From plan to volume: the need for archaeological analysis in 3D modeling

Jean-Claude Margueron, Jean-Olivier Gransard-Desmond

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2012, Supplemento 3, 397-410

Abstract

Prior to 3D modelling, the volume of the remains of monuments was represented in two dimensions by means of drawings. The problem of analysing archaeological documents had already arisen with significant consequences on the final result, in particular when only the foundations of the structure had been found. Instead of an argued reconstruction, the reconstruction was an elevated projection of the plan drawn up by the excavator, the superstructure thus being merely a product of his imagination. Since then, the use of information technology has not changed the situation at all: the final document still lacks scientific value; the superstructure is still a product of the imagination. However, the authors point out, it could be obtained scientifically for any remains using the convergence of multiple indicators pointing in the same direction and towards the same conclusion.

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