Digging in excavation diaries: digital re-assessment of stratigraphy in 3D GIS. The sanctuary of Ayia Irini, Cyprus

Abstract

During the last years, numerous research projects focussed on re-examination of past excavations, giving birth to re-evaluation of their documentation and material or to new discoveries. The aim of this paper is to present an ongoing research on the digital re-assessment of the Ayia Irini sanctuary’s stratigraphy using 3D GIS, by corroborating published material with data extracted from the original excavation diaries. The project wants to digitally reconstruct the site in order to question the positioning of finds and their setting within the sanctuary, the existence of natural versus human-made features and the possible impact of flooding episodes as proposed by the archaeologists who excavated the site.