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Metodologie geofisiche a confronto presso la villa tardoantica di Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi

M. CAVALIERI, G. PACE. 2011. Metodologie geofisiche a confronto presso la villa tardoantica di Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi (Siena) : qualche nota su efficacia e limiti. Archeologia e calcolatori 22, p. 283-306 (in italiano).

PDF : ART-AC-22-2011

During the years 2006-2007, three teams of scientists (archaeologists with geophysicists) detected the archaeological surface of the Late Antique villa at Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi (Siena, Tuscany) using GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar), Resistivity and Magnetometry. Their aim was to identify archaeological remains and consequently spend less time and money on digging. At the conclusion of the fieldwork and data treatment, they used a CAD program to overlap geophysical and archaeological layers and check geophysical results on archaeological remains. Despite surveys in many other archaeological sites, they obtained few results: surveys located anomalies in less than 1/4 of the archaeological remains excavated in 2008 and 2009. In this paper the authors attempt to analyze (and try to find better solutions for the future) errors in the geophysical surveys caused by incorrect calibration of the database, low accuracy of grid intersections and excessively long grid lines, in relationship to site conditions and the kinds of archaeological remains. These technical problems in fact certainly create a less than optimal operational synergy between archaeologists and geologists during the post-processing of the data: an analysis of these problems may help to improve future projects of this type.

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Il rilievo fotogrammetrico per nuvole di punti RGB della “sala triabsidata” del sito archeologico di Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi

A. ARRIGHETTI, M. CAVALIERI. 2012. Il rilievo fotogrammetrico per nuvole di punti RGB della “sala triabsidata” del sito archeologico di Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi (SI). Archeologia e calcolatori 23, p. 21-33 (in italiano).

PDF : ART-AC-18-2012

Reconstructing the development of architectural complexes throughout time is often very diffcult. Buildings are usually a series of constructive actions, changes from the original project, and also collapses and reconstructions due to human actions (such as demolitions) and/or natural (earthquakes, foods, etc.). The building’s structure records all these events, giving us the chance to understand and decode them through the relief. The archaeological relief is thus supposed to offer a complete and rapid documentation. At the same time, it must be enriched with all the information needed for a deeper analysis of the archaeological object itself. In the last years, the introduction and continuous improvements of many instruments (e.g. laser scanners and photogrammetric technologies) have led to a sensible qualitative and quantitative change in the recording of the material structure.

In particular, the possibility to combine different relief technologies – obtaining high resolution, 3D geometrically correct models of buildings or of entire archaeological sites (which could be further investigated thanks to archaeological analysis or other procedures), has modified the archaeological approach towards the material “datum” and its divulgation. In order to achieve a better knowledge of nowadays technologies, the divulgation of different employed methodologies – through their application in research contexts – is the best way of transmission and comparison. This contribution is dedicated to the presentation and detailed analysis of a photogrammetric RGB point-clouds technology, used for the relief of a living-room during the archaeological excavation at Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi (City of San Gimignano).

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Aspetti della cultura materiale nelle fasi di riutilizzo (V–inizi VII sec. d.C.) della villa romana di Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi

M. Cavalieri, E. Boldrini, C. Bossu, P. De Idonè & A. Fumo, Aspetti della cultura materiale nelle fasi di riutilizzo (V–inizi VII sec. d.C.) della villa romana di Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi (San Gimignano, Siena/Italy). Note preliminari dans REI CRETARIÆ ROMANÆ FAVTORVM ACTA 42, Bonn 2012, p. 169-180.

Pdf : ART-RCRF-42-2012

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Destruction, transformation et refonctionnalisation. Le passage de l’Antiquité au Moyen-âge en Toscane entre les IVe et VIIe s. p.C.n.

M. Cavalieri, Destruction, transformation et refonctionnalisation. Le passage de l’Antiquité au Moyen-âge en Toscane entre les IVe et VIIe s. p.C.n. dans J. Driessen (ed.), Destruction. Archaeological, philological and historical perspectives, Louvain, 2013.

Contributo di M. Cavalieri al convegno “Destruction. Archaeological, philological and historical perspectives”, Louvain-la-Neuve, 24-26 novembre 2011.

Podcast dell’intervento : qui.

Il libro può essere ordinato qui:  Presses Universitaires de Louvain.

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THE AMPHORAE IN THE ROMAN VILLA AT AIANO-TORRACCIA CHIUSI (SAN GIMIGNANO, SIENA-ITALY)

THE AMPHORAE IN THE ROMAN VILLA AT AIANO-TORRACCIA CHIUSI (SAN GIMIGNANO, SIENA-ITALY)

in LRCW 4. Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean Archaeology and archaeometryThe Mediterranean: a market without frontiers. Edited by Natalia Poulou-Papadimitriou, Eleni Nodarou and Vassilis Kilikoglou. Volume I. BAR International Series 2616 (I) 2014.

Abstract : 

Since 2005 a Belgian-Italian research team has undertaken an archaeological excavation on the site of a villa longinqua, a building erected between the late 3rd and the early 4th centuries AD. The research project was funded by the Université catholique de Louvain and was part of the international project VII Regio. Valdelsa during the Roman Age and late Antiquity. This site shows monumental features, and at the end of the 4th century AD underwent major restoration. It was then abandoned one century later, when it was ravaged and most of the marble building-material was taken away. Between the 6th and the 7th centuries AD, the site was occupied by craftsmen, who established several workshops for metal manufacturing (including iron, gold, lead and probably bronze), as well as glass and ceramics kilns. These craftsmen used the building material of the villa as raw materials. The majority of the amphorae recovered during the excavation dates between the beginning of the 5th century and the early 7th century AD, but only spatheia amphorae were found in layers dating to the period during which these objects were actually produced and circulated. All the other amphorae (and perhaps the spatheia also) might have been reused in the workshops. The shapes of these amphorae imply commercial contacts with Hispania and Africa, placing the villa within a Mediterranean trade network.