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Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Petralona Cave, which local inhabitants discovered by chance in 1959, is a remarkable natural and cultural landmark close to the village of Petralona, in the Chalkidiki peninsula of Greece. The site has gained global recognition for the discovery of a remarkably well-preserved Palaeolithic human skull, unearthed in 1960; it also holds archaeological and palaeontological significance. In this paper, the researchers introduce the Petralona Cave Virtual Museum: an innovative project whose mission is to increase public awareness and comprehension of the site. Our approach goes beyond mere replication of the physical museum located close to the cave; instead, the objective is to create an independent and comprehensive experience that is accessible to all visitors, irrespective of their ability to visit the site in person. Our methodology involved the documentation of the site and its history, analysis of user requirements, development of use cases to steer the design process, as well as architectural designs creation, itineraries and findings digitisation, and architectural structure finalisation. The Virtual Museum provides a well-organised frame structure that serves as an efficient gateway to the content, making navigation easy for visitors. Thanks to various presentation methods, including videos, high-quality images, interactive maps, animated content, interactive 3D models, plus searchable item libraries, among others, users are empowered to create a highly personalised navigation plan; thus the Virtual Museum experience is comparable to visiting the physical museum or cultural site. Cutting-edge digitisation techniques were employed to create highly detailed 3D models of the site. The Petralona Cave Virtual Museum is expected to offer an immersive experience, engaging diverse audiences; the interactive and educational exploration provides highly innovative access to archaeological knowledge. The visibility of the Petralona site is amplified and there is a significant contribution to knowledge dissemination about this important cultural heritage site.

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Highlights: • Graphic tools and virtual reconstruction applied to watermills contribute to their overall understanding as an anthropogenic landscape. • Virtual reconstruction of the milling mechanisms allows us to understand the mill operation beyond the mere construction preservation. • The Riamonte mills are an example of a group of canal mills linked to a single dam and with a social typology of inheriting turns to grind. Abstract: Each concello (municipality) in Galicia is home to a large number of pre-industrial rural heritage assets integrated into the landscape. Among them are the water mills, usually made up of small constructions that are difficult to reuse in their original function. They are not easily compatible with other uses either. Their current state of abandonment requires their cataloguing and correct valorization as pre-industrial archaeological heritage. These constructions must be conceived as interrelated constructive groupings, in their original physical and social context. A good example of this is the unpublished sample of the Riamonte milling complex. Its study, digitalization and virtual recreation by means of computer-assisted graphics have great potential for dissemination to the public and better integration into the nature trail near the riverbed. Graphically presenting archaeological heritage through virtual media helps to promote social understanding in order to raise awareness of the importance of its protection and irreplaceable nature, especially in case of those vestiges lacking sufficient security to survive. Due to the large amount of vegetation around the wall remains, a rigorous planimetric survey of the entire complex was carried out, followed by three-dimensional (3D) modelling of representative elements. In addition, applying a rigorous principle of transparency, a chromatic differentiation is made in the 2D and 3D virtual reconstructions between already existing and newly added elements. Regarding the 3D model, a historical-archaeological evidence scale is used, allowing a graphic identification of the authenticity degree required to provide reliability in the reconstruction of lost or altered parts. This facilitates virtual recreation interpretation among future researchers from different disciplines. The Riamonte mill complex is part of a typology typical of the region, in which the use of virtual models makes it possible to reach the scales of the territory, the building and the machinery, facilitating the correct understanding of this cultural heritage.

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The research presented here puts together different direct and/or physical operations all aimed to enhance the knowledge and produce advanced dissemination of the very last ship from the “Mosquitos’ Fleet” which operated during the World War I and in some operations even during the World War II. The exploration of the valuable remains along the Thames River in London, the intervention with archaeology strategy, the use of digital survey procedures, the investigation of the references about the fleet, the digital modelling and drawing and the final online sharing of the 3D model, brought together to a specific digital heritage creation of an element with a high risk of getting lost. An international team worked together on the poor shipwreck of the Eothen (the last name assigned to this ship by its last owner). The intervention was operated in very odd operative conditions, with the hull invaded by the mud, the very wet environment and the daily flood of the area, such a mix of difficult conditions were a special challenge for the survey operations, which were optimized and accurately planned to allow the best and efficient result in terms of coverage and level of details. The following post-processing aimed to the production of a classic set of 2D drawings and an interactive 3D model, accessible in a real-time visualization from the sketchfab.com platform creates an excellent base for a possible following restoration/musealisation intervention, or, at least, allow digital preservation of a rich dataset of the remains of this interesting piece from the naval history of the first half of the 20th century. Highlights: • The “mosquito fleet” has a specific page in the WWI naval wars. Based on a specific ship, it is missing detailed documentation, the survey of the last one can highlight that episode. • The digital survey of the Eothen has a strategy aimed to allow the full documentation of the shipwreck in a very difficult environment, managing floods, mud, vegetation and reflections. • The drawings and the 3D model, accessible from a free platform allow complete access to this ruined ship, a contribution to knowledge and a base for possible intervention hypothesis.

Can we preserve cultural heritage and, consequently, the memory of the past? To answer this question, one should look at the digital revolution that the world has gone through in recent decades and analyse the complex and the dialectical relationship between cultural heritage and new technologies. Thanks to these, increasingly accurate reconstructions of archaeological sites and historical monuments are possible. The resulting digital replicas are fundamental to experience and understand cultural heritage in innovative ways: they have complex and dynamic relationships with the original objects. This research paper highlights the importance and the scientific validity of digital replicas aimed at understanding, enhancing and protecting cultural heritage. The study focuses on the virtual reconstruction of the constructive phases, from the mid-15th century to date, of one of the most emblematic Gothic-Renaissance buildings in the city of Milan (Italy): the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, famous worldwide for hosting Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper painting. This site proved to be an ideal case study because of its troubled and little-known history that led to numerous changes over the centuries. Thanks to a methodological approach based on the analysis of the documentary sources and three-dimensional (3D) modelling, it was possible to outline the chronological succession of the convent transformations; the way in which these overlapped the pre-existing structures was described starting from the Renaissance harmonious and organic interventions, to finally reach 18th-19th centuries inhomogeneous and incompatible additions. Finally, the research was completed by mapping the 3D models based on the sources used and their different levels of accuracy. The 3D models have thus become a valid tool for checking and verifying the reconstruction hypotheses. Highlights: • The study focused on the virtual reconstruction of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, one of the most emblematicGothic-Renaissance buildings in the city of Milan. • By combining data from documentary sources, architectural treatises, period photos and digital survey, the mainbuilding phases of the convent, from the 15th century to date, were digitally reconstructed. • The 3D models are enriched with information about the accuracy of the digital reconstruction, creating 3D databasesthat can be easily consulted and updated.

The Portes Mordelaises, remnants of the medieval city walls of Rennes, France, has been the subject of several archaeological excavations until 2017. From these excavations, we created a three-dimensional (3D) model of the site reconstructed as it would have appeared during the 15th century, including the surrounding plus the interiors of its famed towers. Once our efforts and results were officially recognised as being of national interest by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, Department of Heritage and the National Museum Service of France, we presented our virtual model reconstruction in an exhibition curated by the Museum of Bretagne, entitled "Rennes, les vies d'une ville" (Rennes, the Lives of a City). This approach to 3D reconstruction of the site served to further study Rennes’ origins, its construction, organisation, as well as its historic relationship to surrounding territories. The main objective of this work was to investigate, using of a significant and complex archaeological site as proof of concept, how the digitalisation of an existing structure, the modelling of its hypothetical structures, and the interactions with its virtual spaces enabled the general public to provide critical feedback, and enhance archaeological knowledge and evaluation of such sites. This reconstruction was carried out under a West Digital Conservatory of Archaeological Heritage project, whose mission is to support and advise archaeologists in the production and exploration of 3D archaeological datasets using the latest digitisation, modelling, and virtual reality (VR) techniques. Through a complex but repeatable process, using the valuable data provided by various excavations, in addition to new information provided by the 3D digitalisation itself, we produced a 3D model, fully satisfactory to rigorous scientific standards, which was then incorporated into a VR space ready for diffusion to the general public. Furthermore, the fact that 45850 visitors were welcome to experience our 3D model at an exhibition in a city the size of Rennes proved to be a significant success.

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The dissemination of the tangible and intangible values of heritage building represents one of the most important objectives in the field of Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH). In recent years, different studies and research applied to heritage monuments have shown how it is possible to improve the awareness of the architectural heritage through the integration of latest developments in the field of 3D survey, 3D modelling, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and eXtended Reality (XR). On the other hand, this digital workflow requires a huge amount of data sources and a holistic approach to reach a high level of information sharing coming from different disciplines and sectors such as restoration, geomatics, 3D virtual museums and serious gaming. In conjunction with entertainment software and gaming, this research shows the main results obtained during the generative process of digital environments oriented to improve the level of information and to enrich the contents coming from the informative models. The case study is represented by one of the most important Lombard monuments: the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan. This study, starting from the 3D survey and the data collection of the historical records of the church, improves the creation of an XR experience that reaches a new level of interactivity for different types of devices (desktop, mobile, VR headset) and users (experts, non-experts). Highlights: • Generative modelling requirements and novel grades of generations (GOG) and accuracy (GOA) are presented in order to improve the digitisation of built heritage from the 3D survey, reducing time and costs of the scan-to-BIM process. • The holistic value of generative modelling allows experts to create digital worlds able to faithfully and accurately represent the detected reality and improve new immersive environments for Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) projects. • Immersive environments are created with a mixture of the latest generation software and hardware, allowing users to discover the hidden historical values of built heritage with new levels of interactivity and information.

3D modelling of archaeological and historical structures is the new frontier in the field of conservation science. Similarly, the identification of buried finds, which enhances their multimedia diffusion and restoration, has gained relevance. As such sites often have a high level of structural complexity and complicated territorial geometries, accuracy in the creation of 3D models and the use of sophisticated algorithms for georadar data analysis are crucial. This research is the first step in a larger project aimed at reclaiming the ancient villages located in the Greek area of southern Italy. The present study focuses on the restoration of the village of Africo (RC), a village hit by past flooding. The survey began with a laser scan of the church of St. Nicholas, using both the Faro Focus3D and the Riegl LMS-Z420i laser scanner. At the same time, georadar analyses were carried out in order to pinpoint any buried objects. In the processing phase, our own MATLAB algorithms were used for both laser scanner and georadar datasets and the results compared with those obtained from the scanners’ respective proprietary software. We are working to develop a tourism app in both augmented and virtual reality environments, in order to disseminate and improve access to cultural heritage. The app allows users to see the 3D model and simultaneously access information on the site integrated from a variety of repositories. The aim is to create an immersive visit, in this case, to the church of St. Nicholas. Highlights: • Use of different algorithms for registration of terrestrial laser scans and analysis of the data obtained. • 3D acquisition, processing and restitution methodology from georadar data. • Implementation of a tourist app in both virtual and augmented reality by integrating geomatics methodologies.

This article aims to critically examine the entire methodology of very large scale (1:1) surveying and documentation of mosaic surfaces. The term ‘survey’ should be read in its broadest and most complete and sense, including the phases of measurement and data processing as well as management and use of these data for the purposes of preservation and maintenance. The case study presented here took place at St Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco), in Venice, where mosaic flooring, wall and vault decorations have been surveyed on two separate occasions. These two experiences shared a common goal (a full-scale survey of the mosaic decorations) but differed in terms of the methodologies used, chiefly due to the technological developments of recent years. All this, therefore, lends itself to a methodological reflection and critique of the ways in which surveying technology has evolved over time. It enables to conduct surveys that would, just a few years ago, have been inconceivable due to their size and complexity. This article describes in detail current surveying processes, which includes the use of a multi-scale “image-based” approach, “re-topology” methods such as non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) and a tailor-made Building Information Modeling (BIM) system. This system allows the direct use of a three-dimensional (3D) model of the Basilica within the maintenance process of the monument itself with the options to georeferencing information, extract basic metric data and catalogue all its mosaics. Highlights: • Modern digital photogrammetric techniques enable the acquisition of very complex objects, not only in terms of form but also in terms of material. • To obtain high resolution orthophotos, it is necessary to accurately take care of all the stages of the process: photographic acquisition, surveying, modelling and orthographic reprojection. • High resolution images and detailed 3D models can benefit from a complex BIM system for the management of all data.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry has shown a very rapid development in many fields, especially in archaeological excavation areas and architectural complexes, where it offers a detailed generation of three-dimensional (3D) data including the possibility of updating over time. It also proves to be a very flexible tool applicable to many types of complex areas with a variety of different features. The use of aerial acquisition provides highly effective results, adding to both rapid capture and lower costs. In fact, today in the field of archaeological research, great efforts are invested in the generation of very large-scale models and orthophotos, and the technology seems to promise further future developments, not only from the terrestrial (orthogonal) point of view, but also from the nadiral direction from a low altitude, as a preferential and often optimal point of view. Here an effective workflow for photogrammetric product generation is presented for selected case studies in some monumental areas of ancient Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey), in which the Italian Archaeological Mission of Hierapolis (MAIER) has been working since the 1960s. The recent experiences achieved by UAV photogrammetry are quite innovative. The variety and complexity of the buildings, as well as the height of their ruins, offer numerous challenges, which are interesting to deal with. The 3D aerial survey was performed for multiple purposes with the eBee system by Sensefly. Specific attention was paid to the digital surface model (DSM) and aerial orthoimages of three test areas: the Plutonium area; the Thermal Bath-Church; and the Necropolis. Starting from the same technical approach, a comparative assesment among the three sites was carried out, taking into account the specific goals, the type of the structure and the terrain conformation.

The three-dimensional (3D) visualization of historical and cultural heritage in the province of Cáceres is essential for tourism promotion. This study uses panoramic spherical photography and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) for the geometric characterization and cataloguing of sites of cultural interest, according to the principles of the Charter of Krakow. The benefits of this project include improved knowledge dissemination of the cultural heritage of Cáceres in a society that demands state-of-the-art tourist information. In this sense, this study has three specific aims: to develop a highly reliable methodology for modeling heritage based on a combination of non-destructive geomatics methods; to design and develop software modules for interactive 3D visualization of models; and to promote knowledge of the historical and cultural heritage of Cáceres by creating a hypermedia atlas accessible via the Internet. Through this free-of-charge hypermedia atlas, the tourist accesses 3D photographic and interactive scenes, videos created by 3D point clouds obtained from laser scanning and 3D models available for downloading in ASCII format, and thus acquire a greater knowledge of the touristic attractions in the province of Cáceres.

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cultural heritage is a relevant issue in contemporary society. While its preservation is a challenge, its dissemination, can contribute for an economic balance between costs and benefits. Scientific heritage can be considered as a special domain of cultural heritage, not yet sought by the mass tourism, but worth being preserved as the roots of today’s knowledge. Considering that university students of engineering and computer science traditionally do not address cultural or scientific heritage issues in their syllabus, and that they constitute a layer of young citizens that will come to be influential in the future of society, an effort was undertaken to focus on this theme in disciplines of different courses, allying the learning of technical skills with the natural interest of younger people for 3D and animation for the profit of heritage. The goal was to raise the awareness of this particular group to the importance of maintaining heritage issues, in particular, in a virtual way, both for documentation and for divulgating their existence. Raising funds for buildings’ restoration, attracting the public to visit buildings and collections that are outside the usual tourism routes, contributing to revenue generation, or allowing virtual visits of not accessible issues, complementing physical visits on site, were the general aims of the proposed projects. A survey was undertaken under the participating students to evaluate how the projects influenced their attitude towards heritage. The obtained feedback was very positive: 76% agreed that the project alerted them for the importance of preserving historical and cultural heritage, while 72% considered it was interesting that the topic of digital cultural heritage was used for the assessments of the disciplines.

The initial construction of a digital virtual object is the three-dimensional (3D)point. Using the notions of making, wayfaring, meshwork and agency, this discussion focuses on Ingold’s (2011) theoretical approach to these comments as a means for the construction of archaeological knowledge as applied to the 3D virtual landscape. It will demonstrate that 3D points, whether constructed or captured, can be considered to be agents within an actor network, have agency and are subject to memory and loss within the digital archaeological record. By their interconnections they become a mesh work that can exchange and retain unique attributes of materiality. As such, they challenge our notions of meaning-making beyond the rote actions of visualizing within archaeology to a form that is more theoretically deeper. By viewing the construction and capture and the production of 3D or 2D visual data through a different lens but within theoretical archaeological terms, we can begin to understand our role in the creation of meaning within virtual archaeology.

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In ancient Rome, damnatio memoriae was a practice of erasing the memory of condemned persons from historical records after their death. This practice was usually addressed by the Senate to Roman elites and emperors who were declared enemies of the State, in order to preserve the honour of Rome. This condemnation usually included practices such as, for example, the erasure of names sculpted on inscriptions and the destruction or reworking of statues and of any other image of the person. Emperor Nero, for example, was condemned to this practice immediately after his death and a wide iconographic repertoire on him was therefore destroyed or deeply damaged. This lack of information can actually be improved thanks to the possibilities of virtual restoration and reconstruction offered by 3D digital technologies. The aim of this paper is to show how the possibility to acquire 3D reality-based data from archaeological finds allows to build 3D digital models that can be analysed and managed in a virtual environment and can be relocated, assembled or restored in order to suggest or graphically support archaeologists’ interpretations and reconstructions. The paper shows the methodology developed for the virtual restoration of the statue of Nero starting from the 3D digitization of the torso that was found 500 years ago by the Roman theatre of Bologna, Italy, the ancient Bononia.

The Building Information Modelling (BIM) software enables the users to communicate and design, understand appearance, performance and cost in the spatial and urban design process. Another important use of the BIM technology is the documentation and 3D reconstruction of cultural heritage monuments. The appropriate BIM software equips the users with tools to easily capture and analyse concepts and maintain the coordination of design data through documentation and 3D modelling. Many developments come up in the BIM field and software industry for design, construction-reconstruction, restoration and management of the cultural heritage 3D models, using BIM tools; mainly commercial as well as free or open source. Nevertheless, recently the growing popularity of open source has altered the landscape in software industry, as they attract many users. This paper presents a review of some recent research on the topic. We review the recent developments focusing on the OSS that can be used at various stages of BIM process in the digital documentation of cultural heritage. The results show that there is more preference in the commercial software due to the fact that the OSS is not yet complete and covers all stages of the BIM process. However, lately we have the Edificius in architectural BIM design and “BIM Vision” as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) model viewer that try to attract as many users as possible. These tools are free and they could well be used for the digital reconstruction of cultural heritage.

With the diffusion of Virtual Archaeology, many projects in the field of Cultural Heritage attempt to virtually reconstruct historical buildings of different types. Unfortunately, some of these 3D reconstructions still have as principal aim to impress the external users, while the correct interpretation of the buildings modeled is much more important in the domain of archaeological research. Still more critical is the situation when we have to encounter a reconstruction of a monument which is not visible anymore, or which consists only of few architectural remains. The main purpose of this paper is to introduce an innovative methodology to verify hypothetical scenarios of 3D architectural reconstructions, specifically for ancient theatres. In very recent time 3D visibility analysis applied to archaeological context using ArcGIS has been developed, in particular about social-urban studies. In this paper, visibility analysis in 3D contexts is used as an additional instrument to correctly reconstruct architectural elements of the large Roman theatre of Gortyn, in Crete. The results indicate that the level of visibility of the stage, and consequently of the presumed actors, from some of the more representative sectors of the cavea, is of crucial importance for leading to a right reconstruction model of the theatre.

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Traditional written historical investigation and analysis have from the beginning consisted of a sometimes unstable mixture of fact and conjecture, hard evidence and inspired imagination. To encourage 3-D modelling of cultural heritage artefacts to be taken seriously as historical scholarship this inevitable and ambiguous balance can be highlighted and to a significant degree documented and modulated by London Charter principles. This enhances the scholarly integrity of these models as examples of serious research based historical investigation, and helps avoid the dangers of inflated or unverified “media hype” which can compromise or discredit such work .

The Building Information Modelling (BIM) software enables the users to communicate and design, understand appearance, performance and cost in the spatial and urban design process. Another important use of the BIM technology is the documentation and 3D reconstruction of cultural heritage monuments. The appropriate BIM software equips the users with tools to easily capture and analyse concepts and maintain the coordination of design data through documentation and 3D modelling. Many developments come up in the BIM field and software industry for design, construction-reconstruction, restoration and management of the cultural heritage 3D models, using BIM tools; mainly commercial as well as free or open source. Nevertheless, recently the growing popularity of open source has altered the landscape in software industry, as they attract many users. This paper presents a review of some recent research on the topic. We review the recent developments focusing on the Open Source Software (OSS) that can be used at various stages of BIM process in the digital documentation of cultural heritage. The results show that there is more preference in the commercial software due to the fact that the OSS is not yet complete and covers all stages of the BIM process. However, lately we have the Edificius software in architectural BIM design and BIM Vision as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) model viewer that try to attract as many users as possible. These tools are free and they could well be used for the digital reconstruction of cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In ancient Rome, damnatio memoriae was a practice of erasing the memory of condemned persons from historical records after their death. This practice was usually addressed by the Senate to Roman elites and emperors who were declared enemies of the State, in order to preserve the honour of Rome. This condemnation usually included practices such as, for example, the erasure of names sculpted on inscriptions and the destruction or reworking of statues and of any other image of the person. Emperor Nero, for example, was condemned to this practice immediately after his death and a wide iconographic repertoire on him was therefore destroyed or deeply damaged. This lack of information can actually be improved thanks to the possibilities of virtual restoration and reconstruction offered by 3D digital technologies. The aim of this paper is to show how the possibility to acquire 3D reality-based data from archaeological finds allows experts to build 3D digital models that can be analysed and managed in a virtual environment and can be relocated, assembled or restored in order to suggest or graphically support archaeologists' interpretations and reconstructions. The paper shows the methodology developed for the virtual restoration of a statue of Nero starting from the 3D digitisation of the torso that was found 500 years ago near the Roman theatre of Bologna, Italy, the ancient Bononia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]