The BiGAr project aims to innovate archaeological research by developing a digital application that integrates Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This application documents the 4D nature of archaeological evidence alongside traditional data such as text and photography. By offering a faster and more comprehensive approach than current methods, BiGAr enhances collaboration through web platforms and provides new opportunities for spatial analysis and cultural landscape management.
Traditionally, BIM has been employed solely for architectural analysis in archaeology, without integration with GIS. BiGAr introduces an innovative geospatial environment by creating a new digital workflow that merges GIS and BIM, facilitating the management of archaeological data from fieldwork, including excavations and surveys. The project involves the development of a dedicated application using open-source software and custom programming scripts.
The research draws on the expertise of three institutions:
-University of Michigan (outgoing phase, supervised by Prof. Nicola Terrenato)
-University of Minho (secondment, supervised by Prof. Miguel Azenha)
-University of Bologna (return phase, supervised by Prof. Andrea Augenti).
Field data come from two archaeological projects focused on areas surrounding ancient capitals: the Gabii Project in Rome (University of Michigan) and the Ravenna Landscape Archaeological Project in Ravenna (University of Bologna).
Dr. Marco Cavalazzi’s research is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 101029015 (BiGAr project). More details are available on the BiGAr website ( https://site.unibo.it/bim-gis-integration-for-archaeology/en ).

The provided .zip folder contains the preliminary version (V. 1.0) of the BiGAr applications, including:

MeshToSolid.dyn file: A Dynamo project that transforms a mesh into a BIM solid. To use:
1.Download Dynamo Sandbox (https://dynamobim.org/download/).
2.Open the MeshToSolid.dyn file.
3.Set the path to the mesh file.
4.Run the script.

BiGAr Blender Python Scripts: These scripts perform a Boolean subtraction between two meshes in Blender (https://www.blender.org/download/) and voxelize the result.

-Mesh 1 represents the superior surface of the Stratigraphic Unit, while Mesh 2 is the inferior surface.
-Copy and paste the scripts (from 1 to 4) into the Blender scripting workspace and run each program sequentially.

BiGAr Boolean Subtraction Scripts import two surfaces into Blender, performs a Boolean subtraction, and voxelize the result.
# Copyright (C) 2024 Dr. Marco Cavalazzi, marco.cavalazzi3@unibo.it, paper mail Via San Vitale, 28, 48121 Ravenna RA, Italy. 

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
    (at your option) any later version.

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