OrientLab
Inclusive Archaeology
OrientLab.net is a research website about the archaeology of the ancient Near East and about new methodologies for the study of ancient societies and their environments. The website is run by the Chair of Near Eastern Archaeology of the Department of History and Cultures, Bologna University and is open to the cooperation with all scholars and students. The Editor is Nicolò Marchetti, the Webmaster is Silvano Bertossa, the Web Designer is Valentina Orrù.
Inclusive Archaeology describes an approach based on an integration of views, techniques and methods. Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and hybridization become part of an anthropological perspective in which archaeology is seen as fully integrated within the broader frame of social sciences. Science accepts that different disciplines do not contribute to historical and behavioral explanations simply by an accumulation of knowledge, but also contaminating each other through shared objectives and views.
At the same time, science acknowledges multiculturality, meaning specific values and approaches elaborated outside the Western world.
There is no truth in science, but only doubts and (new) questions. Social sciences may be deemed scientific when they allow the possibility of verifying each intellectual process at each step.
Inclusive Archaeology is based on openness, towards local and regional communities (science does not live in isolation but has an impact on and needs feedback from those communities), towards the scientific community (dissemination of newly produced data is the core mission of scientists), towards the global community (digital technologies must be used to build new forms of integrated datasets which may be used freely through the web). [NM]
Tilmen Höyük
The Tilmen Höyük Project is about an excavation in south-eastern Turkey which took place under the auspices of the University of Bologna and that of Istanbul between 2003 and 2008.
Karkemish 3D
The Karkemish 3D Visualization Project aims at virtually recreating in a 3D environment, based on Unreal Engine 4 incorporating the photogrammetric models, both monuments and materials of the Neo Hittite period at the site.
Taşlı Geçit Höyük
The Taşlı Geçit Höyük Project is about an excavation in south-eastern Turkey which took place under the auspices of the University of Bologna between 2009 and 2010.
EblaChora
The Ebla Chora Project (ECP) analyzes the archaeological landscape around Ebla in Syria, testing theories and models about the rise and structure of the early state in the Levant.
OrientDams
The project aims at providing a detailed visual assessment on the impact of dams on archaeological sites in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA).
Islahiye Valley
The project is an attempt at visualizing a shared environment from antiquity to the present on the basis of data collected between 1958 and 2010 by the University of Istanbul and that of Bologna.
Samark-Land
The Uzbek-Italian Archaeological Project (UIAP) aims at investigating the history of ancient Samarkand in relation to the development and transformation of its territory.
PastWeb
PastWeb hosts old websites of scientific interest in order to keep their web memory. Hosting is free and anybody can submit a request.