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Description
The purpose of the projects is the digitisation of movable antiquities stored and exhibited in the museums in Cyprus to enable easier data access and improve the overview and protection of antiquities. More specifically, the project aims to digitise over 81 000 movable antiquities stored in the Cyprus Museum storerooms and about 14 000 movable antiquities exhibited in other governmental museums in Cyprus. This project is a continuation of the ‘Cyprus Archaeological Digitisation Programme – CADiP’ project co-funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2004-2009.
Main activities shall include:
- upgrading CADiP database infrastructure, which includes the replacement of the existing server and its software and the expansion of the memory storage;
- digitisation of movable antiques stored in the Cyprus Museum and exhibited in the other governmental museums in Cyprus.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was the digitization of movable antiquities which are exhibited in exhibitions or kept in the Museums'' warehouses under the responsibility of the Department of Antiquities, the competent government department. Documentation through digitisation can be a major means of protection and preservation of cultural heritage against loss due to natural or man-made disasters, ensuring that this information is secured for future generations.
Within the framework of the project, the digitization of all objects exhibited in the exhibitions of a total of 16 Archaeological Museums in the districts of Nicosia, Limassol, Paphos and Larnaca was completed, thus the goal of digitizing the exhibitions of all Museums under the responsibility of the Department of Antiquities has been achieved. In addition, part of the movable antiquities kept in the warehouses of the Cyprus Museum, the Archaeological Museums of the districts of Limassol and Paphos and the Local Archaeological Museum of Kourion-Episkopi was also digitised. The digitisation process included the archaeological identification, dating, physical description, dimensional measurement and photographing of each one of the movable antiquities. It also included research and input of all existing or newly produced descriptive information and bibliography concerning each movable antiquity in the specific fields of CADiP database and the scanning of any archival material.
In order to achieve these results, 8 Archaeologists have been employed, and special equipment (portable computers, cameras, scanning and printing multifunction machines, tools for taking measurements of archaeological movable antiquities) have been purchased. More than 87.000 movable antiquities digitised. The digitisation of all these movable antiquities enables easier access and handling of data into day-to-day tasks and promotes research. It also contributes towards the goal of fully digitizing all movable antiquities in the possession of the DoA, a task that will provide a major protection mechanism of our cultural heritage. Digitisation provides the researchers with easier access to the data concerning the desired movable antiquities and helps promote and facilitate the study of Cypriot cultural heritage. The database can provide an archaeologist or conservator with an easy access to an up-to-date description of the present condition of a movable antiquity and the restoration and conservation it has undergone, saving them from valuable work time spend on searching written reports and descriptions, thus resulting to the movable antiquity’s most adequate management and protection.The CADiP database assists archaeologists in organizing an archaeological or photographical exhibition, or thematic periodical exhibitions by gathering all the necessary artefacts or photos, or information which are applicable to the topic of the exhibition.The digitisation of movable antiquities and especially those antiquities which were plundered after the Turkish invasion of 1974 is considered a necessity and an important tool in the efforts of the DoA to repatriate illicitly trafficked material. Digitisation of movable antiquities is also of great value in the creation of the (new) Cyprus Archaeological Museum and for the ongoing reorganization and upgrading of existing museums.