Digital Past 2014

A new approach to 3D documentation of excavation and landscape at Tel Akko, Israel

Jamie Quartermaine and Ann E Killebrew will be presenting the 'Total Archaeology Project'. The work is being undertaken under the auspices of the University of Haifa and directed by A.E. Killebrew and M Artzy (University of Haifa).

The project has a multi-faceted approach to investigating Akko's past that includes systematic excavation, an intensive artifact survey, a robust conservation plan and the development of a cutting edge multi-dimensional 3D documentation program.

The recording system has been designed to address the needs to map very complex and deep stratigraphy in the excavations, to integrate this with landscape surveys across the rest of the tell and to link in with archival data from previous excavations. The primary 3D graphic data is created by means of photogrammetry and uses innovative and state of the art software to generate modelled surfaces at each stage of the excavation and the overall tell. This process utilises digital aerial photography that is captured alternately from a photographic mast, a balloon and from a small remote-contolled hexacopter. The resulting 3D interactive record produces a total record of the excavated data, provides a valuable legacy record of Tel Akko's archaeological features, and creates an effective public presentational tool.

The same techniques have also been used to model a Roman settlement at Qazrin on the Golan Heights, in Israel and accurately record the complex building remains.The use of the technique on various sites across the country has demonstrated it versatility and efficiency and has shown that it has the potential to revolutionise the way archaeology monuments are recorded in the future.