Investigative analysis across documents and drawings: visual analytics for archaeologists

With the invention and rapid improvement of data-capturing devices, such as satellite imagery and digital cameras, the information that archaeologists must manage in their everyday's activities has rapidly grown in complexity and amount. In this work we present Indiana Finder, an interactive visualization system that supports archaeologists in the examination of large repositories of documents and drawings. In particular, the system provides visual analytic support for investigative analysis such as the interpretation of new archaeological findings, the detection of interpretation anomalies, and the discovery of new insights. We illustrate the potential of Indiana Finder in the context of the digital protection and conservation of rock art natural and cultural heritage sites. In this domain, Indiana Finder provides an integrated environment that archaeologists can exploit to investigate, discover, and learn from textual documents, pictures, and drawings related to rock carvings. This goal is accomplished through novel visualization methods including visual similarity ring charts that may help archaeologists in the hard task of dating a symbol in a rock engraving based on its shape and on the surrounding symbols.