Per una storia dell'informatica archeologica

The article is part of the special section dedicated to "Il Museo virtuale dell'informatica archeologica. Una collaborazione tra l'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei e il Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche", edited by Paola Moscati and Tito Orlandi. The author illustrates the international research project on the history of archaeological computing, which has been promoted by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and the Italian National Research Council. As part of this project, a website dedicated to the Virtual museum of archaeological computing is currently under active development, with the purpose of retracing the roots and reconstructing the progress of this recent and evolving discipline. After replying to some key questions - why a virtual museum, the premises to its arrangement, its objectives, the contents and future perspectives - the paper illustrates the main methodological and technical guidelines of this project. A traditional navigation method provides access to the website, allowing users to move further into the contents of the virtual "exhibition rooms". Special attention is placed to the contents, and in particular to the oldest documents kept in the archival "Fonds Jean-Claude Gardin", one the forerunners of computer applications to archaeology. In addition, some cultural itineraries have been planned, in which scholars are invited to share stories, illustrate the establishment of institutions or laboratories and propose innovative research paths.