Southern rebels against Italian unification: the Great Brigandage in the province of Capitanata

This article explores counter-revolutionary brigandage in Southern Italy after 1860 (also known as Great Brigandage). Working from archival sources, the article offers a new interpretation of the interactions between the political, social and criminal aspects of the guerrilla war against the Risorgimento. Notwithstanding the plurality of the individual motives leading single actors to fight, it is argued that brigandage was an essentially political phenomenon and that the alliances between common bandits and loyalist forces were made possible only in the macro-political setting of the collapse of the Neapolitan monarchy, the difficulties facing Italian state-building, and the emergence of popular legitimist sympathies after 1860.     

Commercial Archaeology and 3D Web Technologies

ABSTRACT

This contribution summarizes the multiple uses of 3D web technologies in commercial archaeology. Considering the breadth of this topic, we will describe each different branch of these technologies with the example of case studies based on work of the Italian company Arc-Team. Our overview begins with 3D visualization for scientific purposes, showing a project funded by the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol (Italy) in order to improve knowledge about WWI. Second, we analyze a similar project, funded by the Autonomous Province of Trentino (Italy), but with the aim to increase tourism at a high alpine WWI site. The third example is the development of another prototype for tourism: a 3D web-map for the cultural valorization of the historical border (1753) between the region Tyrol and the Most Serene Republic of Venice. In the forth case study, we discuss the implementation of 3D within web platforms for archaeological project management of RAPTOR (Ricerca Archivi e Pratiche per la Tutela Operativa Regionale), a webGIS developed to aid in preservation and conservation efforts of cultural heritage for the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (MiBACT). Fifth, we explore recent uses of 3D models for web-coworking during the process of excavation management, thanks to the developments of real-time 3D acquisition techniques based on SLAM algorithms and archeorobotic devices. Finally, 3D web-coworking is also analyzed illustrating some simple web tools that afford rapid feedback in data visualization, considering not only excavation field-work but also exploration projects. This overview, based on six different case studies, represents the four fields in which 3D web technologies are currently used in commercial archaeology: scientific communication; tourism improvement; preservation of cultural heritage; and real time field-work management. Some specific topics such as tourism improvement and field-work management are investigated in greater depth in order to allow us to analyze variables deriving from customer requests (e.g. restrictions regarding sensitive geolocation or preferences for specific web platforms) and from differences among data acquisition technologies based on various sensors.     

Average and core silver content of ancient-debased coins via neutron diffraction and specific gravity

The measurement of the fineness of debased ancient silver coins has proven to be a very difficult issue, which has been studied for a long time. In this paper, this subject is analysed, and the various consequences of the silver surface enrichment (SSE) are discussed exploiting the most recent investigations. A new model is proposed for the complex object that is an ancient-debased silver coin, based on the silver profiles measured on some sectioned specimens. The model is applied to a sample of 43 coins, mainly Roman victoriati, Cisalpine and Illyrian drachms (from late III to I century B.C.). The coins are investigated in two different ways: neutron diffraction (ND) and specific gravity (SG). The results of the two measurements are combined via the proposed model to provide a more complete numismatic information of the original fineness of the monetary alloy. As a result, a relation between SSE thickness and SG is derived, which, for these coinages, allows to estimate the original alloy silver content from a simple SG measurement; the same method can be used to study other debased coinages, provided that all the procedure (ND and SG) is applied.     

‘Fertility’ and the Carnival 1: Symbolic Effectiveness,Emic Beliefs,and the Re-enchantment of Europe

This article examines European festive culture through the lens of two ethnographic case studies of carnivals, conducted in Italy and the Czech Republic, respectively. The article considers the general problem of studying festivals in Europe today, and then focuses on the emic beliefs related to the ‘ritual magical’ acts of these two carnivals, their social relevance, their effectiveness, and the meanings and functions to which they are bound today. I argue that these acts constitute empirical evidence that supports theories about the ‘re-enchantment’ of Europe in post-modern times. This article is the first part of a broader study divided into two parts.     

Information, institutions et temporalité quelques remarques critiques sur l'usage de la nouvelle économie de l'information en histoire

The paper reviews the main «applications» to economic history of neo-institutionalist and game theories. The analysis of labor, land and credit markets as well as their implications for the theory of development are equally discussed. The author then discusses the main game theories, their hypotheses and assertions in order to elucidate their historiographical uses. The last part of the paper introduces more complex notions of rationality, while distinguishing between information and learning; it finally suggests an heuristic scheme able to integrate certain elements of the economy of information and games into historical notions of time.     

Modeling the Seismic Response of Modern URM Buildings Retrofitted by Adding RC Walls

Modern unreinforced masonry buildings with reinforced concrete slabs are often retrofitted by inserting reinforced concrete walls. The main advantages of this technique are the increase in strength and displacement capacity with respect to masonry structures. This article presents two modeling approaches for evaluating such structures: a shell-element model and a macro-element one. The objective is to formulate practical recommendations for setting up a macro-element model using as input the geometry of the structure and results from standard material tests. Structural configurations of masonry buildings, in which the insertion of reinforced concrete walls is an efficient retrofit technique, are also investigated.     

A case of Madelung's deformity in a skeleton from Nuragic Sardinia

The case reported here refers to the skeletal remains of a mature adult male found in a collective grave known as ‘Giant's tomb’ located near Donori (Sardinia) and dating to the end of the Bronze Age. The skeleton showed bilateral shortening of the forearm associated to radial bowing, marked deformations at the radio‐ulnar distal joints and subsequent posterior dislocation of both ulnae. The whole alterations fit well with a diagnosis of Madelung's deformity, a rare form of mesomelic dysplasia. At present, this case is the most ancient evidence of Madelung's deformity. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.