NAPLES, MAY 13 — The University of Naples Federico II, in collaboration with the Italian National Research Council (CNR), will host the international conference “Recomposing the Past: Archaeological Museums on the Web” on May 21–22. Held at the historic San Pietro Martire Complex, the event will gather scholars and professionals from leading global institutions to examine the increasingly strategic role of digital technologies in preserving, enhancing, and disseminating Etruscan heritage.
Alessandro NasoThe conference will open with a keynote address by Alessandro Naso (University of Naples Federico II), a distinguished Etruscologist and one of the initiative’s principal organizers. His talk will focus on the virtualization of dispersed heritage, highlighting how digital tools represent not only new avenues for access and knowledge sharing, but also a methodological revolution in the study of ancient civilizations.
A major highlight will be the Vulci nel Mondo (VNM) project—an early and pioneering example of integrating archaeology with digital innovation. Launched in 2021 by Arturo Zampaglione, publisher of Etruscan Times, VNM has led the way in digitally reconstructing Etruscan artifacts dispersed across museums worldwide. In just a few years, www.vulcinelmondo.com has become the largest online database dedicated to ancient Etruria, cataloguing thousands of objects in public and private collections around the globe. By restoring context, visibility, and narrative to previously isolated artifacts, the project offers a new model for cultural heritage research and public engagement.
Presenting the project at the conference will be Laura Maria Michetti, Professor of Etruscology at Sapienza University of Rome and Chair of the VNM Scientific Committee, together with Manuela Bonadies, also of Sapienza.
In a similar spirit, Martina Zinni (University of Naples Federico II) will introduce CaereMUSEum, a virtual museum dedicated to the Etruscan city of Cerveteri that provides accessible, content-rich educational experiences. Following this, Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni (University of Milan) will present T.Ar.C.H.N.A., the first bilingual virtual museum dedicated to an Etruscan city. Conceived when digital tools were still in their infancy, the project aimed from the outset to make Etruscan heritage accessible to a global audience. Today, T.Ar.C.H.N.A. continues to grow with an increasingly inclusive and connected vision.
San Pietro MartireThe first day will close with a presentation by Alessandra Caravale (CNR), who will explore the role of digital archaeology in the evolution of online museums. Her talk will underscore how digital platforms and databases are reshaping the experience of cultural heritage into one that is global, participatory, and constantly expanding.
May 22 will highlight international perspectives. Alexandra Villing (British Museum) will open the session with a presentation on the digitization of the 19th-century Naukratis excavation. She will be followed by Laurent Haumesser (Musée du Louvre) and Cécile Colonna (Bibliothèque Nationale de France), who will discuss the digitization and visualization of artifacts from Cerveteri that entered the 19th-century Parisian antiquities market.
Later, Thomas Mannack and Angela Pola (University of Oxford) will present the Beazley Archive Pottery Database, the result of over 40 years of documentation on figured pottery. Claudia Carlucci (Sapienza) will reflect on the evolving role of university museums as interfaces between the physical and digital worlds. In the afternoon, Jacopo Tabolli and Claudia Petrini will demonstrate web applications developed as part of the San Casciano dei Bagni excavation project. The conference will conclude with a keynote by Paola Moscati (CNR) titled “Penelope, between the loom and the web”, offering a symbolic interpretation of the digital reconstruction of archaeological memory.
More than a scholarly gathering, the conference represents a pivotal opportunity to rethink Etruscology as a discipline in active dialogue with contemporary technologies. Digital innovation is proving to be a powerful tool in reconstructing fragmented heritage—restoring unity, meaning, and accessibility to the cultural record. An ambitious goal, yet increasingly within reach: to recompose what history has scattered. (@EtruscanTimes)
