaeology approach and placemaking experiment at the Etruscan and Roman site of Podere Cannicci in Tuscany (Italy), drawing from the previous experience at three other archaeological sites along the Tyrrhenian coast. After three years of excavations at the [...] Read more.
This paper describes the public archaeology approach and placemaking experiment at the Etruscan and Roman site of Podere Cannicci in Tuscany (Italy), drawing from the previous experience at three other archaeological sites along the Tyrrhenian coast. After three years of excavations at the IMPERO Project (Interconnected Mobility of People and Economy along the River Ombrone), the team has begun a side project to develop new strategies for communicating the results of the research. These include, but are not limited to, an app which displays augmented reality and 3D reconstructions of both the site and the material culture. The project uses digital narratives to engage local communities and scholars in the interpretation and reconstruction of ancient landscapes along with the middle valley of the Ombrone river. This approach also has the potential to support and sustain local tourism, providing an original experience for visitors. Moreover, the solution allows people from all over the world to be connected with the ongoing research and its results, as everything will be published on a dedicated website. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in a Digitalized World: Methods and Practices)
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20 pages, 4851 KiB  
Article
An Open System for Collection and Automatic Recognition of Pottery through Neural Network Algorithms
by Maria Letizia Gualandi, Gabriele Gattiglia and Francesca Anichini
Heritage 2021, 4(1), 140-159; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4010008 - 13 Jan 2021
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 6595
Abstract
In the last ten years, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have been applied in archaeology. The ArchAIDE project realised an AI-based application to recognise archaeological pottery. Pottery is of paramount importance for understanding archaeological contexts. However, recognition of ceramics is still a manual, time-consuming [...] Read more.
In the last ten years, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have been applied in archaeology. The ArchAIDE project realised an AI-based application to recognise archaeological pottery. Pottery is of paramount importance for understanding archaeological contexts. However, recognition of ceramics is still a manual, time-consuming activity, reliant on analogue catalogues. The project developed two complementary machine-learning tools to propose identifications based on images captured on-site, for optimising and economising this process, while retaining key decision points necessary to create trusted results. One method relies on the shape of a potsherd; the other is based on decorative features. For the shape-based recognition, a novel deep-learning architecture was employed, integrating shape information from points along the inner and outer profile of a sherd. The decoration classifier is based on relatively standard architectures used in image recognition. In both cases, training the algorithms meant facing challenges related to real-world archaeological data: the scarcity of labelled data; extreme imbalance between instances of different categories; and the need to take note of minute differentiating features. Finally, the creation of a desktop and mobile application that integrates the AI classifiers provides an easy-to-use interface for pottery classification and storing pottery data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in a Digitalized World: Methods and Practices)
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12 pages, 7141 KiB  
Article
Roman Model-Books as a Resource for Digital Architectural Reconstructions
by Josef Souček
Heritage 2021, 4(1), 20-31; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4010002 - 26 Dec 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4086
Abstract
Upon examination of Roman landscape paintings preserved in situ and in museums of Naples and Rome, additional evidence has been found for the additive character of creation of imaginary landscapes as well as evidence for using standardized elements and whole scene compositions in [...] Read more.
Upon examination of Roman landscape paintings preserved in situ and in museums of Naples and Rome, additional evidence has been found for the additive character of creation of imaginary landscapes as well as evidence for using standardized elements and whole scene compositions in Roman painting. This attitude is compared to the modern way of creating virtual landscapes—computer game level design and the process called “kitbashing”. I propose that both these processes share the same task to create a familiar landscape using a visual language understandable to its contemporary viewer, but also a very similar method of using predefined elements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cultural Heritage and Archaeology in a Digitalized World: Methods and Practices)
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