Advanced Gis applications for bioarchaeology: methods and case studies

New computer technologies have become indispensable components in Human Sciences. Archaeology has a long history of adopting and using these technologies to document the site and the excavation process, to record the location of excavated artifacts and materials, and to assist in interpretations and analysis of the excavation and recovered finds. However, despite the constant and ever-developing applications in archaeology, the specialization of bioarchaeology has not yet developed unique standards to fully benefit from these new technologies. This poster is intended to demonstrate the benefits of these digital protocols with bioarchaeological case studies. In particular, it will show the experimental results of an extensive GIS (Geographic Information Systems) survey obtained within two diachronous cemeteries in Tuscany (Italy): the monastery of Badia Pozzeveri (X–XIX centuries) and the castle of Benabbio (XIII–XIX centuries). Additionally, this research proposes new protocols for surveying, managing and processing data produced during an archaeo-anthropological excavation and how that can be beneficial in the initial recovery and study of osteological material. It will present the potential applications of open source GIS, three-dimensional photogrammetric processing and the fusion of these two techniques for the creation of 4D analysis platforms