The MASLAP project analysis the transformation of Late Antiquity through the peristyle-type villa buildings, their environs and the land use in the Lower Danube region. According to our main aims, in addition to the available data, we want to collect information about the selected sites using basically non-invasive archaeological methods. In order to facilitate the systematization of our data, and to have information supporting the comparison and evaluation of the peristyle-type villa buildings in the research area in general, we plan to organize them in a database.
We focus on the structure of each site, the buildings located there, and their research history. According to the structure of the system, it can be divided into three parts:
1. Site data
Among the site data included in the research and assisting in the comparative evaluation, the official data of the sites play an important role. The essence of this is to be able to accurately identify each location and to make our data compatible or even interconnected with other databases.
We also systematize the research history data of each site. The primary purpose of this is to create an overview information base that facilitates data retrieval.
The most important elements for the sites are specific scientific data. On the one hand, it collects the characteristics of the sites into a unified system (e.g. geographical location, type, extent, dating) and, on the other hand, records the characteristics of each building identified at the site (e.g. number, type of buildings).
2. Data according to the site-related buildings
The characterization of each building is the most important site-specific scientific data for us, as the project focuses primarily on the peristyle-type villa buildings. This part of our system is used to organize data of the buildings.
The data also includes the part showing the location of the building. These the topographic data simplified to the centroid coordinates.
In addition to the sites, we also collect the research history of each buildings. In this case, too, the emphasis is on systematization to facilitate further investigation.
The most important element is concerning to the structure, function and periodization of buildings. With its help, we can navigate between the buildings known at different research levels, and these data make the different building types, their interpretation and dating characteristics comparable.
3. Historical sources referring to sites and/or individual buildings
Our data structure provides the opportunity to upload antique sources for both the sites and the buildings. These may refer to the ancient name or name variations of the site, the owner, or any other sources that may be associated with the site or the building. The collection and systematization of historic sources can help to interpret and compare the archaeological data of the sites and their buildings, as well as to better understand their function and role.
Our system also works with GIS background. Although we mainly aim at a simplified representation of sites and buildings, it helps to understand the spatial location and relations of the data.
