PyArchInit

What is PyArchInit

PyArchInit is an open-source QGIS plugin for archaeological data management, with particular strength in 2D GIS visualization of stratigraphic data. Maintained by an active community led by Luca Mandolesi, it is used in production by archaeology teams across Europe — a single environment for stratigraphic, alphanumeric, multimedia and topographical records inside QGIS.

How it connects to Extended Matrix

Through the s3Dgraphy library, an existing PyArchInit project can be brought into the Extended Matrix workflow as a connected auxiliary data source — referencing records live or baking them into the graph. Stratigraphic units, relationships and selected paradata authored in PyArchInit can be projected onto an s3dgraphy graph and exchanged with the rest of the EM Framework.

EM does not require PyArchInit: an excavation can be managed with EM plus Excel spreadsheets alone. PyArchInit is one strong, established option, particularly attractive when 2D GIS visualization is already part of your workflow.

A pattern, not a dependency

This kind of integration — independent tools connecting to EM through s3Dgraphy — is what we hope to see grow across the ecosystem. Revit, Unreal Engine, Houdini, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, and other domain-specific tools are all natural candidates for similar bridges.

Getting started

• API docs — pyarchinit-api.readthedocs.io
• Source — github.com/pyarchinit/pyarchinit
• EM integration cookbook — cookbook/pyarchinit_integration in the Extended Matrix manual

Maintainers

• Luca Mandolesi — project lead (github.com/pyarchinit)
• Enzo Cocca — s3Dgraphy integration design discussions, including the issue that drove the LocationNodeGroup design in s3Dgraphy 0.1.41 (github.com/enzococca)
• Community contributions welcome via the PyArchInit GitHub repository.