ICT challenges, European policies and archaeological research projects in the Adriatic Sea area

The paper intends to illustrates the most recent challenges in archaeological computing and introduce an interdisciplinary approach to data acquisition, processing and representation. Some of the latest and most innovative trends concern the three basic areas of archaeological practice: fieldwork, laboratory analyses, and cultural resource management. Each of them benefits from the evolution of spatial, quantitative, and visual data processing. In addition, two important and strategic research areas that go under the general heading of 'Communicating archaeological research' and 'European digital infrastructures for archaeology' are today taking roots. Based on the resources collected in the digital repository of the international peer-reviewed and open access Journal 'Archeologia e Calcolatori', some representative case-studies focused on preserving and enhancing the archaeological heritage in the Adriatic Sea area will be illustrated, all addressing some theoretical issues underlying the application process.