Project

MAPS is a Research Project of National Relevant Interest (PRIN) of NextGenerationEU program, financed with PNRR 2022 funds (Prot. P2022Y2FXZ).
It follows the aims of Cluster 2: Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society for the better protection of historical sites and monuments, cultural landscapes, museums, archives, as well as languages, customs and traditions achieved through innovative policies, methodologies and citizens’ participation. In the field of human sciences, a huge potential resource to share with civil society is formed by in-depth knowledge of archaeological contexts, gathered by teams of Heritage experts through specialised scientific analyses carried out in various research areas within universities. The MAPS project aims to increase the knowledge of two sample sites, and share the skills acquired in the archaeological field by the two research units involved: using advanced information technologies, this can be made available for the community in a collaborative and inclusive outlook, as an incitement to a wider awareness of the cultural potential of the Country, with an undeniable effect on economy and development.

Introduction

In recent decades archaeological research has made great steps forward in converting local interests in single elements/monuments into broader investigations on an urban and territorial scale, focused on understanding the historical processes affecting ancient landscapes. The reason behind this change was the chance to analyse the ancient world not only in a merely horizontal way, but also recognizing its diachronic development over time, recovering the deepest chronological dimension through excavations and complex interpretations of sites. This proved to be particularly useful in the study of long-life urban centres, defined as “pluri-stratified” for this reason.
Urban archaeology, carried out in Rome and in other large centres from the 1980s, developed thanks to the diffusion of the stratigraphic method and a consequent reading of ancient history by phases. This has made it possible to recognize the flowing of time by analysing the contexts found underground, allowing the reconstruction of long periods of occupation and transformations. However, only in recent years some of the earliest phases of occupation and birth of ancient cities are being investigated, and an attempt to understand lesser-known moments in the history of these places is being made. Hence, Pompeii and Ravenna have been identified as two ideal cities for the knowledge of urban landscapes in their development.
The two sites, although apparently different in terms of history, chronological context, geographical setting and extent of the preserved monuments, show similar features of use and historical knowledge that make them an ideal context for experimentation. The differences do not represent a limit to the research, but they instead constitute an added value to it: the MAPS architecture, designed to host heterogeneous information from different systems, will be tested to adequately develop a system that may be used by the whole scientific community, institutions, and users from all levels and origins. The choice of the two sites is dictated by the long diachrony that distinguishes the cities which, although known and perceptible, has not yet been subject to a precise and exhaustive analysis. To date, there is no study for the two cities based on a tool useful for census, analysing, reconstructing and restoring the articulation over time of the different landscapes that characterized them. The multi-layering reality originating by the long-lasting settlement diachrony of the two cities is often flattened on the remains or monuments which mostly characterize the better-known phases of life.