The Roman necropolis and amphitheater of Carmona (Sevilla, Spain) were excavated at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1885 the site was opened to the public for tours, the first in Spain and one of the first in Europe. Because of this long continuity, the Carmona Archeological Complex boasts a special trait: a broad archeological documentary archive.
Efficient management of this store of information that is updated and added to on a daily basis required a computer application that could gather, integrate, conserve and facilitate the use of this volume of data from different sources. At the same time, it was considered necessary for researchers to have online access to the core substance of the information.
Developed over the course of five years, our information system for CAC is called SICAC. All of the graphic and alphanumerical data is organized in the same environment, thereby guaranteeing their integration, availability, quality and accessibility.
The entire historical archive of the CAC has been scanned, including the bibliographical references resulting from different excavation events taking place at the necropolis and amphitheater, and the historical raster planimetrics reflecting these excavations and the photo archives.
The archeological site has a topographical infrastructure of three dimensional data capture that supports the geo-referencing process and the mapping of the 352 archeological entities that comprise the site, from burial grounds to surface structures to the amphitheater: 3D scanner, detail topographic, land photogrammetry and air photometrics.
As a result, a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) has been obtained, consisting of a web created by photogrammetric correlation to which is added the 3D scan of all of the aforementioned archeological structures.
Integration of the DTM and the 3D scans is carried out by a geographical information system based on freeware (gvSIG and MapServer), that joins it together, taking as a reference the burial sites (tombs), the significant superficial structures (e.g. ustrina) and both the ancient (amphitheater) and modern (museum of archeology) buildings. All of the existing databases and other documentation have been linked to them, including 3D models and the records in the archeological record system.
In addition to managing the digitalized historical planimetrics, it generates new thematic information from existing information and can use information accessed by Web Map Service (WMS).
SICAC has two platforms, one of which is online and accessible from the CAC web page (http://www.juntadeandalucia/cultura/muses/CAC) allowing the user to navigate around the open-access part of the site and retrieve basic information on the burial sites and their 3D scans, which can then be manipulated using Adobe Reader version 9 or higher. The other platform is desktop and is for researchers and CAC personnel. SICAC is currently finishing up an enhanced reality application for mobile devices which will allow visitors to access the information remotely.
