As part of the Collaborative Doctoral Award from the University of Exeter, Cristina has just started a 6 months internship here at Calvium. Whilst here, she will be supporting us by writing blogs and white papers about locative media projects and generally helping us to increase public contributions on Experience Design.

Hi everyone, my name is Cristina Mosconi and I am a Phd candidate of the Exeter REACT Collaborative Studentship: Geo-locating the spatial and architectural history of the pre-modern cities.

I hold a BA in Classical Archaeology from the University of Milan and I recently graduated from the University of Bristol with a Master of Arts in Archaeology for Screen Media with a dissertation entitled ‘Planning a screen media interpretation for an integrated heritage complex. The case study of the Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire’.

My Master dissertation offers a detailed study of the interpretation planning process for a mobile application as a new interpretative tool using as a case study the Neolithic complex of the Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire. As the long and rich folkloristic and spiritual history of the archaeological site represents a challenge for classic interpretation, so my dissertation proposes a new screen media interpretation as best tool for a multivocal approach.

To corroborate my initial hypothesis, as practical outcome I developed a prototype of app for the Rollright Stones using the platform AppFurnace that I tested with visitors on site.

The ultimate aim of the app is to offer users additional valuable information about the archaeology and folklore of the Rollright Stones, highlighting the broad range of meanings that visitors attribute to the site, Conceived as an audio guided tour, the app provides supporting textual and visual interpretative new insights to the permanent installation currently available.

As you may have already sensed from my academic background, I am interested in oral storytelling, locative narrative and experiential-based practice, in particular I am keen to explore all the creative applications of digital technologies to the interpretation of heritage and archaeology.