Terrestrial Scanning / Archaeology & Cultural Heritage

W. Neubauer: "From Practice to Theory – Expanding the stratigraphic recording into real 3D", VIAVIAS 02/2008 23.07.2008

On many archaeological excavations world-wide latest technological equipment is in use for digital documentation of the excavation process. Digital cameras, total-stations, computer hard- and software speed up the documentation and enhance the quality as well. We worked for years mainly at the site Schwarzenbach-Burg on the problem of a complete digital documentation of the archaeological stratification destroyed by the excavation process. Our practical fieldwork showed that there is still no profound theoretical background defining the practical framework of documentation and therefore the efficient use of latest technology. As any archaeological excavation deals with a unique stratification - a four dimensional phenomenon - the complete three-dimensional documentation of any unit of stratification and its order in the time arrow by the means of a stratigraphic sequence is of crucial importance for a complete recording of the archaeological excavation process.