3D documentation of ceramic vessels with the use of modern measurement technologies
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 22/11/2020

Digital photogrammetry is quickly becoming a standard documentation tool in archaeology. Photogrammetric techniques are used to document both the findings of an archaeological site and the whole excavation. This paper is focused on a method of recording and documenting the  surface  of  small  objects  by  means  of  automatic  photography  device  called  FocusSphere.  It is an original, inexpensive device prototype developed for the purpose of such a documen-tation. Resolution of 3D models obtained using FocusSphere is up to 0,1 mm depending on a  non-metric  camera  and  a  lens  which  were  used.  Design  and  principle  of  operation  of  the  device are presented in the paper. However, the main goal of the study was the assessment of FocusSphere suitability for the documentation of ancient ceramic vessels belonging to the Cyp-riot and Greek cultural circle. The research work was carried out in two stages. The first stage was  to  determine  repeatability  and  accuracy  of  FocusSphere  (ability  to  achieve  repetition  of  the same position and ability to achieve desired position). For this purpose, precise measuring instrument (laser tracker) was used. The documentation of selected ceramic vessels differing in shape and surface characteristics was carried out in the second stage of the research. In order to assess the accuracy of the 3D models obtained by photogrammetric method the reference data  were  collected.  They  were  cross  sections  of  vessels  measured  by  means  of  metrological  device (measuring arm) guaranteeing the measurement accuracy at the sub-millimeter level. The results obtained were also compared with classic archaeological drawings. The methods of development of data collected by two different techniques (FocusSphere, measuring arm) along with indication of their advantages and disadvantages were finally discussed.


Edyta Puniach, Paweł Ćwiąkała, Mateusz Boruchowski, Witold Niewiem, Kamila Nocoń