Jean-Claude Gardin (Parigi 1925-2013). Dalla meccanografia all'informatica archeologica

The article attempts to retrace some of the early years of the scientific activity of Jean-Claude Gardin, throughout a particularly fertile period of about five years that certainly affected all of his subsequent scientific endeavours. Starting in the mid 1950s, Gardin carefully followed the international evolution of documentation systems and tirelessly promoted the innovative methods of investigation that will eventually make him one of the undisputed pioneers of archaeological computing. At the same time, he founded and led highly specialised laboratories that have acted as a breeding ground for the formalisation of archaeological research associated with the process of data representation and classiFIcation, as well as the construction of scientific knowledge.