Our idea is then to propose a Virtual Research Environment for archaeology, which aims notably to avoid the difficulties quoted before. We have developed a tool for the management of documents produced during the working of an archaeological site. We have chosen to work at the scale of a site, notably
because there are more completed projects at bigger levels These are mostly Geographical Information Systems(GIS) dedicated to the management of spatial data, especially on large scales. In case, the VRE that we have developed is an information System permitting to manage very different types of data(not only geographical), which is more uncom- mon and is based on dissimilar treatments than those from GIS. Therefore, the main difference from ordinary GIS is the fact that our VRE allows one to do a complete documen- tation of a site or a monument, including spatial and non- spatial data. We dedicate our system both to the professionals who are in charge of the site, and to the general public who ish to have information it. Hence, we have used open source software modules and languages to develop our Web In formation System, in order to be independent of any software and of any data formal. and to allow maximum accessibility and adaptability to the needs of the diverse actors using tool propose to record the data in the XML(extensible Markup Language) format and to insert them automatically into a MySQL database. XML has been chosen because it is standard of the W3C(www Consortium) for data descrip- tion, and because it induces the registration of metadata about the data to preserve(to have secondary information about the primaries. The system is very flexible as it allows the user to choose the metadata he wants to attach cording to an archae ological standard, for instance CIDOC-CRM2 12l). Afterwards this information is made accessible through diverse interfaces, particularly interactive 2D and 3D representations that permit
spatio-temporal queries. These clickable representations are 2D images or vectors created in SVG(Scalable Vector Graphics), and 3D models produced in VRML(Virtual Reality Modelling Language) or X3D(extensible 3D), for a full com pliance with the W3C recommendations. In addition, the user of the system can generate his own 3D models and composition plans, in order to be able(for instance) to see in a new way the historical changes of the site, by stacking different parts of 3D models or by creating synthesis plans or photos-montages The tool proposed in this paper is compliant to every kind of Cultural Heritage site and allows management of very diverse types of data. Some experimentation has been done on sites managed by the Service of the National Sites and Monuments of Luxembourg, like the mediaeval castle of Vian den or the gallo-roman villa of Echternach