Virtual Archaeology

This paper investigates the use of 3D immersive virtual environments and 3D prints for interaction with past material culture over traditional observation without manipulation. Our work is motivated by studies in heritage, museum, and cognitive sciences indicating the importance of object manipulation for understanding present and ancient artifacts. While virtual immersive environments and 3D prints have started to be incorporated in heritage research and museum displays as a way to provide improved manipulation experiences, little is known about how these new technologies affect the perception of our past. This paper provides first results obtained with three experiments designed to investigate the benefits and tradeoffs in using these technologies. Our results indicate that traditional museum displays limit the experience with past material culture, and reveal how our sample of participants favor tactile and immersive 3D virtual experiences with artifacts over visual non-manipulative experiences with authentic objects.

не каждый музей располагает специалистами, которые
грамотно и точно могут поставить задачи для создания эффективного, предназначенного для конкретной аудитории информационного ресурса. Поэтому исследования и работы, проводимые
сторонними организациями, зачастую не соответствуют ожиданиям. При этом корректная постановка задач по созданию ИР
и успешное продвижение музея в виртуальном пространстве
напрямую связаны с проведением социологических и маркетинговых исследований, эксклюзивным подходом к целевой аудитории,
варьированием методик. Проанализированные в настоящей статье данные позволили понять коммуникационные процессы, актуальные связи между событиями и реакцией на них посетителей.
Объединение усилий специалистов из крупных музеев для оценки
эффективности информационного ресурса является положительным примером и значимым прецедентом в области освоения музейного виртуального пространства.

Die Technik des „maschinellen Sehens“ (computer vision) hält immer stärkeren Einzug in den archäologischen Alltag und eignet sich mittlerweile bestens zur systematischen Anwendung auf archäologischen Ausgrabungen. Im vorliegenden Artikel wird der Einsatz von Structure-from-Motion auf der Ausgrabung am Kleinen Anzingerberg bei Meidling im Thale in Niederösterreich vorgestellt. Zur Anwendung kam die kommerzielle Software Agisoft PhotoScan, die vollautomatisiert die inneren und äußeren Parameter der Kamerakalibrierung berechnet und daraus eine dreidimensionale Punktwolke erstellt. Selbige wird mit Hilfe von Multi-View-Stereo-Algorithmen in ein fotorealistisches Oberflächenmodell umgewandelt. Zur Visualisierung der Oberflächenmodelle und für die Zusammenführung mit den übrigen Grabungsdaten bietet sich der Import in ein Geografisches Informationssystem an. Mit dessen Hilfe können herkömmliche Ableitungen der Oberflächenmodelle, wie beispielsweise Schummerungen, Darstellungen der Hangneigung und Profilschnitte, visualisiert werden. Die fotorealistischen Modelle können aber auch der Erzeugung wahrer Orthofotos dienen. Darüber hinaus besteht die Möglichkeit, sich als Betrachter interaktiv durch die texturierten dreidimensionalen Modelle zu bewegen. Eine Anordnung der Modelle gemäß ihrer stratigrafischen Position erlaubt in dieser Form sogar eine vierdimensionale Betrachtung.
Da die Qualität der Fotografien und die Auswahl der Aufnahmestandorte für die Genauigkeit der fertigen Modelle maßgeblich verantwortlich sind, muss bei der Anwendung von Structure-from-Motion dem Prozess der Datenaufnahme eine besondere Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet werden. Wichtig sind eine hohe Bildqualität bei einer hohen Tiefenschärfe, gleichmäßige Lichtbedingungen, eine ausreichende Überlappung der Einzelbilder sowie die Auswahl unterschiedlicher, in den einzelnen Schritten jedoch nicht zu stark voneinander abweichender Kamerastandpunkte. Zur besseren Stereoabdeckung wurden am Kleinen Anzingerberg Techniken der bodengestützten Luftbildarchäologie zum Einsatz gebracht. Ein Fotokran sowie eine Teleskopstange dienten als Kameraplattform zur Generierung von Senkrecht- und Überblicksaufnahmen. Selbige verbessern neben der Präzision und Punktdichte des Modells auch die benötigte Rechenzeit bei der Modellerstellung.
Structure-from-Motion bietet durch die Verwendung von archäologischer Standardausrüstung (Vermessungsgerät und Fotoapparat) eine kostengünstige, einfach zu handhabende und genaue Dokumentationsmöglichkeit für stratigrafische Ausgrabungen. Die fotorealistischen dreidimensionalen Modelle können als virtuelle Nachbildungen der einzelnen Stratifikationseinheiten betrachtet werden und  erlauben dadurch eine objektive und überprüfbare Dokumentation archäologischer Hinterlassenschaften, was sie zu einer ausgezeichneten Interpretationsgrundlage macht.

Předložený příspěvek je věnován popisu jedné z nejmodernějších dokumentačních metod na bázi trojrozměrného modelování, označované jako Structure-from-Motion. Metoda byla aplikována na eneolitické lokalitě Kleiner Anzingerberg bei Meidling im Thale v Dolním Rakousku. Metoda Structure-from-Motion nabízí levnou, jednoduchou a přesnou možnost dokumentace archeologických výzkumů.

Il Comune di Tergu, in collaborazione con la Diocesi di Tempio-Ampurias, nel maggio del 2003 ha promosso e finanziato un progetto di ricerca archeologica presso l’abbazia benedettina di S. Maria di Tergu. La direzione scientifica dei lavori é stata affidata alla Prof.ssa Letizia Ermini Pani, docente di archeologia medievale presso l’Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, la cui équipe opera con l’intento di conoscere e divulgare la storia ancora poco nota di questo importante sito del nord Sardegna. Dall’incontro dei tre enti è nato, il progetto “Santa Maria di Tergu”, programma di ricerca multidisciplinare.
La ricostruzione del sito archeologico, tuttora in corso, revedeva la contestualizzazione e la realizzazione su scala territoriale di un DEM (Digital Elevetion Model), con successiva mappatura del modello per mezzo di foto aerea ortorettificata, grazie al quale è stato possibile evidenziare percorsi e tracciati storici inerenti al sito in questione. In seguito è stato realizzato il modello virtuale di ogni singolo reperto, da quelli ceramici a quelli architettonici, grazie all'analisi scientifica di un'équipe di esperti (archeologi, paleobotanici, archeozoologi, antropologi). Tutti gli oggetti ricostruiti sono stati inseriti all'interno di un archivio in html con indice iniziale e schede di approfondimento, munite di finestra virtuale con ricostruzione tridimensionale dei pezzi in vrml.
I modelli virtuali di tutti i reperti sono stati riposizionati all'interno degli ambienti ricostruiti in 3D delle due fasi prese in esame: quella giudicale (fine X – primo quarto XII sec.) e quella onastica (secondo quarto XII – XIII sec.).
Entrambe le fasi sono state contestualizzate all'interno del modello a scala territoriale. La finalità del progetto è la realizzazione di un'unica applicazione che grazie ad un approccio innovativo alla fruizione museale consenta, da un
lato, la conservazione nel tempo del dato scientifico, dall'altro, la divulgazione e l'apprendimento del sito archeologico e
delle sue fasi.

La “X” quizá sea una de las mejores formas de expresar lo enigmático. Como marca o símbolo, su presencia en un mapa, en una ecuación matemática o en cualquier otro contexto suscita siempre en quien la contempla una inevitable atracción. En la historia del Tesoro de Aliseda, caso complicado donde los haya de principio a fin, no podía faltar esta viva expresión de la incógnita. Aparece diminuta en un croquis del entorno de Aliseda que realizó Juan Cabré en 1921 durante su exploración de la zona y, mucho más visible, sobrescrita en una fotografía del propio Cabré, indicando el probable lugar del hallazgo; delante del cual posaron un guardia civil, un desconocido y Juan-Jesús Rodríguez Santano junto a su sobrino Marcelino.
A partir de esta evocadora imagen, el presente volumen propone al lector un viaje al tiempo histórico del Tesoro de Aliseda, complementario de otro anterior dedicado al tiempo de su descubrimiento y su historiografía. Dicho recorrido, no exento de riesgos, pretende aproximarse a uno de los aspectos peor conocidos de estas célebres joyas: su contexto arqueológico y su dimensión político-territorial. Destruido por el carácter azaroso del hallazgo y su parsimoniosa gestión arqueológica, el contexto del tesoro aliseño se ha relacionado indistintamente con la tumba de una dama, con una ocultación e incluso con un santuario. En función de los resultados obtenidos del laborioso estudio llevado a cabo entre 2011-2014 por un amplio equipo investigador, se propone una nueva hipótesis que sitúa las alhajas aliseñas en un singular paisaje ritual y las vincula con la pareja aristocrática sobre la que pudo gravitar la celebración periódica del equinoccio de primavera; todo ello dentro del inestable panorama sociopolítico que dominó la periferia septentrional de Tartessos entre los siglos VII-VI y V a.C. Excavaciones, prospecciones arqueológicas y estudios analíticos diversos fundamentan esta nueva lectura del Tesoro de Aliseda que, si bien contribuye a despejar en parte la incógnita sustanciada en la “X” de Cabré, plantea otras que el futuro investigador deberá afrontar.

Video games, even though they are one of the present's quintessential media and cultural forms, also have a surprising and many-sided relation with the past. From seminal series like Sid Meier's Civilization or Assassin's Creed to innovative indies like Never Alone and Herald, games have integrated heritages and histories as key components of their design, narrative, and play. This has allowed hundreds of millions of people to experience humanity's diverse heritage through the thrill of interactive and playful discovery, exploration, and (recreation n. Just as video games have embraced the past, games themselves are also emerging as an exciting new field of inquiry in disciplines that study the past. Games and other interactive media are not only becoming more and more important as tools for knowledge dissemination and heritage communication, but they also provide a creative space for theoretical and methodological innovations. The Interactive Past brings together a diverse group of thinkers — including archaeologists, heritage scholars, game creators, conservators and more — who explore the interface of video games and the past in a series of unique and engaging writings. They address such topics as how thinking about and creating games can inform on archaeological method and theory, how to leverage games for the communication of powerful and positive narratives, how games can be studied archaeologically and the challenges they present in terms of conservation, and why the deaths of virtual Romans and the treatment of video game chickens matters. The book also includes a crowd-sourced chapter in the form of a question-chain-game, written by the Kickstarter backers whose donations made this book possible. Together, these exciting and enlightening examples provide a convincing case for how interactive play can power the experience of the past and vice versa.

This paper presents an integrated multi-analytical documentation of a bronze vessel discovered in a 2nd century Roman military fort from ancient Dacia. The process involved 3D digitization, X-ray and hyperspectral imaging, and molecular, elemental, and structural analysis using Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results of the study revealed the composition of the vessel metal and of the interior coating and the state of conservation through metal quality, internal cracks and corrosion compounds mapping. A 3D virtual reconstruction of the original aspect is also proposed based on the digitization and metal characterization results.

Virtual archaeological landscapes of the Danube region (Danube´s Archaeological eLandscapes) is a project co-financed by the Interreg Danube Transnational programme. The project´s major goal is to regionally, nationally and internationally increase the visibility of the cultural heritage, and in particular the archaeological landscapes of the Danube region, making them more attractive for an integration into the region’s tourism offers. In order to achieve this goal, new technologies are employed throughout the project.
Within the framework of the project, a strategy has been adopted by the partners from 10 countries of the Danube region. The strategy approaches the topic of archaeological heritage from an archaeological, social and a technological standpoint. By using SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analyses conducted by the
working groups, major challenges in the sector were defined, leading to two main strategy units. The first unit focuses on working processes from the archaeological discovery to a virtual visualisation, and the second on the potential of archaeological heritage in the digital world. To support the
further adaptation and development of new technologies for the archaeological sector, the strategy concludes with 12 recommendations for heritage stakeholders. Priority lists are adopted for the implementation of the recommendations at national level for each participating country.

In 2010 an Italian team started new on-field investigations in the area of the Sun Temple of Niuserra, 6km south of the pyramids of Giza. The archaeological research was planned to re-examine the monument after its discovery in 1898. The work was mainly aimed at a general evaluation of the archaeological structures, still visible, in order to establish an updated plan of the temple. More than 100 scans and several 3D models by close-range photogrammetry have been acquired, processed and integrated to virtually reconstruct the archaeological area.

To manage all available 3D datasets, allowing to propose new hypothesis about the monument, a BIM has been developed. Thanks to this approach different categories of environmental and technological objects have been created and analysed. The paper deals with the recent achievements, especially regarding the hierarchical conceptualisation of the architectural components. In particular, the contribution dwells on the analysis of the monument starting from the identification of a parametric library built on the semantic decomposition of the 3D replica.