3D Archaeology

The 3 Dimensions of Digitalised Archaeology, 2024

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History of academic archaeological research in the Netherlands, from the beginnings in the 18-twenties to the 19-nineties.

The application of 3D digital technologies in the archaeological research expands more and more during the last decades. 3D recording, visualisation, representation and reconstruction of archaeological sites, monuments and artefacts become almost a common trend in the archaeological work. Moreover, CAD reconstructions , 3D simulation, computer animation and other uses of computer systems change the traditional work-flow. The archaeological experience, though, recognizes these tools more for the general public in order to offer a visualisation of the target object than as a mechanism that can offer new possibilities for the research itself. The focus of this article is to explore the opportunities given to the research field of archaeology by 3D technologies. Specifically the article will look into technologies regarding the 3D recording, processing, visualisa-tion and representation of archaeological data. Through the use of specific case studies we will investigate how applications can contribute to the understanding first and the interpretation later on of a certain archaeological object. Issues such as the types of questions and problems that can be faced and answered with these 3D technologies will be raised and discussed. The possibility to get an expansion of the archaeological research in new aspects, as it happens with other technological tools (e.g. databases), will be also examined. In addition to these, the disadvantages and limitations of the application of these 3D technologies in the archaeological field will be also looked at, in order to accomplish a more complete view of its usage.

This volume brings together presentations from two sessions organized for the XVII World UISPP Conference that was held from 1-7 September 2014 in Burgos (Spain). The sessions are: The scientific value of 3D archaeology, organised by Hans Kamermans, Chiara Piccoli and Roberto Scopigno, and Detecting the Landscape(s) – Remote Sensing Techniques from Research to Heritage Management, organised by Axel Posluschny and Wieke de Neef. The common thread amongst the papers presented here is the application of digital recording techniques to enhance the documentation and analysis of the spatial component intrinsically present in archaeological data. For a long time the capturing of the third dimension, the depth, the height or z-coordinate, was problematic. Traditionally, excavation plans and sections were documented in two dimensions. Objects were also recorded in two dimensions, often from different angles. Remote sensing images like aerial photographs were represented as flat surfaces. Although depth could be visualized with techniques such as stereoscopes, analysis of relief was troublesome. All this changed at the end of the last century with the introduction of computer based digitization technologies, 3D software, and digital near-surface sampling devices. The spatial properties of the multi-scale archaeological dataset can now be accurately recorded, analysed and presented. Relationships between artefacts can be clarified by visualizing the records in a three dimensional space, computer-based simulations can be made to test hypotheses on the past use of space, remote sensing techniques help in detecting previously hidden features of landscapes, thus shedding light on bygone land uses.

Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology, 2024

The current ubiquitous use of 3D recording technologies in archaeological fieldwork, for a large part due to the application of budget-friendly (drone) sensors and the availability of many low-cost image-based 3D modelling software packages, has exponentially increased the amount of 3D data of archaeological sites and landscapes.

2014

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The Valletta Convention on the Protection of Archaeological Heritage (1992) gave rise to a significant growth of an earth-scientific community within an equally growing archaeological profession. The authors describe the main aspects of the earth-scientific role in Dutch archaeology and highlight the importance of earth-scientific experience and knowledge in archaeology. Furthermore, they state that there is room for improving and expanding the knowledge of sedimentary structures, processes and environments for archaeological purposes. Frequently, research reports lack the necessary translation of sedimentary information to landscape development leading to unreliable or erroneous predictive models. As a result, data gathering in the early stages of the research process of the Dutch Archaeological Heritage Management may lead to an unnecessary prolongation of the in itself relatively long process or worse, the unseen destruction of archaeological sites.