Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-2r2wp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-16T09:48:10.962Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Virtual Reconstruction as Archaeological Observation: Embracing New Ways of Treating Sites, Places and Landscapes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2019

Matthew J. Douglass ,
Zachary R. Day ,
Jeremy C. Brunette ,
Peter Bleed  and
Douglas Scott
Matthew J. Douglass*
Affiliation:
College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 149b Hardin Hall, 3310 Holdrege Street, Lincoln, NE 68583-0996
Zachary R. Day
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, 622 Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045-7556
Jeremy C. Brunette
Affiliation:
Los Alamos National Laboratory P.O. Box 1663, Mail Stop J978, Los Alamos, NM 87545
Peter Bleed
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Nebraska, 816 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln NE 68588-0368
Douglas Scott
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Colorado Mesa University, 1100 North Avenue, Grand Junction, CO 81501-3122
*
(mdouglass3@unl.edu, corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Virtual Reconstruction is a powerful tool broadly suited to a diverse array of archaeological heritage applications. In practice, however, reconstruction has largely focused on grand and monumental sites. Here we present two case studies–one from southern Oklahoma, the other from western Nebraska–to explore the use of this technology for more common heritage applications. The goal of this article is to advertise the dilemma we faced with communicating information on ephemeral sites and how we, as nonspecialists, solved the issue using affordable and accessible digital tools. Our workflow makes use of common tools (GIS) and open source software and online tutorials provide step by step instruction to support its replication. In presenting our experiences and the results of these efforts, we hope to spur similar applications in the use of Virtual Reconstruction to communicate information on archaeological heritage more broadly.

La reconstrucción virtual es una poderosa herramienta ampliamente utilizada en aplicaciones relacionadas con el patrimonio arqueológico. En práctica, sin embargo, la reconstrucción se ha centrado principalmente en sitios grandiosos y monumentales. Aquí presentamos dos estudios de caso —uno del sur de Oklahoma y el otro del oeste de Nebraska— para explorar el uso de esta tecnología para aplicaciones de patrimonio más comunes. El objetivo de este documento es presentar el dilema al que nos enfrentamos al comunicar información sobre sitios efímeros y explicar la manera en que resolvimos este problema utilizando herramientas digitales asequibles y accesibles. Nuestro flujo de trabajo hace uso de herramientas comunes como los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) y software de código abierto, y los tutoriales en línea proporcionan instrucciones paso a paso para respaldar su replicación. Al presentar nuestras experiencias y los resultados de estos esfuerzos, esperamos impulsar aplicaciones similares en el uso de la reconstrucción virtual para comunicar más ampliamente información sobre el patrimonio arqueológico.

Keywords

Virtual reconstructionGreat Plainshistorical archaeologyUnity game engineReconstrucción virtualGreat Plainsarqueología históricamotor de juego Unity

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 127 - 139
Copyright
Copyright 2019 © Society for American Archaeology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES CITED

Armstrong-Fumero, Fernando, and Gutierrez, Julio Hoil, editors 2017 Legacies of Space and Intangible Heritage, Archaeology, Ethnohistory, and the Politics of Cultural Continuity in the Americas. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Aron, Cindy S. 1999 Working at Play: A History of Vacations in the United States. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bennington-Castro, Joseph 2017 These Technologies Are Giving New Life to the Ancient World. NBCNews.com, September 21, 2017. https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/these-technologies-are-giving-new-life-ancient-world-ncna792921, accessed January 21, 2019.Google Scholar
Bleed, Peter, and Scott, Douglas D. 2009 Archeological Interpretation of the Frontier Battle at Mud Springs. Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences 19:13–25.Google Scholar
Bleed, Peter, DeVore, Steven L., Scott, Douglas D., Renner, Amanda, and Young, Allison 2017 Archeological Investigations of Overland Trails and Civil War Era Features at Mud Springs Station and the Rush Creek Trail Crossing in Western Nebraska. Midwest Archeological Center Archeological Report 14, Lincoln, Nebraska.Google Scholar
Boeger, Palmer H. 1987 Oklahoma Oasis: From Platt National Park to Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Western Heritage Books, Muskogee, Oklahoma.Google Scholar
Brunette, Jeremy 2015 Sulphur Springs, Indian Territory: An Archaeology of Tourism and Transition. Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.Google Scholar
Brunette, Jeremy, Day, Zachary, and Douglass, Matthew 2018 Sulphur Springs, Indian Territory 1900: A Virtual Reconstruction. https://www.unl.edu/plains/sulphur-springs-indian-territory-virtual-reconstruction.Google Scholar
Chopra, Aidan 2010 Google SketchUp for Dummies. Wiley, Indianapolis, Indiana.Google Scholar
Day, Zachary, Douglass, Matthew, Bleed, Peter, Scott, Douglas, and Brunette, Jeremy 2018a Mud Spring Station, Nebraska Territory 1865: A Virtual Reconstruction. https://www.unl.edu/plains/mud-springs-virtual-reconstruction.Google Scholar
Day, Zachary, Douglass, Matthew, Brunette, Jeremy 2018b Archaeological Virtual Reconstructions Tutorials. https://www.unl.edu/plains/virtual-reconstruction-tutorials.Google Scholar
Der Manuelian, Peter 2013 Giza 3D: Digital Archaeology and Scholarly Access to the Giza Pyramids: the Giza Project at Harvard University. In Digital Heritage International Congress (DigitalHeritage), Vol. 2, pp. 727–734. IEEE.Google Scholar
Douglass, Matthew, Lin, Sam, and Chodoronek, Michael 2015 The Application of 3-D Photogrammetry for In-field Documentation of Archaeological Features. Advances in Archaeological Practice 3:136–152.Google Scholar
Douglass, Matthew, Nycz, Chris, and Brunette, Jeremy 2016 Archaeological Inventory, Testing, and Data Development in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Murray County, Oklahoma. Midwest Archeological Center, National Parks Service, Lincoln, Nebraska.Google Scholar
Douglass, Matthew, Kuhnel, Dennis, Magnani, Matthew, Hittner, Luke, Chodoronek, Michael, and Porter, Samantha 2017 Community Outreach, Digital Heritage and Private Collections: a Case Study from the North American Great Plains. World Archaeology 49(5):623–638.Google Scholar
Douglass, Matthew, Day, Zachary, and Brunette, Jeremy 2018 Great Plains Archaeology Virtual Reconstructions. https://www.unl.edu/plains/great-plains-archaeological-virtual-reconstructions.Google Scholar
Gaede, Frederick G. 2001 The Federal Civil War Shelter Tent. O'Donnell Publications, Civil War Monograph Series No. 1. Alexandria, Virginia.Google Scholar
Gill, Alyson A. 2009 Digitizing the Past: Charting New Courses in the Modeling of Virtual Landscapes. Visual Resources 25(4):313–332.Google Scholar
González-Tennant, Edward, and González-Tennant, Diana 2016 The Practice and Theory of New Heritage for Historical Ar. Historical Archaeology 50(1):186–203.Google Scholar
Google SketchUp 2018 Training videos http://sketchup.google.com/training/videos.html, accessed August 20, 2018.Google Scholar
Grün, Armin, Remondino, Fabio, and Zhang, Li 2004 Photogrammetric Reconstruction of the Great Buddha of Bamiyan, Afghanistan. The Photogrammetric Record 19(107):177–199.Google Scholar
Lercari, Nicola 2017 3D Visualization and Reflexive Archaeology: A Virtual Reconstruction of Çatalhöyük History Houses. Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 6:10–17.Google Scholar
Magnani, Matthew, Guttorm, Anni, and Magnani, Natalia 2018 Three-dimensional, Community-based Heritage Management of Indigenous Museum Collections: Archaeological Ethnography, Revitalization and Repatriation at the Sámi Museum Siida. Journal of Cultural Heritage 31:162–169.Google Scholar
McChristian, Douglas C. 2003 The Great Health Giving Mecca and Summer Resort: Platt National Park, the Early Years. Historic Resources Survey. On file at Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Oklahoma.Google Scholar
Procedural Worlds 2018 Procedural Worlds Support. Electronic document, https://proceduralworlds.freshdesk.com/support/home, accessed August 20, 2018.Google Scholar
Rowen, Richard D., editor 1964 The Second Nebraska's Campaign Against the Sioux. Nebraska History 44:3–53.Google Scholar
Sanders, Donald H. 2014 Virtual Heritage: Researching and Visualizing the Past in 3D. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies 2(1):30–47.Google Scholar
Sanders, Donald H. 2015 Advances in Virtual Heritage: Conditions and Caveats. Digital Heritage 2:643–646.Google Scholar
Scott, Douglas, Bleed, Peter, and Renner, Amanda 2016 Battlespace 1865: Archaeology of Landscapes, Strategies, and Tactics of the North Platte Campaign, Nebraska. Oxbow Books, Havertown, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Smith, Laurajane 2006 Uses of Heritage. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
UNESCO 2017 Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. WHC. 17/01, Paris, France.Google Scholar
Unity 2018 Learn Unity. Electronic document, https://unity3d.com/learn, accessed August 20, 2018.Google Scholar
Von Schwerin, Jennifer, Richards-Rissetto, Heather, Remondino, Fabio, Agugario, Giorgio, and Girardi, Gabrio 2013 The MayaArch3D Project: A 3D WebGIS for Analyzing Ancient Architecture and Landscapes. Anthropology Faculty Publications 68, http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub/68, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.Google Scholar
Wahbeh, W., Nebiker, S., and Fangi, G. 2016 Combining Public Domain and Professional Panoramic Imagery for the Accurate and Dense 3D Reconstruction of the Destroyed Bel Temple in Palmyra. ISPRS Annals of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing & Spatial Information Sciences 3: 81–88.Google Scholar
Wendrich, Willeke, Simpson, Bethany, and Elgewely, Eiman 2014 Karanis in 3D: Recording, Monitoring, Recontextualizing, and the Representation of Knowledge and Conjecture. Near Eastern Archaeology 77(3):233–237.Google Scholar