Articles by Marcos Fernandez Ruiz

The domus de janas are the typical rock-cut tombs of Sardinian Late Prehistory. Many of them are decorated. Motifs are made with different techniques: painting, sculpture and incision. Architectural elements, busts, cattle and sheep, and horn-shaped features are represented. Painting is generally used to decorate the ceilings, the jambs of doors, walls and false doors. The difficulty of detecting traces of paint complicates the identification of the ancient use of this decorative technique. The aim of this work is to describe the great utility of the plugin DStretch, extension of the ImageJ software, as a method of computer analysis and processing of multispectral images on the paint traces at the sides of the Perdonighéddu domus de janas (Sorgono, NU, Sardinia, Italy). This system opens up new perspectives in the study of the paintings found in the domus de janas, by allowing a crisper image of the decoration, through an alteration of digital photography chromatic scale. The analysis of the images of this grave reveals the presence of traces of painting that decorate the sides of the entrance by forming two doorposts supporting the lintel.