Index for 2020

• 13 - Francesco Iacono – Vincenzo Spagnolo – Wieke De Neef – Luigi Coluccia. 2020. Roca Archaeological Survey: Inquadramento e primissimi risultati. Abstract: Mobility and interaction have been primarily analysed from the vantage point of the archaeological sites representing the main hubs of interaction. However, such hubs were always immersed in a continuous landscape which had a considerable effect on interaction dynamics. An effect that has started to be taken in due consideration only recently.The Roca Archaeological Survey, of which we here present the first preliminary results, tries to integrate our detailed knowledge based on excavations of the site of Roca Vecchia in Apulia, with a systematic multi-period surface investigation able to assess whether and to what extent the surrounding landscape has affected dynamics of interaction recognised in the main site from the bronze age to modern times. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
• 12 - Tymon de Haas – Martijn van Leusen. 2020. FAIR survey: improving documentation and archiving practices in archaeological field survey through CIDOC CRM. Abstract: This paper aims to contribute to the improvement of documentation and archiving standards (conforming to the FAIR principles) for systematic Mediterranean archaeological field survey. It reports on the initial stages of work by the authors to build an extension to the CIDOC CRM ontology to accommodate concepts underlying the description of archaeological field survey data. We first constructed, based on our own experience as survey directors, a general process model for archaeological field survey; we then defined the concepts central to such survey practices in consultation with other domain experts; and we produced a draft conversion of these concepts into CIDOC CRM ‘classes’ with the help of members of the CRM Special Interest Group. While this work has resulted in a fairly robust conceptual model of field survey as practiced in the Mediterranean, we also identify and discuss several issues relating to the tension between the desire to enable comparative analysis of survey databases by improving documentation standards, and the apparent inability of the survey domain to achieve standardization of field procedures. Although the process of formally agreeing a CIDOC CRM extension for field survey is a slow one, we believe a global solution to the problem of comparability is worth pursuing over a local, temporary one. We lay out the steps needed to resolve the remaining conceptual issues, to formalise the CRM extension, and to implement it in the form of a ‘mapping’ tool. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
• 11 - Aomar Akerraz – Gaetano Palumbo – Abdelaziz El Khayari – Layla es-Sadra – Victoria Amoros-Ruiz – Abdeljalil Bouzouggar – Jose Cristobal Carvajal Lopez – Anke Lizbeth Cross – Abdallah Fili – Richard Fletcher – Fabio Parenti – Frank Stremke – Simone Belarmino – Fadoua Benjaâfar – Youssef Djellal – Mikel Herrán Subiñas – Devin Johnson – Hesham Moustafa Mohamed Nasr – Zayd Ouakrim – El Mehdi Sehasseh. 2020. The Transformation of the Moroccan Landscape in the Early Islamic Period. Preliminary report on the 2017-2018 fieldwork. Abstract: This project considered one of the most understudied phenomena in the North African landscape: that of the transformations that occurred due to the coming of Islam to the Maghreb. We explore this question by applying archaeological techniques to the landscape of northern coastal Morocco. This was a zone known to have a long history of occupation from the Stone Age to the present. Surveys were conducted in the area between Tangiers and Asilah, both to identify sites of particular importance and to supply data for an analysis of settlement and land-use during various prehistoric and historic periods, with particular emphasis on the Islamic periods. Methods included detailed and controlled landscape survey (fieldwalking), remote sensing, sounding of selected sites, scientific dating of selected finds, and studies of the local ancient environment. Surface collections of materials helped in the dating and assessment of the settlement types. Soundings were conducted at two sites with important presence of material from the Islamic period, to more precisely date their occupation. More than 250 new sites were identified in the approximately 1000 square kilometer’s area covered by the project, although only a fraction of this region could be intensively surveyed. The main results showed an important presence of Lower Paleolithic sites and a much more intensive rural occupation during the Early and Middle Islamic periods. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet