3D survey for archaeology: when the solution can be a problem
Angela Bosco
Abstract The introduction of sophisticated survey techniques in archaeology has led to clear improvements in the acquisition process, making faster some operations and allowing unprecedented accuracy. But archaeology is really able to manage these oceans of data? Although the perspectives are very interesting and challenging for the research, the feeling of not having yet fully exploited the potential of this instrument is strong. Archaeology (among other disciplines) insists to use the 3D as a kind of "advanced" 2D, thus losing its main benefit: the volume. On the other hand, research experience in Italian archaeological sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum and nearby areas, allowed us to meet and deal with different issues. The article aims to address the problems of acquisition, processing and subsequent restitution of the extracted data of three-dimensional survey, whether by laser scanner or un-calibrated photogrammetry, both terrestrial and aerial. Also, issues relevant to the post-processing of the point clouds and the management of huge amounts of data are treated. Practical examples clearly show the need (i) to clarify what are the products that can be obtained from the application of each survey technique, (ii) to give information to correlate the products with the aims of the specific archaeological study, (iii) to give guidelines for the right integration of the different techniques in order to take full advantage of their potential and to allow that 3D survey will be seen not only as a container of infinite planes, sections and ortho-rectified photos, but as a real database itself, that can be queried to get 360-degree information.
