Research and Digitisation: Which Comes First? Examples from the Aegean Laboratory of the University of Florence

Attraverso l'illustrazione di alcuni casi di studio, il testo illustra le riflessioni e l'esperienza del Laboratorio di Civiltà egee dell'Università di Firenze sul rapporto tra studio specialistico delle antichità egee e uso di nuove tecnologie. Segue l'abstract dell'articolo. Abstract · Nowadays the link between new technologies and humanities is definitely stricter than before, and digitisation has proved to be a formidable tool of ‘outreach’. The question is, obviously, how can all this be significant for the research itself, i.e. whether the new technologies can also improve the way the scientific investigation is conducted in the field of humanities. We would like then to help the discussion in this direction presenting here some case studies which can illustrate how research is important for a sound digitisation and how the use of digital resources can bring new scientific results. The examples are all taken from the online resources created by the Aegean Laboratory of the University of Florence, DBAS - @egeanLab about the societies of the Bronze Age Greece, Crete and the Aegean in general (3000-1000 BCE). The first case is the database DB-HTC, including all the cretulae found in the Villa of Haghia Triada and now kept in various Museums in Greece and Italy ; the second case is another database, DB-TWC, on Minoan textile work areas ; and the third is an interactive tale, La mattina di Zuzù, obviously intended for the younger users of the website. As the examples will make clear, in our experience new technologies offer an opportunity to ask new questions in our studies and to bring them forward, and to bring our ancient evidence into the future.