About the project
About the Project
Charta Thesauri – AI-Based Aerial Archaeology & Roman Coin Finds
Charta Thesauri is a volunteer hobby project that combines modern artificial intelligence (AI) with archaeological research and archaeological geodata. Its aim is to automatically detect archaeological traces in aerial images and, at the same time, to build a platform for Roman coin finds.
Aerial Archaeology with AI: Automating Aerial Image Analysis
The project focuses on archaeological geodata and the automated analysis of aerial images using YOLOv9 and PyTorch.
This makes it possible to detect typical archaeological indicators:
- Crop marks
- Soil discolorations
- Structures of former settlements and camps
Processing is carried out on high-performance servers with powerful NVIDIA graphics cards in order to efficiently analyse large image datasets. The entire application is developed in Python and is continuously improved.
Goal: Automatic detection of archaeological sites from aerial imagery.
Interactive Map of Roman Coin Finds
A core component of Charta Thesauri is a GIS-based map of Roman coin finds:
- Single finds
- Coin hoards
- Spatial distribution of historical finds
The data comes, among other sources, from freely accessible scholarly databases such as:
These data are aggregated, standardised, and displayed geographically.
Submit Your Own Coin Finds
Users can actively contribute to the platform:
- Report coin find locations
- Add descriptions
- Contribute new data for research
This creates a growing open-data platform for archaeology and numismatics.
If you want to submit, please contact us:
Contact + Legal notice (Impressum)
Open Data & API (ODbL)
Part of the data will be made freely available under the Open Database License (ODbL).
Planned features include:
- Free API access for interested users
- Possible commercial data acquisition, prepared in various formats:
- KML
- Shapefile
- PostgreSQL / PostGIS
In addition, prepared datasets will also be offered commercially, for example for:
- GIS analyses
- Hobby archaeology
- Academic research
- Professional applications
Promoting Archaeology & Doing Good
In addition to research, Charta Thesauri also pursues social goals:
- Promoting enthusiasm for archaeology
- Financial support for our projects:
Revenue from data use or commercial exploitation goes to the animal welfare, climate protection, and species conservation projects mentioned above.
Vision
Charta Thesauri combines:
- Artificial intelligence and deep learning
- GIS and geodata, e.g. PostGIS and aerial imagery
- Archaeology and numismatics
The goal is an open, modern platform for the detection, analysis, and visualisation of archaeological sites.
What does “Charta thesauri” mean?
“Charta thesauri” is an artificial or coined term that, strictly speaking, has never really existed — or has existed only rarely — in this exact form. There is no obvious historical document or collection bearing the precise title “Charta Thesauri” that appears as a significant source in common historical records or archives.
Occasionally, the term is mentioned as a possible Latin expression for “treasure map,” although the interpretation “Tabula thesauri” is generally considered more common.
What is well established, however, is that the term “Thesaurus” in antiquity referred to a building within a sanctuary used for storing valuable votive offerings — in other words, a treasury or treasure house.
Particularly interesting in this context is the definition given by DWDS – Thesaurus :
“Collection (…) with thematically organized content (…)” and “[historically] synonymous with treasury; [figuratively, archaic] abundance, wealth.”
What is undisputed is:
- “Charta” = charter, document, written record, contract, paper
- “Thesauri” = “of the treasure” or “of the wealth” (genitive singular of thesaurus: “treasure,” “store,” “collection”)
Possible meanings depending on context:
- A treasure charter or a document concerning a treasure, for example in a historical or religious sense.
- In a bibliographic or lexicographic context, it could also mean: “Charter” or “set of rules” of the thesaurus — in other words, a framework or guideline for an organized system of knowledge.
The “double” thematic suitability of the term — especially in the context of this project — ultimately led to the decision to use “Charta thesauri” as an artistic and overarching title.