USING GAME ENGINES TO THE FULLEST: IMPLEMENTING CUSTOM SCRIPTS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-11-17

Although gaming software was not originally intended for archaeologists, analysis and interpretation of archaeological sites have much to gain from its implementation. Game engines such as Unity3D are exceptionally flexible, not only simulating real environments and physics but allowing researchers to manipulate them to answer specific questions. Using 3D reconstructions and scripting tools we can create the ideal conditions to test archaeological queries in an easy to control virtual setting. Additionally, thanks to metadata and paradata, these results are replicable and accessible to future researchers. Despite the potential however, game engines are rarely applied to the analysis of data, often being relegated to simply presenting archaeological sites to the general pulic. This paper aims to showcase examples of custom-written Unity3D scripts used to analyse and interpret sites in Neolithic Malta, demonstrating the advantages and limitations of this approach. Manipulation of space and lighting within temples and hypogea was an important part of Maltese architecture, yet given the incomplete nature of the archaeological sites our understanding of practices and beliefs is limited. Using Unity3D-based scripts, 3D reconstructions of the Ggantija temple complexes and of the Xaghra Brochtorff Circle hypogea are tested upon, revealing patterns of use. At Ggantija, a solar position script confirms a winter solstice alignment at the site. At the Brochtorff Circle, custom viewshed analysis shows a complex readjustment of interior space to allow for ritualistic ‘special effects’. These results help reanalyse archaeological data and demonstrate current interpretation in Neolithic Malta. The use of custom-written scripts also illustrates the advantages of query driven gaming software analysis, while also showing some of its limitations.


Author(s): Barratt, Robert (Queen’s University Belfast)