MAPPALab

09/10/2026

07/10/2026

💡 Trasformazioni e risorgenze contemporanee in una casamatta lungo il tratto appenninico della Linea Gotica, by Marco Pili, Francesca Anichini and Raffaele Voccia is now live on ArcheoLogica Data!

Open access as always.

Read it 👉🏻 https://www.insegnadelgiglio.it/prodotto/archeologica-data-6-2026/

🔗 Dataset available on our MOD (Mappa Open Data) via the University of Pisa Digital Library.

📝 What’s inside?
This paper shares some preliminary reflections on the informational potential of a pillbox belonging to the Gothic Line defensive system, located near Santa Lucia (Barberino di Mugello, FI). Developed as part of a university exercise, this work makes no claim to being systematic or exhaustive and is intended solely as a first look at a context that appears worthy of future in-depth investigation. The reflections focus on the successive refunctionalisations and reinterpretations of the structure from the immediate post-war period to the present day, and on the interplay between memory, reuse, and rural materiality that they bring to light. Evidence suggests a sequence of transformations from military infrastructure to rural facility and, eventually, to a microhabitat undergoing natural regeneration. The pillbox is tentatively interpreted as a relational ecosystem and a stratified taskscape, where human and non-human actions progressively redefine its role within the landscape.

30/09/2026

💡 AI4MAPS. Processing Topographical Maps for Archaeological Research, by Caterina Paola Venditti and Antonio Leopardi is now live on ArcheoLogica Data!

Open access as always.

Read it 👉🏻 https://www.insegnadelgiglio.it/prodotto/archeologica-data-6-2026/

🔗 Dataset available on our MOD (Mappa Open Data) via the University of Pisa Digital Library.

📝 What’s inside?

ABSTRACT
The analysis of cartographic sources is fundamental for reconstructing ancient landscapes and understanding long-term territorial transformations. Archaeological maps produced between the early twentieth century and the advent of digital cartography preserve valuable spatial and contextual information, yet their manual transcription remains time-consuming and labour-intensive. This study proposes an AI-based workflow for the semi-automated recognition, extraction, and georeferencing of cartographic features from analogue maps. The workflow integrates free and low-cost tools for object detection and segmentation, combining computer vision models with automated support for data annotation and processing. Both map-level and symbol-level strategies are explored to address cartographic complexity and iconographic variability. While challenges remain in adapting models to specialised symbols and ensuring spatial accuracy, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach, with 272 automatically detected features. Furthermore, they confirm the feasibility of converting historical maps into vector datasets suitable for integration into GIS environments.

23/09/2026

💡 Wasteball: Play, Collaboration, and Experimental Heritage in the MAPPA Lab
👤 Francesca Anichini, Salvatore Basile, Lorena Bravi, Francesco D’Antoni, Nevio Dubbini, Gabriele Gattiglia, Chiara Giovannetti, Martina Naso, Federica Mauro, Elisa Paperini, Massimiliano Puntin, Filippo Sala, Quirino Saraceni, Claudia Sciuto, Raffaele Voccia

Open access as always.
Read it 👉🏻 https://www.insegnadelgiglio.it/prodotto/archeologica-data-6-2026/

🔗 Dataset available on our MOD (Mappa Open Data) via the University of Pisa Digital Library.

📝 What’s inside?
Wasteball is an experimental game created within the MAPPA Lab at the University of Pisa. Played daily after the laboratory’s communal lunch, it involves all members (professors, postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates, students, and interns) regardless of role, background, or gender. With simple rules and an informal setting, the game nonetheless fulfils a profoundly pedagogical role. Wasteball was conceived as a form of academic team-building: a ritual of play that transforms the laboratory into a collaborative and inclusive environment. By suspending hierarchies, it fosters inclusion, trust, and a shared sense of belonging, thereby shaping the social conditions under which scientific knowledge is produced. At the same time, Wasteball can be read as a piece of archaeogaming and experimental heritage, in which play becomes a medium for reflexive data-making and for rethinking the ethics of cooperation in research.

12/09/2026

🌕 Anche la Luna ha un patrimonio archeologico da proteggere!

Dal 1959 la superficie lunare conserva le tracce materiali di decine di missioni spaziali. Lunedì 14 settembre alle 14.00 ne parliamo con l'International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Scientific Committee on Aerospace Heritage in un incontro ibrido nell'aula B1 di Palazzo Carità (via Pasquale Paoli 15).

In collegamento Alice Gorman, Justin Holcomb e Beth O'Leary, in aula Luca Forassiepi, esperto italiano di archeologia spaziale.

L'incontro è ospitato dal corso di Archeologia moderna e contemporanea del MAPPALab.

Ingresso libero in presenza, per registrarsi alla diretta online:
https://buff.ly/nVAvcKl

06/09/2026

01/09/2026

📣 How can we communicate research on AI and archaeology more effectively?

From 2–4 September 2026, MAIA Working Group 4 will meet in Antalya for the workshop “Creative and Practical Strategies for Communication and Dissemination”.

Three days of hands-on activities, discussion and exchange focused on developing creative and practical strategies to communicate research at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and archaeology and to reach different audiences more effectively.

📍 Akdeniz University Faculty of Tourism, Antalya, Türkiye
📅 2–4 September 2026

🔗 www.maiacost.eu

.maia

31/08/2026

🌕 L’archeologia arriva sulla Luna!
Il 14 settembre MAPPALab e il corso di Archeologia moderna e contemporanea dell’Università di Pisa ospiteranno Protecting Lunar Heritage, un incontro dell’ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Aerospace Heritage dedicato alla tutela delle tracce lasciate dalle missioni spaziali sulla superficie lunare.

📅 14 settembre 2026, ore 14.00–16.00
📍 Palazzo Carità, Aula PAO B1, Pisa
💻 Partecipazione anche online, con registrazione gratuita

🇬🇧🌕 Archaeology reaches the Moon!

On 14 September, MAPPALab and the University of Pisa’s course in Modern and Contemporary Archaeology will host Protecting Lunar Heritage, an event organised by the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Aerospace Heritage and dedicated to protecting the traces left by space missions on the lunar surface.

📅 14 September 2026, 14:00–16:00 CEST
📍 Palazzo Carità, Room PAO B1, Pisa
💻 Also available online, with free registration

More information: https://internationalmoonday.org/event/protecting-lunar-heritage-developing-guidelines-and-recommendations-for-controlled-lunar-deorbiting/

27/08/2026

🚀 Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way we study, preserve and communicate Cultural Heritage.

📅 Applications close: 26 November 2026
🎓 Master starts: 11 January 2027

The Master in Artificial Intelligence for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at the University of Pisa provides an interdisciplinary learning experience where archaeology meets AI, machine learning, data science and digital technologies.

Through a combination of lectures and hands-on activities, you will develop practical skills in Python, computer vision, databases, 3D modelling and AI applications for archaeology and cultural heritage, preparing you for research, professional practice and innovation in the heritage sector.

Whether you are a recent graduate or a professional looking to expand your digital expertise, this programme will equip you with the tools to tackle the challenges of tomorrow's Cultural Heritage.

🔗 Learn more and apply:
https://www.mappalab.eu/en/master_ai4arch/

Università di Pisa Civiltà e Forme del Sapere - Università di Pisa

25/08/2026

🇬🇧Red ochre and cinnabar in Roman northern Etruria

Massimiliano Puntin (MAPPALab) and Ilaria Benetti (Italian Ministry of Culture) investigate the use of red pigments at coastal and insular sites in Roman Tuscany.
Combining archaeometric data, technological observations, and spatial and functional analyses, the research examines decorative styles, application techniques and pigment mixtures, showing how their use reflects decorative, technological, spatial, economic and symbolic choices.

🇮🇹Ocra rossa e cinabro nell’Etruria settentrionale romana

Massimiliano Puntin (MAPPALab) e Ilaria Benetti (Ministero della Cultura) studiano l’uso dei pigmenti rossi in siti costieri e insulari della Toscana romana.
Integrando dati archeometrici, osservazioni tecnologiche e analisi spaziali e funzionali, la ricerca indaga stili decorativi, tecniche di applicazione e miscelazione dei pigmenti, mostrando come il loro utilizzo rifletta scelte decorative, tecnologiche, spaziali, economiche e simboliche.

📍 Northern Etrurian Reds: the use of red ochre and cinnabar in Roman contexts from Tuscany - 32nd EAA Annual Meeting, Athens, 26–29 August 2026.