Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

History

Major Professor

Davide Tanasi, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Denise Calì, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Scott Perry, Ph.D.

Committee Member

David Fredrick, Ph.D.

Keywords

Collections, Cultural Heritage, Material Culture, Villas

Abstract

This dissertation addresses the negative effects of data fragmentation and heterogeneity on the Roman archaeology of Malta and Sicily. Roman period villas in Sicily and Roman period ceramics in Malta have both been marginalized within scholarship on Roman archaeology due to historical processes, bureaucratic organizations, and different academic trajectories and cultures. Digital technologies, especially 3D digitization and spatial information are well poised to address the fragmentation of these two contexts from wider discussions on the Roman Mediterranean. The dissertation introduces two long term projects, the E-unification of the De Piro Collection (EDPC) and the Digital Atlas of Roman Sicily – Villas (DARSiV) that were designed to collect 3D and other spatial information and aggregate it with scholarship in order to develop best practices in data homogenization for the facilitation of research across academic boundaries. EDPC employs structured light scanning and handheld digital photogrammetry to digitize over 150 objects from disparate museum collections in 3D and aggregates archaeological and cultural historical data into a database to shed light Roman material culture in the Maltese archipelago and provide best practices in data collection and publication at the object level. DARSiV uses terrestrial LiDAR as well as terrestrial and aerial digital photogrammetry to digitize three Roman villas to develop best practices in 3D data collection and sharing. The project also aggregates archaeological knowledge on Roman villas in Sicily and links them with spatial information in a database in order to facilitate research on the rural economy of Sicily in the Roman period, developing best practices in data collection and publication at the site level.

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