Teaching 3D archaeological documentation in the field and classroom
0Jari Pakkanen, Ann Brysbaert
The 3D field-documentation courses of the Finnish Institute at Athens were started in 2014 and they have been run at the Bronze Age site of Tiryns in the Argolid and at the Archaic to Hellenistic town at Ambelakia on Salamis. Their aim has been to train students without previous experience in archaeological documentation to work with reflectorless total stations and photogrammetry. In 2014–2016 and 2018 these courses and fieldwork were run in collaboration with Leiden University. In these field-courses students were introduced to both equipment and software used in intensive 3D feature-by-feature documentation. They learn to use reflectorless total stations as a drawing tool and the advantages the method has over traditional static total station work with prism. The second technique taught was photogrammetry, including how to combine the produced line-documentation with photogrammetry models. Students quickly learned the principles of 3D work and how to use the hardware and post-processing software. Behind the fast learning process lies in the one-to-one teaching and the hands-on work with in-situ archaeological remains. The time in the field and number of repetitions need to be intense enough so that the procedures become automatic. This paper aims to illustrate the field-course processes and how used methods have developed over the years. It discusses how the obtained skills have fed into the subsequent studies and research of the students and colleagues who have participated. Teaching on the field courses is compared with running classroom-based 3D documentation teaching at Royal Holloway, University of London.