Dal dato al modello: l'approccio informatico alla ricerca archeologica sul campo

From the very beginning of computing archaeology, the term model is often used in a broad sense tailored to particular fields of studies and to their relevant methodological and theoretical aspects. Thus we can distinguish three different types of model: the data model, aimed at outlining the structure of archaeological data; the theoretical model, aimed at using and processing this data in order to interpret the past; finally the digital model, aimed at formalising traditional processes through the interaction of the two above-mentioned models. In order to demonstrate this interaction, the "Caere Project" - carried out by the Istituto per l'archeologia etrusco-italica of the Italian National Research Council - is illustrated. Its aim is the integration in an only Information System of data regarding the Etruscan town of Cerveteri and the methods developed over many years of experimentation in computer applications in archaeology. A GIS approach has been chosen as the best suited for an organic and complex reconstruction of the organisation of the ancient landscape and town. The main stages of the project development are focused on: cartographic representation of the urban plateau; Digital Terrain Models, both in vector and raster format; computerisation of excavation data. As to the latter aspect, a new model of data recording, processing and retrieving has been set up, through the encoding in hypertext format of the yearly excavation diaries using SGML. This approach allows us to formulate a model of the diaries' texts, in order to recreate in a digital environment and in an interactive manner the main phases of the terrain "readings", from data documentation to data interpretation.