Reconstruction of Koch, Russian rowing/sailing boat of the 17th century
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 02/08/2016

Koch is a Russian rowing/sailing boat adapted for the heavy Arctic conditions. A virtual 3D reconstruction of a 17th-century koch commenced in 2014. Precise engineering drawings were unknown to Russian boat makers of the 17th century, while the few pictures of koch and inconsistent written sources do not allow for an authentic reconstruction of all details and specific features of the vessel. The original boat parts discovered during archaeological studies in Mangazeya, the first transpolar Russian town in Siberia, served the unique resource for the reconstruction. The area had no forests to provide wood for construction, so houses were built from dismantled boats. Structures built entirely from framings were surveyed in Mangazeya. Boat parts are perfectly preserved in the cultural layer of permafrost. For the purposes of reconstruction, we used the two best preserved koch framings dating back to the 17th century. We needed to perform 3D scanning of 293 boat parts. Those parts represented individual pieces of various forms and sizes (from 0.3┬ám to 5.6┬ám). This diversity was the key factor when choosing the equipment and elaborating scanning methods. We used scanners GoScan 3D and GoScan 50 by Creaform with the optimal resolution of 1┬ámm. Textures were identified using photo camera Nikon D700 and the SfM (structure from motion) 3D model technique. Agisoft Photoscan Pro software was used to create low-poly models with applied textures. We used Geomagic Wrap software to perform the final processing of the scanned model and to copy the textures from low to high poly. 3D Studio max software was used to reproduce the original look of the parts by removing traces of secondary use and natural wood deformation. The same software was used for virtual assembly of the parts and 3D reconstruction of the whole boat.

Mikhail V. Vavulin, Olga V. Zaytceva, Andrei A. Pushkarev