Web Portal Arhicup

Represents the main product of the project Black Sea Archaeology, History and Culture Portal – ARHICUP (BSB867), which will be accessible to the public from May 2022.

 

Through it, information on the archaeological, historical and cultural heritage of the western region of the Black Sea will be widely disseminated. The data will be provided by the three project partners, and museums, academic institutions, research groups, NGOs, collectors, and individuals will be invited to participate, whose contributions and involvement will be welcomed and mentioned on the project website, but also on events.

 

Therefore, the web portal will combine data from different sources, which it will present in different digital formats. This will include:

• an integrated library system (ILS) for collecting bibliographic data;
• a digital library for description and presentation of photo, audio, video data collections;
• an utility for presenting 3D models of archaeological objects, as well as parts of archaeological sites, buildings or monuments;
• a digital collection of old maps from the Black Sea region;
• a Web-GIS for georeferencing the presented objects.

 

By establishing a thematic bibliographic base, consisting of both scientific and popular books, dedicated to archaeology, history, cartography and culture of the Black Sea region, the web portal will facilitate access for researchers, businesspeople and the general public to the information they contain. Their presentation in the global de facto standard for describing bibliographic data, MARC21, will make automated search possible.

 

The history of European cartography reveals the evolution of ideas about the region, as well as the political development of today’s states. To this end, a collection of digitized old maps will be created, coming from different sources: local and national archives, libraries and museums, public and private collections, open access repositories. They will be created with standardized metadata descriptions and the georeferencing option.

 

The project will include 3D scanning stations that will be used to scan archaeological artifacts and monuments, which will be presented in interactive 3D format on the web portal. The scan will be performed by museum specialists from each city participating in the project, an action in which students of the profile faculties will be involved. Three short-term expeditions of a joint team of the three partners will be organized for 3D scanning of selected archaeological sites in each participating country.

 

The electronic version of the cartographic exhibition catalog will be posted on the web portal, as well as the conference materials on “Black Sea Archeology as a Factor in Cultural Tourism”, which will be organized in Nessebar towards the end of the project.