ArchaeoGRID, a GRID for Archaeology

Abstract

The approach of modern archaeology to the study of the evolution of ancient human societies is based on the acquisition and analysis of many types of data. It is well known that in archaeology large use is done of digital technologies and computer applications for data acquisition, storage, analysis and visualization. The amount of information coming from remote sensing, from acquisition of 3D artifacts images by scanners laser, from GPS precise reference of geographical points and from other sciences are increasing at a large extent the amount of data that it need to be stored and made available for analysis. Such data must, however, be analyzed if they are to become valuable information and knowledge. The data analysis use advanced methods developed in mathematics, informatics, and physics and in other natural and human sciences. Moreover the use of virtual archaeology as a new approach to the narration and visualization in archaeology, is expanding rapidly, not only in the museum and archaeology professions, but also in the broadcast media, tourism and heritage industries. The inevitable result of this is an exponential increase of the amount and complexity of information that must be acquired, transferred, stored, processed and analyzed. From another side natural disasters, wars and terrorism created enormous damages to the archaeological heritage and in many case destroyed definitively all information about ancient civilizations. It is urgent a long term project for acquiring at least the archaeological information.