Bulletin des sciences géographiques de l'INCT
Volume 13, Numéro 2, Pages 40-50
2009-11-30

Going To Shawbak (jordan) And Getting The Data Back: Toward A 3d Gis Dedicated Ta Medieval Archaeology

Authors : Drap P . Seinturier J . Chambelland J-c . Gaillard G . Pires H . Vannini G . Mucciotti M . Pruno E .

Abstract

The paper presents an interdisciplinary project which is a work in progress towards a 3D Geographical Information System (GIS) dedicated to Cultural Heritage with a specifie focus application on the Castle of Shawbak, also known as the Crac de Montréal, one of the best preserved rural medieval settlements in the entire Middle East. We develop a set of tools for medieval archaeologi­cal analysis ranging from the production of traditional graphical documentation Iike orthophotos and low-resolution 3D models (VRML) to the use of 3D/2D GIS through the creation of centralized and exhaustive object storage tool both tor archaeological and photogrammetrie data. Using these tools archaeologists will be able to produce, store, visualize and manage both archaeoIogical and 3D data, according to their needs. The Shawbak archaeological project is a specifie and integrated project between medieval archaeological research, conservative restoration and site's valorization. Focusing mainly on stratigraphical analysis of upstanding structures provides archaeologists with a huge amount of data to collect on site and useful records that will be used to understand the structures from stratigraphical and technological point of views. The toundation stone tor this project is the analysis of documents produced and used by archaeologists in order to identify specifie archaeological require­ments.The first phase is to give archaeologists traditional photogrammetrie tools so that they can be autono­ mous in producing graphical documents (taking photographs, photo orientation and traditional ortho­ photo generation). The second step is to develop a common model structure for both photogrammet­rie and archaeological data storage using a unique database and allowing to Iink archaeological data with 3D measurements. Specifie photogrammetry tools dedicated to stone by stone measurement have been under development since 2000 to help archaeologists to easily produce photogrammetrie surveys. These tools are now integrated in a more complex system which allows automatic production of 2D or 3D representations from archaeological database queries. The graphical 2D docun1ents produced through this process look like the handmade drawings done by archaeologists using orthophotos. The 3D GIS is the last step of this chain and aims the automatic production of 3D models through archaeo­ logical database queries: these 3D models are in fàct a graphical image of the database and at the same time the intertàce through which the user is able to modifY it. This approach enables automatic 3D thematic representation and new archaeological analysis through bidirectional-links between 3D represen tation and archaeological data. Ali these developments are written in Java within Arpenteur framework. (Arpenteur, 2008).

Keywords

Medieval Archaeology, Stratigraphy, Modeiling, Visualization, Orthoimage, GIS