Towards a Transdisciplinary Digital Workflow for Reversible Archaeological Excavations: from surveying to enhancing the virtual model

This article explores digital archaeology through an examination of the excavation at the site known as ‘Santa Maria in Viridis’ in the archaeological park of the ancient city of Ascalona (Ashkelon, Israel). The AskGate mission, funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and led by the Department of Architecture at the University of Florence (with Cecilia Luschi as head of the mission), is studying the site. In 2022, the team, comprising architects, archaeologists, geologists, physics, and chemists, began excavating the site, integrating topographic and photogrammetric survey work into the daily phases of excavation and material sampling. The article presents the results in the form of a digital, multiscale model designed for sharing and consulting data from various disciplines. This model experiments with transdisciplinary solutions and virtual reversibility of the archaeological excavation.