RICERCA ITALIANA     

New methodologies for integrated projects of archaeological parks in the Mediterranean. Elaboration, testing and verification of advanced technologies and the transfer of results in the valorization of areas with high cultural, environmental and touristic interest. Selection of case studies in northern Syria and in southern Turkey

Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"

Abstract

The project is articulated in five research units related to highly characteristic disciplines, albeit strictly combined into the common aim of developing and applying new methodologies and technologies for the planning and managing of archaeological parks in the Mediterranean area. In our type-project, the multidisciplinary perspective is fundamental (unlike the more traditional projects resting mainly upon archaeological and architectonic bases). First of all, the usual methodologies in the urban planning and in the restoration of ancient structures are enriched with new analysis and control methods. The first aspect will be dealt with by Rome research unit 1, for the first time systematically with reference to preclassical eastern Mediterranean, in order to define urban models for better understanding on the ground the ancient sites with the aim of their enhancement, for which an articulated site-sheet (protocol) will be elaborated building upon the information and goals supplied by the various research units. Genoa research unit 4 will test different techniques of structures restoration and remote monitoring (together with Ecosearch research unit 5); moreover it will realize a modular covering for archaeological sites in the Mediterranean area. The same unit will prepare an archaeological site type-project taking into account the data provided by all the research units, and also the paleo-ecological and environmental data elaborated by Rome research unit 1 and Bologna research unit 3, that are fundamental for the purpose of site ecosustainability and management. Bologna research unit 3, in particular, will control the present environment with climate and soil measures, besides making vegetation plans, developing a model of management of the archaeological site and of green areas from the plurality of physical and biotic information collected and integrated through GIS: such a model for the conservation of the ground and the enhancement of the excavation area, will be validated on site to be transferable to other contexts in the Mediterranean area (upscaling); the esperimentation of the GPR radar will obtain, at the same time, information on underground soil structure and the urban shape in unexcavated sectors, thus integrating itself with both the activtivites of Rome Unit 1. Bologna research unit 2 will test new remote sensing techniques, both for archaeological surveying, important in planning archaeological parks, and for landscape analysis by means of satellite high resolution photos, a fundamental aspect for the enhancement of a site and of its landscape. Ecosearch research unit 5 will realize a satellite-connected network for the remote monitoring of the features bound to the environment and structures conservation. All research units of this strategic project will attend in particular to the transfer and diffusion of results, that will be synthesized (also as testing of information diffusion techniques) in the final multimedia production by research unit 2. All research units will include and train systematically younger students, as well as cooperating with local authorities in Syria and Turkey, the countries where two case-studies have been selected for the necessary testing on the ground, respectively Ebla and Tilmen Höyük. <<<

Principal Investigator

Paolo MATTHIAE Universita' degli Studi di ROMA "La Sapienza"

Research Goal

This proposal of strategic project aims at finalizing, in an integrated manner, complex methodologies and technologies - diversified under a disciplinary standpoint - for the planning and management of archaeological parks in the Mediterranean area. The underlying goal is to keep the outcomes in an area of real field applicability, within necessary cost controlling and effective formulation of intervention methodologies with the aim of their complete transferability (upscaling). For this goal, after a first phase of executional designing and planning, field experimentation will be carefully carried out (taking care of training local scientific personnel and cooperating with Syrian and Turkish universities), selecting two case-studies particularly suitable, from our perspective, not only for the monumentality of the archaeological findings but also for the diversified building techniques and their respective ecological setting, i.e. the Northern Syrian site of Ebla and the southern Turkish site of Tilmen Höyük. A comparison and processing of collected data will follow, in order to extrapolate general applicative methodologies which can be effectively applied and which will be circulated among the interested scientific communities belonging to the different sectors in which the project is articulated. The integrated perspective is the only one in our opinion that will supply adequate solutions to the need of high-profile contents, both historic-archaeological ones (including paleo-environment), and the scientific ones in an environmental analitycal sense, in order to manage and make the most of the considered area, as requested nowadays (or in the near future) to a project of an archaeological park.

Unit 1 - In the planning and realization of an archaeological park on a an ancient town site we have to take into account a basic need: making the visitors understand the urban structure of the different cultural phases of a given site. The urban structure of preclassical urban sites, in the Mediterranean area, due to its structural peculiarities which hamper its preservation state (i.e. mudbricks), is difficult for visitors to be understood on the ground. It is clear that it is therefore necessary to take into account the fundamental questions about the organization and the spatial and functional hierarchy of the antique town. An articulated site sheet needs to be created to guide the planning of archaeological parks on ancient Mediterranean towns. This sheet will be divided in three main points, aiming at the same goal and which will be developed by the different Research Units of this strategical project.
The research team co-ordinated by prof. Tulipano will apply in this project some innovative investigation techniques. The validation of hydrogeochemical analysis techniques based on D and 18O will be used to understand the spatial and temporal meteorological origin of water and to establish the continental and marine mixed horizons. Local groundwater dating (related to the Ebla and Tilmen Höyük case studies) is specifically interesting. In order to localize old shallow water zones, possibly now characterized by a greater content of water, it's expected to locate the surface wetter, and thus colder horizons, making use of a digital thermal infrared camera. Summing up, it is foreseen on the one hand to collect paleoenvironmental information, useful for the definition of the ancient land use as defined by prof. Matthiae's studies and Unit 2 activities, and on the other to contribute to the environmental management of an area designed for an archaeological park.

Unit 2 - The study and the modelling of landscape are useful for its enhancement within an integrated archaeological park project. Actually, it is necessary applying to the territory remote sensing operations and settlement studies, revealing and showing the historical role of the natural, agrarian and urban landscape, and their connections.
The first aim is the testing of new technologies, allowing the use of innovative computer tools for the reconstruction of archaeological and paleoenvironmental complexes for the analysis and landscape enhancement, so to draw up detailed guidelines. In particular, by means of the interpretation of air and satellite images, a large set of applications will be tested, ranging from the reconstruction of the ancient landscape to population history in a given geographic area. New technologies for the survey of archaeological sites will be tested, a fundamental task both for the scientific research and visualization and for the planning and management of archaeological parks, the sites' virtual musealization and its dissemination.
The second aim consists in disseminating (in addition to the usual scientific publications) all the experiences issued from this strategic project through multimedia, with the aim of their complete transfer and use; this bears in itself a testing character about the results transfer.

Unit 3 - This group proposes possible solutions for enhancing the archeological sites and archeological parks according to their environmental conditions. The results achieved on Tilmen Hoyuk, and to lesser extent, on Ebla sites are useful to export the experience to other Mediterranean archeological sites. The targets that this Unit expects to achieve regard:
a) Draft of a protocol for the environment characterization of archeological sites, through a multidisciplinary approach that focuses both on physical and biological aspects. The physical characterization of the site will be useful to plan excavation strategies and will be performed with electromagnetic technologies based on dielectric spectroscopy. The site biological characterization, regarding in detail the plant communities and their relationship with the monumental parts, will instead be useful for the vegetation management in the different realities of the archeological area.
b) Definition of a model for the management of archeological sites in the Mediterranean area, based on the Tilmen Höyük case-study. The model will be realized on-site and developed by integrating physical, archeological and biological data by means of a GIS. Homogeneous sites, concerning physical, archeological and biological features, will be recognized and proper archeological and environment enhancing measures will be defined for their conservation.

Unit 4 - The main goal of the Genoa research unit is the construction of a model, transferable, for the cultural and touristic enhancement of an archaeological site. Field tests will be applied to the case study of Tilmen Höyük in Turkey. The Genoa unit will devise, specifically, a modular system for covering archaeological areas that is easily and with limited costs able to be adapted to other archaeological sites in the Mediterranean area. Furthermore, the Genoa unit will arrange beforehand guidelines related to the methods of restoration of archaeological remains and to the planning of an archaeological park, keeping in mind the requirements set by the archaeological sciences, including those chemical-physical and social, with particular reference to the problems posed by the touristic-didactic use of the site.

Unit 5 - It is intended to implement an integrated platform for the collection, storage and publication of data, independently from local facilities, capable of being consulted in an easy and cost effective way by project partecipants and - if appropriate - by external users. This will be achieved by implementing a monitoring network, with wireless communications in the short distance, and satellite telecommunications in the long distance. Data will be collected by a web server, or directly by Notebook computers with suitable equipment. The features of the monitoring and communications modules will permit their replication in other sites and similar situations. <<<

Timescale

36 months