Arches » Information Technology Overview. Arches is a web application that allows organizations to view, create, edit, and query data to improve the preservation and conservation of immovable cultural heritage. Using open, international standards Arches allows users to create data inventories that describe the type (or types), spatial location and extent, cultural period (or periods), and material (or materials) of heritage assets. Arches has been developed using Python, a widely adopted and powerful open source programming language, and Javascript.
Arches uses the PostGIS open source database to store heritage data, and it follows the MVC (Model, View, Controller) application architecture pattern to promote code reusability and modularity. Because spatial data are particularly important in the conservation of cultural heritage assets, Arches uses GIS technology to ensure that the location of heritage assets is a core data component of an asset record. Arches includes the following components: 4DGIS-ongoing experiments. During these days I am playing a bit with the data from Catalhoyök and Uppåkra, in both cases I am experimenting with Image Based Modeling techniques and Arcscene 10, with the goal to have a clear idea on what the limits and potentialities. After a long discussion with Camilla Mazzucato from Oxford University we started implementing more models and we are planning -together with a larger group of researchers- to start working on the design of a new typology of database. So far we grouped the models in multi patch files, but I am not jet sure if this will be the best or the only solution for this project, in fact it depends a lot from the typology of visualization that we want to reach. 3D models realized during the excavation season 2012 in Catalhöyuk /n.
Quantum GIS. GvSIG. Open source GIS for archaeological data processing, visualisation and analysis. To develop and document a methodology for the use of Open Source Software within surveying and figure creation, with particular reference to archaeological recording and dissemination: This was done as part of a large-scale road-building project, initially as a trial to test whether open source GIS could be employed for the maintenance, processing, querying and digitising of digital archaeological survey data, rather than the traditionally used legacy closed source GIS and CAD software.
This approach had often been criticised and the move away from CAD declared problematic by fellow archaeologists. To publicise the methodology as a manual, which would both guide the archaeologist though the steps of setting up their survey equipment and also explain to them the downloading of the data including an introduction to gvSIG, and to encourage it's adoption within other industries.
In turn this would lead to refinement of the process and more cost effective training methods.