Letizia Bonelli

• Uleberg, Espen; Matsumoto, Mieko; Pantos, George Alexis & Bonelli, Letizia (2023). Toward Standardised Vocabularies for Norwegian Archaeology. Internet Archaeology. 64. doi: 10.11141/ia.64.7. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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• Riel, Sjoerd Joost van; Pantos, George Alexis; Liestøl, Gunnar; Samdal, Magne; Kristensen, Steinar & Bonelli, Letizia (2026). Engaging new audiences through digital dissemination of Norwegian rock art. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The Museum of Cultural History (MCH), University of Oslo, has the administrative responsibility for over 2000 petroglyphs in southeastern Norway. The figures range from animal figures representing moose, whales and other wild animals, to boats, people and sun-figures. In the Nordic countries, it was once common to paint rock carvings to give the public the opportunity to see the figures regardless of lighting conditions, but this practice has become controversial for several reasons (Bjelland and Helberg 2006). Since painting is no longer practiced, we must investigate alternative methods to disseminate the figures and create meaningful experiences for visitors. In this presentation, we will discuss several avenues into the use of technology to create such experiences for the public. Methods and materials The MCH is collaborating with local authorities to disseminate rock art in their jurisdiction to the general public. In 2025, work commenced on several sites across southern Norway. 3D documentation produced with an Artec Leo structured light scanner, photogrammetry and Gaussian splats were combined with the detailed interpretations already held in the museum's archives. By exploiting common 3D and GIS toolsets, we were able to bring these interpretations into 3D space, allowing the visitor to switch between the non-painted and digitally repainted versions. Combining this data with publishing platform ESRI StoryMaps and 3D rendering programs provided a powerful tool for communicating some of the hardto experience characteristics of these carvings, such as the dramatic effect the position of the sun, as well as contextualize the rock art and research in simple and accessible ways. Another project at the MCH together with the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo aims to better communicate the people behind the petroglyphs through innovative technologies involves the use of the Unity-based SitSim (Situated Simulations) Augmented Reality platform (Bishop et al. 2025). Still in development, this project will deliver a mobile application which will allow visitors of a stone age rock art site in central Oslo to experience a 3D animated scene of a stone age person carving the petroglyphs, as well as a reconstruction of the surrounding environment around 7000 years ago. Results Although ongoing, some preliminary results have been positive. Firstly, these technologies allow a more interactive form of dissemination. Rather than visitors being passive consumers of information from a sign or brochure, some technologies can include them in the process or exploration and interpretation of petroglyphs. This is especially true for the second project that draws on the potential of Augmented Reality to engage the visitor with their surroundings. Secondly, these technologies allow us to go beyond reality and into the realm of reconstruction and hypothesis testing. By integrating many types of data for the reconstruction of the stone age landscape but, importantly, also considering the people who created the petroglyphs, we are forced to take a holistic approach to rock art. Discussion In the national strategy for protection of cultural heritage, the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren) specifically mentions method development in the documentation, preservation and dissemination of rock art as a prioritization for cultural heritage management in Norway, as well as a need to further develop documentation methods and to utilize new documentation technologies for less invasive dissemination. Many petroglyphs are situated in vulnerable and remote nature areas that require careful management and benefit from methods that allow visitors to virtually visit the sites. Notable examples from Norway include “Virtuelle Vingen” and the 360° virtual tours at the Alta World Heritage Center for Rock Art. We believe that many of the approaches we employed in our projects can be directly transferred and implemented on other projects related to petroglyphs both in Norway and the rest of the world, and provide a useful base for more advanced, and integrated experiences as mixed realities technologies continue to mature.

• Bonelli, Letizia; Magin, Elisabeth Maria & Riel, Sjoerd Joost van (2025). Combining Different Techniques for Documenting Medieval Runic Inscriptions. doi: 10.2312/DH.20253074. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This poster aims to discuss the limitations and benefits of different imaging techniques when capturing fine inscriptions on objects made of bone, wood and leather, with the explicit goal of producing models suitable for scientific study. The case study is conducted on a corpus of approximately 60 runic inscriptions from medieval Oslo, dating between the 11th and 13th centuries and will be published through the museums existing online web interfaces, Unimusportalen, and BItFROST.

• Riel, Sjoerd Joost van; Bonelli, Letizia & Pantos, George Alexis (2025). Documenting and presenting material properties of archaeological artefacts in 3D. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Bonelli, Letizia; Ruebner, Indgjerd, Hallvard; Pantos, George Alexis & Uleberg, Espen (2024). Experiences from the BItFROST Project. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.13897532. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The Museum of Cultural History has been maintaining records and publishing its catalogues since the early 19th century. In recent years, the institution has been working to improve data standardisation through the adoption of common vocabularies and adapting and upgrading the data systems to incorporate developments in technology. This work includes providing access to 3D datasets acquired at the museum seen as a part of essential research and artefact stewardship. The growing recognition of the value and potential of 3D data at the museum has provided a strong incentive, but also brought new challenges of data volume, complexity, and diversity of audience. This has been identified as only one part of broader sector-wide challenges of training and re-skilling in the face of a rapidly changing technological landscape. While this paper does not presume to hold answers to the current challenges it will share recent experiences in the hope that it may contribute to ongoing discussions of the challenges of data storage and dissemination and help others facing similar predicaments. 

• Uleberg, Espen; Matsumoto, Mieko; Dell'Unto, Nicoló; Callieri, Marco; Pantos, George Alexis & Bonelli, Letizia [Vis alle 7 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2023). Converging and diverging vocabularies - a constant strive for national agreement. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Bonelli, Letizia; Indgjerd, Hallvard; Pantos, George Alexis & Uleberg, Espen (2023). Experiences from the BItFROST Project: Developing a 3D repository at the Museum of Cultural History. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Uleberg, Espen; Bonelli, Letizia; Pantos, George Alexis; Indgjerd, Hallvard; Kristensen, Steinar & Samdal, Magne (2023). Digitizing and connecting archaeological objects and documentation. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Uleberg, Espen; Ore, Christian-Emil Smith; Dell’Unto, Nicolo; Callieri, Marco; Matsumoto, Mieko & Bonelli, Letizia [Vis alle 10 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2022). CREATING FAIR ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA IN NORWAY. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Uleberg, Espen; Matsumoto, Mieko; Pantos, George Alexis & Bonelli, Letizia (2022). Toward standardised vocabularies for Norwegian archaeology. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Bonelli, Letizia & Poggi, Giulio (2020). Elaboration of historical DTM using vertical aerial photography for the assessment of anthropic and environmental transformations on archaeological deposits. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Since the first decades of 20th century, vertical aerial photography has become an indispensable resource for land monitoring and for the realization of topographic maps. Regular flights over the years have produced a large number of pictures, which often reflect the conditions of the landscape before the introduction of modern agriculture management systems and industrialization. The goal of our work is to assess the capabilities of the earliest historical flight in central Italy to detect both erosion and accumulation landscape processes that have occurred over the last 80 years, and how these changes may have affected the archaeological deposits. In order to obtain geospatial information from archive pictures dated to 1938-1941, we enhance the picture quality and then process the set of images with digital photogrammetry tools. By the means of an accurate topographic survey to geo-reference the project, the elaboration produces a “historical” Digital Elevation Model (hDTM); a model which reflects the geomorphological condition of the landscape at that specific time in the past. The resulting dataset is then compared with a 2012 LiDAR-derived DTM to visually and quantitatively evaluate the altimetric and geomorphologic changes. By using a case study located within a coastal plain in Southern Tuscany, Italy, the presentation aims at pointing out how “historical” DTMs can be exploited to detect local changes in geomorphology and at which level of detail. The evaluation of pros and cons of the presented methodology will be also discussed in order to determine if archive photographs can be successfully used as a predictive tool for archaeology in recognising both anthropic and natural erosion and accumulation processes, influencing archaeological fieldwork activities and research.

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