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The Amarna 3D Scanning Project

 

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Amarna 3D Scanning and Geophysical Projects

 Image from AmarnaProject.com
Amarna was the short-lived capital of the Egyptian empire envisioned and constructed by the pharaoh Akhenaten during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom. Construction was begun in 1347 BCE and the city was abandoned after Akhenaten's death a mere 15 years later in 1332 BCE. Dr Barry Kemp and others from Cambridge University, the Amarna Trust and other institutions have spend many years investigating the site with the participation and cooperation of the Egyptian Government and particulary the Supreme Council of Antiquities. 

In March of 2008, researchers from CAST accompanied the University of Arkansas Bioarchaeological Field School and the Amarna Trust of the University of Cambridge to the former site of Amarna, 194 miles (312 km) south of Cairo. Using long and short-ragge 3D laser scanners, the CAST team conduct high-density survey (HDS) of various architectural remains at the site as well as collected high-definition scans of artifacts and art of the Amarna culture. Initial test geophysical data was acquired. This was followed by brief geophysical survey in 2009.  Magnetic gradiometry and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) were employed to determine the effectiveness of each technology at the site.  It was also hoped that the data might reveal the locations of possible statuary dumps left behind from previous archaeological expeditions. 

A total of 21,200 square meters were surveyed with magnetic gradiometry and 3600 square meters with GPR.  The data revealed walls from both excavated and unexcavated buildings, possible tree pits from a garden, and a previously excavated statuary dump.  These results will be used to develop an extensive survey of unexcavated portions of the city to be conducted during a joint CAST-Cotsen Institute field school in early 2011.