G. Di Gironimo1, B. Ferrara2, St. Patalano1
1 Dipartimento di Progettazione e Gestione Industriale, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
2 Dipartimento di Discipline Storiche, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

The present work represents a contribute to improve the classification and recording techniques of archaeological artefacts. With a particular reference to the class of clay artefacts of Magna Grecia, a new method for the CAD representation of artefacts, based on the definition of meridian profiles, has been developed.
The Functional Requirements of the built archetype are:
-Possibility to use the same archetype to build the CAD model belonging to any type of artefacts, in particular of any vase with different shapes and dimensions;
-Possibility to upgrade the geometry of the model and to converge toward a representation more and more close to that experimentally obtained.
The proposed procedure is a valid substitute to the one actually in use to put the archetypes in the inventories that is essentially based on the manual development of the drawing through the use of shapes reproducing the object geometries. The great reduction of times in reproducing the artefact images and the possibility to operate classifications based on the similar geometric features used in the solid modelling activities, represent a reason of interest and of innovation for the Archaeology.
These data can contribute to the solution of the problem of archaeological artefacts classification and recording.
Key words: Parametric Archetypes, CAD methodologies; Solid Modelling; Archaeological Artefacts, NURBS Curves.