3D-ASRAF - 3D numerical models for the Analysis, the Study, and the Reproduction of Archaeological Findings

Project leaders

Andrea Angelini, Assayed Muhammad Mustafa Elbanna

Agreement

EGITTO - ASRT - Academy of Scientific Research and Technology

Call

CNR-ASRT 2016-2017

Department

Social sciences and humanities, cultural heritage

Thematic area

Social sciences and humanities, cultural heritage

Status of the project

New

Research proposal

The museums often contain archaeological findings belonging to different collections. Unfortunately, in many cases, remarkable and wide artifacts are divided and dislocated in several museum centers, in different countries. In this way, many ancient findings are not completely available since they are undressed of a part of their own meaning. In recent years the research of a methodology in the museum fruition has had a significant success thanks to the use of information technologies (IT) and computer vision. They allowed innovative communication contents and representations, different from the old methods. The technologies of virtual representation are able to define a research approach from different points of view. The unlimited resources of 3d data management allows not only to copy an object in a museum, but to duplicate parts of an artefact located in different places. The technologies currently available in the 3D acquiring systems are able to bridge this gap, combining more archaeological collections stored in the museums around the world.
The research pays attention to different archaeological collections preserved at Suez National Museum, in Egypt. The overall goals of the project are:
ü Using advanced and not-invasive technologies to document some important objects;
ü Checking new methodological protocols;
ü Studying the archaeological artifacts;
ü Realizing educational items;
ü Enhancing the cultural heritage.
A significant case study concerns the monumental stele on the ancient canal, excavated along the Wadi Tumilat. The canal joined the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, as now the Suez Canal. In Persian period, some stelae were erected along its course: one face of each stele was engraved with hieroglyphs while the other was carved in cuneiform. Unfortunately the stele found are incomplete: one, from Tell el-Maskhuta, is located at the Suez National Museum, while another is in the Cairo Museum. The study and the restitution of such important historical documents is related to the work of the archaeological CNR mission which works on the important site of Tell el-Maskhuta.
The main idea of the project is to join together different archaeological findings of the stelae into a single virtual object through the use of the latest techniques of 3D acquisition and processing. Furthermore the aim is also to compositionally characterise the single parts of the stelae to study their conservation conditions. The methodology consists in developing an acquisition and elaboration procedure of numerical data, through the use of the two main followings techniques:
ü Digital photogrammetric systems;
ü X-ray fluorescence;
Digital photogrammetry is a technique of detecting reliable and accurate data, considering its inception at the end of the '800 in conjunction with the discovery of photography. In the last twenty years, the remarkable development, evolution and renewal in different application fields allowed to get high quality 3D numerical data. The results are currently so much similar to those of laser scanners that actually academics prefer to talk about photo-scanning instead of photo-modeling. The experimentation involves the use of the photogrammetric technique known as Visual Structure From Motion (VSFM), that is able to correlate objects represented in different pictures, determining the coordinates of each point on the image. The numerical model (point clouds), which maintains the colorimetric characteristics associated with the camera sensor, is transformed into a surface model (mesh) and further processed to create detailed maps such as Digital Elevation Model (DEM), confidence maps, normal maps, useful to the study and the analysis of the archaeological artefacts. Complete numerical models will then be assembled into a single virtual object, characterized by different colours and basic information for further investigations, as the depth maps or drawings. The experimentation will aid the reconstruction and virtual reproduction of the main characteristics of the objects, included those of epigraphic inscriptions. The purpose is to establish a data processing procedure for the hieroglyphic and cuneiform engravings, starting from high resolution virtual models to the bi-dimensional results, through alternative ways of representation. The elaborations will be carried out in order to identify different forms of 3D and 2D representations, trying to improve the readability of the engravings and their interpretation. The results of the processing will be a valid document for the epigraphists in order to study the ancient languages and to recognize the technique and the epigraphic style of each inscription. This study aim to prove heterogeneous and international competences of artisans and scribes in the Tell el-Maskhuta area.
At the same time X-ray fluorescence will be used for the elemental analysis of the constituent materials to obtain information about their composition, fabrication technique and conservation conditions. Its advantages are that it is strictly non-destructive, fast and with good detection limits. Moreover the equipment is portable and can be used in situ, with no need to move the objects.
The results will be joined and showed in a virtual area in the Suez National Museum and a video will explain the main operations performed to reach the final purposes of the research.
Workshops are planned in order to exhibit and discuss about the achieved results. In these occasions absent parts of the stelae will be replicated with a 3D printer at the same representation scale of the originals, thus returning the complete archaeological meaning to the artefacts.

Research goals

- Combining different disciplines (human science and hard science) in order to enhance the knowledge of important documents for the Egyptian History and better understand the constituent materials and conservation conditions;
- Checking new methodological protocols of acquisition and processing procedures that could be used in different contexts and exported in other museum centers;
- Realizing complete virtual models of archaeological stelae, focusing the attention to the missing parts preserved in other museums or areas in Egypt;
- Realizing a replica of a stele in the Suez National Museum at different representation scale, supported by 3D printer;
- Improving the readability of the inscriptions preserved on the stelae such a valid instrument of investigation and interpretation for the epigraphists;
- Epigraphic study based on 3D models and aimed at the analysis of the ancient languages and the recognition of the technique and the epigraphic style of each inscription. This study aims to prove heterogeneous and international competences of artisans and scribes in the Tell el Maskhuta area.
- Organization of two workshops focused on the exhibition and discussion of the achieved results, also realizing educational items for the participants.

Last update: 20/04/2024