The project, formed in the University of Bologna (I. Baldini Lippolis, A.L. Morelli and C. Cavallari) and in Aredat (J. Pinar Gil), is first of all an international on-line and multilingual data-base for the use of archaeologists as well as researchers and scholars. It is absolutely free and accessible to any user who registers as a member.
Presentation
The systematic analysis of the works themselves as well as the examination of their contexts and associations are the essential basis for the study of a large number of objects, too often considered for their intrinsic value and evaluated primarily according to aesthetic criteria, in appraisal frequently conditioned by methodological prejudices. So, the study of jewels and ornaments still encounters obstacles, for example, in the growing body of scholarly literature, too often uncoordinated and scattered in many publications, some very specialized, others quite varied in content.
These artifacts, also in antiquity, are essential elements of social communication, conditioned by many factors: fashion, circulation also through long distances, development of local workshops which can be imitated. It is almost impossible to investigate all these aspects at an individual or local level.
In collaboration with Aredat (Associació per la Recerca Estudi i Difusió en Antiguitat Tardana, Barcelona), Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz and other prestigious institutions, institutions with similar scientific interests have been joined in a systematic project, which expects the realization of a permanent international structure: it would connect various research equipes and establish common parameters for study and dissemination.
The project, formed in the University of Bologna (I. Baldini Lippolis, A.L. Morelli and C. Cavallari) and in Aredat (J. Pinar Gil), is first of all an international on-line and multilingual data-base (http://www.jic-online.net) for the use of archaeologists as well as researchers and scholars. It is absolutely free and accessible to any user who registers as a member.
Members can consult the data-base, but are invited also to take an active role in the project, enlarging the general data-base with new recoveries, images and information. What would result is a readily available resource focused on jewelry, ornaments and metal vessels, with special reference to their context; a general information and an up-to-date integrated dissemination system, for didactic and scientific discussion, continuously in progress. The aim is to achieve the concrete cultural progress that has long been advocated for this area of research.
The organizational scheme of Jewelry in Context is designed to offer users an easy access to the data-base, enabling them to consult it for their researches and to contribute to it. In order to ensure uniformity and accuracy, the data will be reviewed, in accordance with international standards, by a editorial committee of expert referees.
The data base is structured in three main sections: a filing of objects with reference to the context of provenance; a collection of bibliographic records which also allows cross researches; a collection of literary sources in alphabetical order, to make the dialogue between archaeological materials and texts easier (in progress).
The site will also include scientific contributions regarding specific themes, in the on line JiC Journal.
Considering the vastness of the chronological horizon and the necessity of increasing the relations between different cultural areas, the working plan is based on the coordination of a regional and thematic net, with supervisors who guarantee the correctness of the information and the development of the researches.
The project deals with jewels, coins jewel, ornaments, precious metal objects, ancient and medieval, in the Mediterranean area. Collaborations have been instituted with colleagues, experts in specific thematic sectors (for instance archaeometallurgy, experimental archaeology), or areas (e.g. Italy, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Greece and Cyprus): each of these referents will deal with the project development improving the data.
In Emilia Romagna, for instance, an agreement of cooperation with the Archaeological Superintendency was established: students will participate in laboratories and in other joined cultural activities.
In order to value the typological and productive phenomena, a cooperation agreement with the Dipartimento di scienze Storiche, Archeologiche e Antropologiche dell'Università "La Sapienza" di Roma (Enzo Lippolis, Luigi Caliò) has been also established: a local staff deals with Classical and Roman jewellery, with complementary and supplementary activities.