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Mesh Is More—Using All Geometric Dimensions for the Archaeological Analysis and Interpretative Mapping of 3D Surfaces

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Abstract

In various disciplines, particularly those that utilise techniques developed in the geosciences, the display, analysis and interpretation of three-dimensional (3D) data is very important. This is also the case in archaeology. Irrespective of a site- or landscape-centred point of focus, archaeology deals with very complex surfaces and always examines traces of past human presence in three geometrical dimensions. Visualising these detailed geometric environments is not that much of an issue anymore; however, interactively interpreting and mapping them is still problematic. Despite the steady increase in technologies to create 3D models, there is still a serious lack of tools that allow for easy interaction with these models in a metrical and coordinate system-aware environment. As a result, most—if not all—interpretation workflows will first downscale 3D data to two-and-a-half-dimensional (2.5D) or 2D data sets, thus effectively discarding up to one geometrical dimension. To enable or enhance the perception of topographic characteristics in these geometrically compromised datasets, various visualisation techniques have been developed to artificially restore and enhance the data that was initially discarded. While these techniques work very well to enhance the remaining pertinent features present in such data sets, data downscaling can nevertheless irrevocably eliminate significant amounts of important archaeological information. Therefore, this paper outlines a new processing and interpretation pipeline for complex archaeological 3D surfaces that do not rely on downscaling of data, while also discussing several 3D-related concepts and issues along the way. More specifically, this article focusses on the generation of intelligently decimated, two-manifold triangular meshes and the subsequent geo-referenced 3D interpretative mapping of these surfaces. Furthermore, all applications can be considered low- and even no-cost, making this a readily implemented processing and interpretation workflow. Additionally, all software packages are easy to learn and flexible enough for implementation in any existing mixed software pipeline.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to heartily thank Christopher Sevara and Seta Štuhec for their feedback on the first draft of this paper. Gratitude is also expressed to Professor Frank Vermeulen (Ghent University, Department of Archaeology) for directing the Potenza Valley Survey project and enabling the use of the aerial data. The latter were acquired by Professor Rudi Goossens (Ghent University, Department of Geography). Daniël Van Damme and Alain De Wulf (both Ghent University, Department of Geography) are heartily thanked for measuring the necessarily ground-control points. The author would also like to thank Ronny Weßling for sharing his expertise on the use of 3D geometry in ESRI’s ArcGIS.

The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (archpro.lbg.ac.at) is based on the international cooperation of the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (A), the University of Vienna (A), the Vienna University of Technology (A), ZAMG, the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (A), the Province of Lower Austria (A), Airborne Technologies (A), 7reasons (A), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (A), the Austrian Archaeological Institute (A), RGZM, the Roman-Germanic Central Museum Mainz (D), the National Historical Museums—Contract Archaeology Service (S), the University of Birmingham (GB), the Vestfold County Council (N) and NIKU, the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (N).

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  1. LBI for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft GmbH, Franz-Klein-Gasse 1, Vienna, Austria

    Geert J. Verhoeven

  2. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Department of Archaeology, Ghent University (UGent), Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35 (UFO—110.016), Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium

    Geert J. Verhoeven

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Verhoeven, G.J. Mesh Is More—Using All Geometric Dimensions for the Archaeological Analysis and Interpretative Mapping of 3D Surfaces. J Archaeol Method Theory 24, 999–1033 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-016-9305-z

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