Projects

SHARED – Semantic-based Heterogeneous Archive for Reusable Exchangeable Data in Archaeology and Archaeometry is an innovative project aimed at creating an advanced digital collection that can be integrated into existing digital platforms to archive, correlate, visualize, and share archaeological and archaeometric data. This system seeks to connect these datasets with heterogeneous information from complementary domains, such as geology, chemistry, physics, and geography, utilizing automated metadata techniques based on AI and Natural Language Processing.

The pictorial decorations of Roman buildings bear witness to the artistic tastes and techniques of the time, but their creation is closely tied to ancient economic, political, and social processes. Beyond decorative and iconographic aspects, these artifacts provide valuable insights into ancient craftsmanship, as well as commercial and social dynamics. While numerous studies have focused on the stylistic and iconographic classification of mural paintings, fewer have explored the production cycle and technical know-how required for the preparation and application of pigments, although interest in this field has grown in recent years. This project aims to study the chaîne opératoire of pigments used in the coastal and insular contexts of northern Roman Etruria, reconstructing the production and application phases and the social, economic, and commercial implications of the raw materials used, by analysing samples with non-invasive and micro-invasive archaeometric techniques.

This research proposal aims to utilize deep learning techniques to enhance the value of a “territorial” asset such as the late and post medieval majolicae of Montelupo Fiorentino, which are distinguished by their extensive decorations.

The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications within archaeology has brought incredible opportunities but also significant challenges. Only a few years ago, Machine Learning algorithms and Neural Networks were concepts unknown to archaeologists; now, AI has been applied to many archaeological fields, from the detection of archaeological sites, the recognition and reassembling of archaeological pottery, the mining of text from historical documents and epigraphs, the study of human remains, the identification of murals and graffiti, and even robotics.

Objects connect us to memories and experiences. They possess biographies that reveal their human relationships. This is why archaeologists focus on material culture, gathering countless archaeological finds to preserve what we can learn and the stories they create for current and future generations.

LI.MA. (LIminal MAteriality) is a particular educational project promoted by the class of Modern and Contemporary Archaeology and funded by the University of Pisa, dedicated to archaeologically exploring materiality along the borders of migratory routes in an attempt to understand what contribution the archaeological discipline can make to the counter-narrative of migratory phenomena and the relationships that are established with territories, landscapes, and liminal communities.

Environmental reconstructions play a crucial role in archaeology, allowing researchers to understand the complex interaction between humans and their surrounding environments throughout history. Over the last decade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been increasingly explored in the archaeological field and the application of techniques that are part of AI has proven to be a valid aid in repetitive or time-consuming tasks.

Following the special educational projects Archaeology of the Border, ISLAND and E-Cool, Re-Connect aims to continue to work in a transdisciplinary way, between archaeology, anthropology and audiovisual communication, on systematizing the enormous amount of documentation collected: images, videos, interviews, ethnographic observations and archaeological records.

The forced migrations and displacement we witness daily represent only the latest chapter in millennial history that has involved the movement of people and populations between different areas of the planet.

In the last two years, Lampedusa has been a focus for archaeological and anthropological educational experiences. Following this path, e-COOL project aims to open a new phase where students will be protagonists proposing original research themes.

MAGOH is one of the winner projects on the call named “100 assegni per la Cultura” promoted by Regione Toscana. The aim of the project is to create a platform of archaeological data managing about the Province of Pisa and the urban area of Firenze. MAGOH will allow the data access and the optimisation of the cycle of the archaeological data, improving research, protection and enhancement actions.

How can material culture be studied and documented in the globalization and consumption era?
The educational project ISOLA wants to work on this issue through a multidisciplinary experience between Pisa and Lampedusa. The island of Lampedusa has been chosen as a microcosm where global and local complexity crossed and where it’s possible to read this phenomenon through left material traces.

In the debate on the search for new archaeological methodologies, the use of BIM (Building Information Modelling) has begun to develop over the last decade. This technique, derived from disciplines such as architecture and civil engineering, involves the creation of 3D models of architectural objects correlated with a series of databases, allowing the simultaneous management of a large amount of heterogeneous data.

“Every Thursday” is a contemporary archeology project that aims at documenting the daily life during the period of quarantine imposed by the Italian government as a containment measure for the Covid-19 epidemic.

The contemporary borders are the issue on the Special Teaching Project titled “Archaeology of Borders”, promoted by the class of Methodology of the Archaeological Research. The project plans a trans-disciplinary archaeological and anthropological path.“Archaeology of Border”, starting from the broader approaches carried on by the MAPPALab’ projects such as “Contemporary archaeology” and “Archaeology of undocumented contemporary migrations”, aims to involve the students in a didactic experience through the idea of the contemporary borders.

The research aims at the study of the city and the territory of Pisa between the Hellenistic age, the Roman age and the late antiquity, for an analysis of the settlement dynamics in a long-term perspective.

MAPPALab is one of the partners of “Mura Night Experience” project,  started in 2020. The project is creating a new cross-media narrative around the Wall of Pisa and the history of the town.

MAPPALab is one of the partners of the “Nerone Night Experience” project, a new cross-media narrative around the history of Roman Bath in Pisa, called “Bagni di Nerone”. We’re scheduling the events calendar for Spring- Summer 2022. Nerone Night Experience is an initiave by ‘Acquario della Memoria’ association.