This paper examines the transformative role of gamification in engaging small communities with cultural heritage. By integrating serious games and interactive strategies, gamification enhances public participation, fostering cultural citizenship and sustainable development in low-density regions. These approaches not only make cultural objects more accessible but also encourage deeper reflection on their significance within contemporary society. Focusing on best practices, gamification emphasises innovative, community-centred solutions that bridge academic research and public interaction. Fostering partnerships between small communities and academics provides a framework for identifying, safeguarding, and disseminating heritage. Highlighting successful examples, these practices demonstrate how gamification can facilitate participatory and democratic engagement, offering scalable models for broader application. This foundation supports the development of international principles for digital heritage and collaborative cultural networks.
This article examines an unusual instance of a Roman coin found inside a modern reproduction of an ancient bust. To contextualize this anomaly, the paper surveys comparative cases of coins and coin-like objects in incongruous contexts: coins concealed in religious sculpture, purposeful "prank" burials, anachronistic intrusions in stratified contexts, and mixed assemblages formed through collecting practices. These examples serve to illustrate the diverse mechanisms that generate "misplaced" finds- safeguarding, deception, memorabilia transfer, arbitrary deposition, and refuse disposal-and to underscore the value of object biographies attentive to context, documentation, and reception.
Understanding the origin, manufacturing technology, and cultural affiliation of ancient pottery is a major objective in interdisciplinary archaeological research. In this study, 20 pottery samples from the ancient site of Bolu Claudiopolis (modern-day Bolu, Turkey) were investigated using a multi-analytical approach. X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed to characterize the chemical, mineralogical, and structural properties of the samples. The resulting datasets were analyzed using several machine learning algorithms, including K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Random Forest (RF), implemented in Weka software. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied for dimensionality reduction and pattern recognition, while fuzzy logic was used as a complementary framework for approximate cultural attribution. In addition, data fusion strategies were applied to combine information obtained from the different analytical techniques. The results revealed compositional variability among the pottery samples and indicated that most of them were more closely associated with Roman compositional patterns, whereas a limited number showed affinity with Greek-related characteristics. Among the tested models, Random Forest provided the most consistent classification performance. XRD and FTIR results further suggested medium firing temperatures and the presence of silicate-based raw materials with specific mineral phases. Overall, this study demonstrates the value of integrating analytical techniques with machine learning and fuzzy logic for the classification and comparative assessment of ancient pottery.
The lead-weighted darts (plumbatae ormattiobarbuli (martiobarbuli)) are some of the rarest archaeological finds among the elements of Late Roman military equipment. In recent years, however, the number of plumbatae discoveries has increased, particularly in the northern and north-eastern parts of the former Empire. In this regard, the territory of Moesia Secunda and even more so that of Scythia are still lacking sufficient published data. This contribution presents a number of unpublished lead-weighted darts from the two provinces described in the context of the several discoveries known to date, thus supplementing our knowledge on their distribution in the larger zone of the dioceses of Thracia and Dacia. In addition, some comments are made on their possible places of manufacture within the region in question.
In his paper the author deals with the latest period of Roman Pannonia and the problem of the survival of the provincial population. In the study, the author examined all kind of written and epigraphic combining with the archaeological evidence that led the author to the conclusion that provincial Roman population in Northern Pannonia, the modern Hungarian Transdanubia could hardly survive the Hunnic rule. The surprising rich material culture of the Keszthely culture has nothing do with the original Pannonians. The later, mainly Greek epigraphic data are (their list can be found in the Appendix) very sporadic, and they were brought to the Carpathian Basin as import or booties.
