The Project
What is Open Prehistory?
Open Prehistory is a platform for sharing materials and digital contents related to Prehistory. The platform is conceived and created by the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory and funded by the Fondazione CR Firenze and MIUR (Italian Ministry for University and Research). This platform stems from the need to have a repository of knowledge related to Prehistoric studies. The aim is also to be made available this knowledge not only to scholars and students of Prehistory but also to a wider audience. A platform that is therefore configured as a virtual place, but which then leads to real contact with Prehistory and with those who bring to light this heritage.
Open Prehistory is a platform for sharing materials and digital contents related to Prehistory. The platform is conceived and created by the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory and funded by the Fondazione CR Firenze and MIUR (Italian Ministry for University and Research). This platform stems from the need to have a repository of knowledge related to Prehistoric studies. The aim is also to be made available this knowledge not only to scholars and students of Prehistory but also to a wider audience. A platform that is therefore configured as a virtual place, but which then leads to real contact with Prehistory and with those who bring to light this heritage.
Why “Open”?
In order to disseminate data, sources, and contents for the growth of the awareness of the prehistoric field, it is necessary to make access to these data in a simple way. That is why we have chosen to share the contents on the platform in an open format and use them for training, research, and study at all levels.
What contents?
- The most significant section of the platform concerns publishing. The first volumes of the “Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche” (1946-2006), the “Notiziario di Preistoria e Protostoria”, the “Abstract Book of the Annual Meetings of Prehistory and Protohistory” are available in open format.
- The educational contents are freely available and downloadable. These materials include the issues of the series “Sguardi sulla Preistoria” and the volumes “+ Preistoria | Quaderni didattici dell’IIPP “. This material is mainly aimed at teachers in schools of all levels as integration and support to educational programs.
- The films produced by the IIPP have space in a dedicated section, which includes the multimedia products already present on YouTube, the videos produced in collaboration with the Multimedia Laboratory of the University of Florence, the films relating to the IIPP’s research activities, and those made for exhibitions and special events (such as the video of the exhibition “The fragility of the sign” made with Vincenzo Capalbo, awarded with the Gold prize in the category “Creative exhibition installations” at the Festival of Audiovisual International Multimedia Patrimony organized by AVICOM).
- The catalogue of the photographic archive is integrated into the platform, with the possibility to search, visualise, and download the images of the archive. The documentary archive, in navigable PDF format, will also be made available for research, as well as the link to SIUSA.
- Alongside a download section, an upload section has been developed, allowing scholars to upload contributions for the “Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche” and for the “Notiziario di Preistoria e Protostoria”.