SYSTEM DESIGN:
Excavations and
Goals:
Archaeologists, artists and architectural historians have been been
investigating the ancient city of Petra ever since it was discovered
in 1812 by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt1
. The Great Temple is one of the largest free-standing buildings
in the central region of the city.
From Joukowsky 1998 :
"The Temple precinct measures an estimated 7560 m2 and is comprised, north to south, of a propylaeum (monumental entryway), a lower temenos (sacred area), twin exedrae (semicircular structures) flanked by broad stairways and an upper temenos - the sacred enclosure for the Temple itself. In the lower temenos are triple colonnades on the east and west."2
We are using survey and excavation data from the Great Temple site in Petra, Jordan. Our goal is to give archaeologists a venue to view and interact with all the three-dimensionally referenced data (architecture, artifacts, and other site data) from over 70 trenches throughout the site. This sort of a system is essential for archaeologists to explore the spatial relationships both within and between trenches. Up until now, "dynamic" data modeling has not been possible because there are no easy methods for modeling or interacting with 3D aspects of the excavated material.
We have proposed a system called Archave to perform spatial interaction, queries and a variety of different types analysis with the excavation data.
Site Modeling
- In Situ Architecture with Trenches:
The first step in building the system was to reconstruct the in situ
findings (
architecture
and associated
excavation trenches
(and the layers within them).
Trenches
The next
step was to join the site data with the Grosso Modo database of artifacts,
special finds and bulk finds and develop ways to allow the
archaeologists and other users to query and interact with the site and
data in the context of our cave IVR environment.
Go to the Implementation Page .
1 Joukowsky, Martha Sharp. 1998. Petra Great Temple, Volume I, Brown University Excavations, 1993-1997, Providence, Rhode Island: Martha Sharp Joukowsky, p. 30.
2 Ibid. p.11.