ArcheoGIS for the Roman Thermal Bath of Sofiana: Informative Support for a Digital Restoration

Abstract

In connection to the vast archaeological area of Sofiana, which is still periodically subjected to excavation campaigns, the investigated thermal complex represents the first emersion that occurred in the 1950s and testifies to all the limits of a premature methodological acquisition of both the documentation for cognition as well as the interventions of detection and restoration. This zone, considered by archaeologists as a concluded episode, was used by us as a test bench for a method of investigation from which to start again in order to supply missing information. We set aside all the information acquired over time with other traditional and innovative tools and visions and used a more accurate dimensional geometric survey with a laser scanner, a typological analysis confronted with similar experiences, and a constructive technical study enriched with diagnostic investigations, to provide new data to be collected and processed. Thus, a geographic information system (GIS) platform was chosen as an information technology (IT) tool to contain direct information and data processing. The outcomes of ArcheoGIS were used to derive the initial answers to the questions we asked ourselves, namely, how can the constantly evolving knowledge of this archaeological find be spread and what path can be taken to propose philological restorations of the portions of Sofiana to which a correct virtual disassembly is feasible?

Keywords

• ArcheoGIS
• geographic information system (GIS)
• Sofiana
• laser scanner
• diagnostic tests