A new approach for the study and presentation of an archaeological context not traditionally exploitable. Applying a fast but extensive 3D survey to the Bisarcio case study, a medieval and post-medieval cemetery (Sardinia).
Paola Derudas, Maria Carla Sgarella
Abstract For some time, photogrammetry and 3D modelling have imposed themselves as prominent among the modern technologies applied to archaeology. Nevertheless, three-dimensional survey of the archaeological heritage hasn't reached, yet, its informative potential in the study phase, due to the fact that its use has been generally restricted to those cases characterized by their exceptionality and monumentality. Digging the Bisarcio (Sardinia) late- and post-medieval cemetery was an important opportunity to 3D survey experimentation as a daily instrument for documenting the stratigraphic sequence. Differently from what happens in the most common practical cases (where it is focused on specific findings or areas, or to a specific time frame of the excavation), the 3D survey has been carried out extensively with respect to both space (covering the entire excavation area) and time (daily, throughout the excavation), with the main aim to totally substitute the two-dimensional survey. 3D modeling, which allows a very accurate and complete recording of the archaeological context, has been useful both in the documentation and analysis stage, and also in the interpretation stage. It has been complemented by the use of the 3DHOP presenter, a helpful tool for the visualization and web publishing of high resolution 3D models, connecting them to the large amount of data collected and interpreted during and after the excavation process. This tool gets an added value for the case study here presented: a cemetery context, for which it's not possible to imagine and define a "classic" musealization. Thanks to the presence of the 3D models, and the use of 3DHOP, it was possible to “re-use” the survey data to create an interactive web-based presentation aimed, this time, to the public, to provide a viable way to present and disseminate the results of the excavation to non-experts.
