Digital archaeology field recording in the 4th dimension: ArchField C++ a 4D GIS for digital field work
Type
Conference PaperKAUST Department
Visual Computing Center (VCC)Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) Division
Date
2016-02-25Online Publication Date
2016-02-25Print Publication Date
2015-09Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/621248
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
With the rapid adoption of laser scanning and photogrammetry among the archaeological community the creation of point cloud `data scaffolds' and digital documentation of archaeological sites is now becoming common. In field excavations, however, the continual exposure of archaeological layers requires a digital toolset in which to record, categorize and spatially locate artifacts, installations, and loci within a site's daily 3D or aerial scan. We present ArchField C++, the latest version of our digital field recording software that enables real-time digital GIS 3D Top Plan production within a rendering engine designed for visualizing massive 3D datasets. ArchField directly connects to Total Stations and our RTK GPS units to record sub-centimeter measurements for artifacts, scanning markers, loci boundaries, and camera positions. The processing pipeline enables the generation of publishable orthographic and perspective maps from the first day of excavation to the last. As a backend it uses a PostGIS database and the ability to export and import various vector, raster, DEM and 3D datasets that can be hosted by on-line geo-referenced databases. We present the application of ArchField C++ to our 2014 field excavations of the early Iron Age site of Khirbat al-Jariyah located in Southern Jordan.Citation
Smith NG, Howland M, Levy TE (2015) Digital archaeology field recording in the 4th dimension: ArchField C++ a 4D GIS for digital field work. 2015 Digital Heritage. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/DigitalHeritage.2015.7419505.Sponsors
KAUST, King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyJournal
2015 Digital HeritageConference/Event name
2nd Digital Heritage International Congress: Analysis and Interpretation - Theory, Methodologies, Preservation and Standards - Digital Heritage Projects and Applications, Digital Heritage 2015ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1109/DigitalHeritage.2015.7419505