The archaeological site at Hadrian's Villa (Tivoli, Italy) conventionally called the Antinoeion was used as a testbed for studying the utility of simulation environments for archaeoastronomical research. The site consists of a sanctuary with three temples facing an open plaza which may, or may not, have had an obelisk in the center. Two reconstruction models were made of the site using AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max. In one version, the obelisk was present; in the other, there was no obelisk. The models were imported into two simulation environments: Unity and Stellarium. They were then used to support observations of the sun in relationship to the built features in the sanctuary throughout the year. Several solar alignments were detected, and the dates and times in the two simulation environments coincided, thereby allowing us to replicate our own results. The most important result is the orientation of the site's main axis toward sunrise on the summer solstice. Stellarium also supported simulation of the nighttime sky. An interesting alignment was observed between the asterism Antinous and one of the temples; a second temple appears to be associated closely with Sirius. The results of the study suggest that simulation environments can facilitate archaeoastronomical research. They also suggest that the excavator was correct in identifying the site at Hadrian's Villa as an Antinoeion.
TECH project (Technology for the Egyptian Cultural Heritage) aimed to document an Egyptian monument for Egyptological studies and researches but, at the same time, to check a new methodological approach for conservation, valorisation and enhancement. In particular, the CNR mission focused the attention on the tomb of Harkhuf, a high official of the VI dynasty (XXIII century BC), who led trading and military expeditions into Nubia. The hieroglyphic texts inscribed on the façade of his tomb are very important and famous documents. The team checked an innovative and integrated methodology. The methodology has been focused mainly on the use of digital photogrammetric systems in order to generate an accurate numerical model (3D) and to facilitate the epigraphic study. Different procedures have been established in the processing and representation steps in order to accomplish the final communication of the results. Moreover climatic measurements have been carried out in order to understand the role of environmental factors on the deterioration of the monument. Finally the data have been crossed in order to check the environmental impact and the decay.
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