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Archaeological Laser Scanning

 

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  Archaeological laser scanning from around the world

Laser scanners are a class of instruments that utilize LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology. Simply stated, these instruments use an infrared beam of light to calculate and record the distance to an object, typically as a data point with x,y,z coordinates. Given the speed of these instruments, large numbers of data points can be collected quickly and at a high sampling interval, or density, across the surface of an object to create a three-dimensional (3D) digital model.  More details on the technical aspects involved in using laser scanners is provided in Techniques in 3D Laser Scanning.

Archaeological laser scanning refers to the use of these instruments to accurately record archaeological sites, monumental architecture, and artifacts as 3D computer models. These models, in turn, can then be used for a suite of purposes including documentation, visualization, and analysis.

Researchers at CAST became involved in archaeological laser scanning in 2003 with the acquisition of an Optech ILRIS-3D laser scanner with funding from a Major Research Instrumentation Grant (BCS 0321286) through the National Science Foundation. In the spring of 2006, an close-range Minolta VIVID-9i was added to CAST's inventory of research instruments. In 2010, with further support from NSF (Grant #0918070), the center has also acquired a Z+F 5006i, Leica C10 and a Breuckmann smartSCAN HE.   Since the acquisition of these instruments, they been used at archaeological sites across the U.S., as well as in Bolivia, Peru, Italy, Greece and Egypt.