Requirements-Driven Archaeological BIM for Integrated Documentation and Site Management

The integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) into archaeology introduces a transformative approach to managing and preserving cultural heritage. This paper explores the application of BIM for archaeological site documentation, conservation, and artefact management, with particular emphasis on its capacity to improve data organisation, foster collaboration, and facilitate long-term planning. A requirements-driven approach is proposed, adapting Organisational Information Requirements (OIRs), Project Information Requirements (PIRs), Asset Information Requirements (AIRs), and Exchange Information Requirements (EIRs) to archaeological workflows, while Information Delivery Specification (IDS) is used where selected requirements can be automatically verified. Reality-based data acquired through laser scanning, photogrammetry, and topographic surveying are used to develop detailed 3D representations and are subsequently enriched with information related to stratigraphy, chronology, provenance, conservation, and interpretation. IFC and complementary open formats are considered to supporting information exchange between BIM, GIS, and specialist applications and to reducing dependency on a single software platform. Two case studies, the Parța Neolithic Sanctuary and archaeological investigations associated with the A3 highway project in Romania, illustrate the application of the proposed framework. The Parța case demonstrates how geometric and contextual information can be combined to support archaeological documentation and conservation, while the A3 case addresses the management of archaeological information along an approximately 19.7 km infrastructure corridor comprising nine archaeological areas, 179 investigation sections, and approximately 1870 m3 of excavated material. The results indicate that the proposed approach can support more structured, traceable, and interoperable archaeological information management while improving its connection with project and construction decision processes. As the case studies were not designed as comparative experiments, quantitative validation against conventional archaeological documentation practices remains a direction for future research.