Historical Archaeology in the Late Roman Galilee (Israel): Monumentality, Material Culture and Struggle for Religious Success.

Abstract

The project deals with spatial analysis (GIS), micro-archaeology and virtual reality (VR) in order to investigatespecific archaeological sites in Israel to approach the encounter between Roman Paganism and Judaism,and the rise of Christianity in the East during Late Antiquity. The analysis of material production associatedwith the respective contexts of occupation combined with spatial distribution of these social movements andthe network analysis will allow to create a digital map (in Portuguese) of Roman-Byzantine periods focusingon synagogues and churches archaeological sites at Israel during Late Antiquity. A full data-base for thin-sectionsof Palestinian Roman clay lamps has been included on this research in order to trace pottery workshops,which will in turn complement the many typological publications on the research field and provideupdated knowledge access in Portuguese language. Cyberarcheology can provide unique access to cognitiveinteraction with places and materiality through Virtual Reality.