The SITAR Project: Web Platform for Archaeological Knowledge Sharing

Abstract

The SITAR Project, designed to create the archaeological GIS of Rome, started in 2007 by the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma. SITAR is a complex system that includes different kinds of knowledge for the protection and enhancement of this heritage. The first aim was to improve that open data web-based system, in order to share the knowledge of the archaeological heritage of the City. In this paper we present the philosophical choices of the project and the theoretical aspects of the dissemination of archaeological knowledge in order to sensitize citizens about their territory. We intend also to explain how an archaeological remain, as improved by its cultural and historical values, can become part of the worldwide cultural heritage. Thanks to its logical architecture, the system represents a tool for the knowledge society because it produces new information that are even more specific and complex. Moreover it is the core of a networking research that has been increasing with the collaboration of other public institutions involved in protection and enhancement. This is why we are studying, analysing and developing a common language that will enable greater interoperability among systems based on different theoretical and methodological approaches.