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A Multivariate Use of Digital Cultural Heritage: Online Resources for Archaeology in the DBAS—MUSINT Websites (University of Florence, Italy)

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Abstract

Since many years the Aegean Laboratory of the SAGAS Department of the University of Florence, Italy, is building two flexible containers of online resources, the Data Bases about Aegean Subjects (http://dbas.sciant.unifi.it/) and the Aegean Museum (http://www.aegean-museum.it/) websites. The contents are related to the archaeology of the Bronze Age Aegean (Greece, 3000–1000 BCE). Together, they are a good example of the multiple potential of Digital Cultural Heritage. Their various parts aim to different targets and audiences, including tools for scholarly research, teaching materials for University classes, and dissemination and interaction contents for a wider public. An overview of the websites is presented here, to stress the connection between the various levels and especially between academic contents and wider dissemination. The main aim of the Aegean Laboratory (@egeanLab) is indeed to provide a way to explore various aspects of the Bronze Age Aegean that work for both an academic user and a young pupil. In addition, the cooperation between University and Museums offers access to various collections that otherwise would not be available for the wider public. All this is something that only the Digital Cultural Heritage can ensure. The present paper focuses on the relevant elements of the two websites: the presence of specialized Data Bases, that are therefore freely searchable from anyone, whilst used at the same time for scholarly purposes; 3D representations of the archaeological materials, embedded in the Data Bases and explorable; study tools of various types, from University lessons to didactic panels; contents aimed at the younger visitors, with attractive drawings, reconstructions, videos, games and an interactive tale to complete. All this is the result of the cooperation of various institutions and of a wide range of specialists, from archaeologists to architects and designers to computer scientists and primary school teachers. In the DBAS—Databases about Aegean Subjects, databases span from the Cretan Hieroglyphic Seals and Aegean Cushion Seals to the Ahhiyawa Question and Mycenaeans in the Amarnian Egypt, passing by the Textile Work Areas in Bronze Age Crete (the latter still under construction). In the two main sections of the Aegean Museum website, MUSINT I and II, a larger range of the Digital Cultural Heritage potentials are exploited. MUSINT I gathers in a virtual interactive museum the Aegean materials from various Museums in Tuscany, combining 3D representations of the objects, technical reports and databases. Somehow similar is MUSINT II, that presents in various ways some particular findings from Minoan Crete, the sealings from Haghia Triada. Those stored in Italy are searchable through a database that links once again the scientific records of the Museums of Florence and Rome with 3D representation and scholarly comments. The didactic and interactive part is particularly developed here. The paper will present in detail some databases and an interactive tale that are presently being implemented, to foster the discussion on methodological issues and best practices. Though the Aegean Museum is still under development, it can provide a good example of the Digital Cultural Heritage potential in combining various kinds of tools, expertise, builders and users, bringing together the specialized scholar and the curious pupil, research work and dissemination, and creating a substantial impact in the way we study and perceive antiquity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    M. E. Alberti and A. M. Jasink contributed to the arguments, the structure and the organization of the present article. The first author wrote paragraphs 3. 4. 5; the second wrote paragraphs 1. 2a. 5; C. Faralli wrote 2b and the other digital contents. The authors warmly thank Giulia Dionisio for her help in the editing process.

  2. 2.

    The references on this subject are extremely extensive. We limit quotations to some of the most inclusive works on cretulae and for an exhaustive bibliography we refer to the work in press by Montecchi [33].

  3. 3.

    The text of reference is the Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel, Band II, Teil 6 [34]; for a revised version of the whole Corpus, the website ARACHNE (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/), with a part devoted to the Aegean seals and sealings (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/drupal/?q=it/node/271), is now available online.

  4. 4.

    The point of reference for the signs incised on the cretulae remains GORILA 2 [12]. It is also important to consider the more recent work by Hallager [13] specifically devoted to the “roundel” shape, but with major references to the other sealed documents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento SAGAS, Università di Firenze, Via San Gallo 10, 50129, Florence, Italy

    Maria Emanuela Alberti & Anna Margherita Jasink

  2. Laboratorio di Civiltà egee, Dipartimento SAGAS, Università di Firenze, Via San Gallo 10, 50129, Florence, Italy

    Cristian Faralli

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  1. Maria Emanuela Alberti
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Correspondence to Maria Emanuela Alberti .

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  1. CODATA-Germany, Berlin, Germany

    Horst Kremers

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Alberti, M.E., Faralli, C., Jasink, A.M. (2020). A Multivariate Use of Digital Cultural Heritage: Online Resources for Archaeology in the DBAS—MUSINT Websites (University of Florence, Italy). In: Kremers, H. (eds) Digital Cultural Heritage. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15200-0_10

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