Towards a European standard for spatial data management for archaeological heritage: experiences in France and Italy
Anne Moreau, Federico Nurra
Abstract Archaeological heritage is most of the time linked to space. That is why this communication will focus on spatial data and the way we manage them for documentation interpretation and communication, through two European case studies. The issue of homogenization and harmonization of spatial data in archeology has become by now central to the scientific debate. The explosion of GIS, first, and Web Mapping, later, requires constant reflection on the standards to be adopted. This paper aims to make a point about the situation of two European Countries, Italy and France, which have faced the problem in a different way, in the field of preventive archeology: the first through the testing module SITAN/MODI of MiBACT at the Department of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the University of Sassari (DADU); the second through the structuring of a Spatial Data Catalog at the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeology (INRAP). INRAP has strengthened in recent years the use of GIS in archaeological practice; it has invested heavily in the training of archaeologists and has produced a considerable amount of data. The DADU has focused on the theoretical aspects functional to the construction of a metasystem able to dialogue with the several ongoing trials in Italy. The common attempt was to arrive at a minimal form of implementation, storage and representation of spatial and topographic data without losing the important informative supply related to the attributes. The informational architecture of the system will therefore be explained in the paper. Despite the obvious differences between the two contexts, the paper will seek the common meeting points that enable to launch a proposal for homogenization and standardization of production of spatial data in archeology. The proposed challenge is in fact to overcome national boundaries, make borders permeable and work towards a common platform, open and shared, for the interchange of spatial data in archeology. An important step towards a shared knowledge and an active protection of the European cultural heritage.
