Cultural contact in Early Roman Spain through Linked Open Data (Granados)

Author
PhD dissertation 2016-2019

Student: Paula Loreto Granados Garcia (Open University, Department of Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)

Supervisors: Phil Perkins, Open university (first supervisor), Ursula Rothe, Open University (second supervisor), Gabriel Bodard, Institute of Classical Studies (external supervisor).

Working title
Cultural Contact in Early Roman Spain through Linked Open Data resources.

Abstract
Even though the Romanisation debate seems to be  already over  in English scholarly literature, other countries,  such  as  Spain,  have  only  just  started  to  revise  traditional  discourses. During the  1900s, Spanish studies on Romanisation were mainly focused on  documentation of the immense amount of evidence  always  from  the  Imperial  point  of  view. This meaningful,  though  -mainly  descriptivescholarship established Roman archaeology in the Iberian Peninsula. Today, this work is beginning to be re-examined by incorporating new methodologies and perspectives. Within this paradigm shift, novel initiatives are emerging that aim  to provide a new scenario by looking at this cultural  encounter from the eyes  of the colonised agent. My research "Cultural Contact in Early  Roman Spain through Linked Open Data" explores the possibilities offered by  Linked Open Data and the Semantic Web to  connect, share  and  make  available  large  amounts  of  archaeological  data  regarding  the  question  of  cultural interaction. Using Linked Open Data resources and other digital technologies, this study aims  to make effective relations between  large  amounts of data. These connections will provide the basis to interpret, reuse  and  contextualise  the  information  more  broadly  to  understand  the  dynamics  of  a  colonial encounter where the data is fragmentary, heterogeneous and interdisciplinary, and therefore, advance current scholarship.