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

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.