New Eyes to Old Graphics. Rock Art in the Emirate of Sharjah.
Xosefina Otero
Abstract Xosefina OTERO ¹, Mercedes FARJAS ¹, Sabah JASIM ² ¹Technical University of Madrid, Spain ² Sharjah Directorate of Antiquities, Department of Culture and Information, Sharjah Government, U.A.E.
In this paper we present new methods of the documentation and registration of the petroglyphs of the exceptional archaeological site located on Khor Fakkan, emirate of Sharjah, on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates along the Gulf of Oman, and coordinates 24º59'06.06'' N - 56º20'36.70'' E .
The engravings on the surface of the serpentine rock fragments, of the Semail ophiolite complex that was generated when the Saudí plate was introduced under the Iran-Zagros, in the Cretaceous, are made with the technique and striped characteristic of the Bronze Age-2000 BC schematic style. We intend to elaborate on their study ensuring their conditions and perfect conservation using the latest technologies available and employing the working methods of the archeology of the landscape, which analyses the spatial dimension of the human group that performed it.
One of the our new tools to be analysed is the EyesMap tablet, a new professional device that allows the measurement and real time 3D modelling and scanning the stone supports and recording them in three dimensions. The new equipment uses computer vision techniques fused with large and close range photogrammetry, infrared and stereoscopic RGB cameras, sensor calibration precision. The research focuses on advanced measurement techniques that allow to make the virtual reconstruction of the site and the petroglyphs details and fit it in its original landscape to reproduce the environmental conditions in which the authors of the petroglyphs and their communities lived.
Keywords: petroglyphs, Bronze Age, schematic style, 3D scannig and modeling, large and close range photogrammetry, infrared and stereoscopic RGB cameras.
