3D Computer Animations and Archaeological Reconstructions by Kevin L. Callahan
Website: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5579/stonehenge.html

This site developed by Kevin Callahan at the University of Minnesota offers several animation sequences and flyovers of major archaeological sites worldwide. The sites presented include Stonehenge , the Great Pyramids, Chichen Itza , Cahokia Mounds and several more. Callahan explains that his

3D Murale
3D Measurement & Virtual Reconstruction of Ancient Lost Worlds of Europe
Website : http://www.brunel.ac.uk/project/murale/home.html

The 3D Murale Project aims at developing and implementing 3D multimedia tools to “measure, reconstruct and visualize archaeological ruins in virtual reality.” The archaeological test site that the project is based is the ancient city of Sagalassos in Turkey . A goal of the project is to use 3D techniques not just as fancy reconstruction or visualization tools but also as principle resources for the recording, measuring, and cataloguing of archaeological data collected during site excavation.

A Virtual Tour of Dudley Castle in the Year 1550
Website: http://www.imint.freeserve.co.uk/heritage.htm

To access the images of Dudley Castle , simply click on the image of the castle's exterior. This takes you to a page that describes the Dudley Castle Virtual Tours System and also includes several 3D reconstructed images (4) of the castle. The Virtual Walkthrough of Dudley Castle is not actually provided on the site but apparently has been setup as a virtual display at the visitor's center of the actual castle remains in England . The website describes the processes involved in creating the walkthrough including decisions concerning user interaction with the model, real time rendering capabilities, and software selection.

ARCHAVE
Website : http://graphics.cs.brown.edu/research/sciviz/archaeology/archave/index.html
and http://www.lems.brown.edu/~vote/

Archave is an interactive VR system that models both an excavation (stratigraphic sequences, in situ artifacts, etc) and the reconstruction of a site (based on information from the excavation). Users can view excavation sequences and the features/artifacts recovered from excavations positioned in their “real or in situ” positions in the 3D site model. Through the systems interactive component, users can also query and retrieve information about the artifacts. The system is also designed for research allowing archaeologists to analyze (and visualize) the spatial relationships between objects in the system. ARCHAVE runs in different immersive virtual environments including the cave, the barco baron table, a head-mounted display and a desktop display. One of the test sites for system's cave environment application was The Great Temple in Petra , Jordan . This project has yet to be completed but preliminary finds and publications regarding the project and the entire ARCHAVE project can be found in the publications section on the site (located directly at the URL above).

Archaeoguide
Augmented Reality-based Cultural Heritage Onsite Guide
Website : http://archeoguide.intranet.gr/project.htm

Archaeoguide is currently building a 3D-VR system or an “Augmented Reality-based Cultural Heritage Onsite Guide” that will allow users to “virtually” view, interact with, and learn about cultural heritage sites. The pilot system will be tested at a world heritage site in Greece . This website explains the processes, hardware, and software upon which the system is to operate and also contains links to all of the recent publications and deliverables posted on the both the project's and system's development. More detailed explanations of the project and other technical details can be read in the various publications posted on the site.

Celebrating 1000 Years of the Olympic Games: A 3D VR of Ancient Olympia
Website : No longer available

In conjunction with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the Powerhouse Museum hosted an exhibition titled: 1000 Years of the Olympic Games – Treasures of Ancient Greece. Two principal components of this exhibition were the creation of a 3D VR of the ancient city of Olympia and the 3D scanning/imaging of the Statue of Zeus.

To read more on the project, read Cliff Ogleby's article entitled “ Olympia - home of the ancient and modern Olympic games a virtual reality three dimensional experience” at http://www.gisdevelopment.net/application/archaeology/general/archg0017.htm

Also visit http://www.osmosis.com.au/visualize/default.htm to view some of the 3D renderings of ancient Olympia .

Ceren Web Resource: Computer Modeling and Visualization for the Ceren Site in El Salvador
Website : http://www.cerensite.us/

Known as the “ Pompeii of the New World ,” the Ceren site was buried by ashes fourteen centuries ago. The website provides information about Ceren using Shockwave, QTVR interactive movies and VR fly-throughs. It is particularly neat to step inside the structures and to view them and the artifacts associated with them from various angles and locations. It appears that the artifacts displayed within each structure are positioned as they were when the structure was excavated.

The CRATE Project: Creating Realistic Animation through EAST
Website : http://www.cast.uark.edu/cast/crate/

This project focuses on the 3D recreation and reconstruction of the Parkin Archaeological Site located in Northeast Arkansas . In the first year of the project, the students reconstructed the interior of a typical 16 th century Casqui village house complete with artifacts which can be viewed in the animation sequence. The project was extended in the second year by augmenting the first years work with additional scenes and extended flythrough time and also by creating a secondary flyover of the entire site of Parkin (using Visual Nature Studio software). In addition to the animated movies, QTVR's of the 3D artifacts are also made available for viewing (and manipulation) by the user.

Dennis Holloway, An Architect in Northern New Mexico presents Virtual Reality Archaeology
Website : http://www.dennisrhollowayarchitect.com/html/VRArchaeology.html

Holloway's site features primarily 3D reconstructions of Native American structures in the Southwest. There are reconstructions of kivas, pueblos, churches, and entire villages, some of which have been “cyber montaged” or superimposed onto aerial photographs. He also has a QTVR panaorama of the Deracho site as well has several animations and construction sequences for various pueblos (one example – Pueblo del Arroyo). Overall there are approximately 30-40 3D reconstructions of Native American structures on the site. Holloway briefly describes his methods used for creating the reconstructions and sites the Macintosh program, VIDI Presenter Professional (no longer available), as his primary software of choice. Holloway also posts a link to his article titled “Native American Virtual Reality Archaeology: An Architect's Perspective” published in the text Virtual Reality in Archaeolog (sited in the Resource Compilations – Books section) .

Like-A-Fishhook/Ft. Berthold
Immersive Virtual Educational Environment

Website : http://fishhook.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu/project /

This site hosts several 3D animations and walkthroughs of the Like-A-Fishhook site in central North Dakota . The site, also known as Ft. Berthold , was occupied simultaneously by the Mandan , Arikara, and Hidatsa tribes and is currently underwater due to the damming of the Missouri River . While I could not view the “Simulation” page of the website, two walkthroughs, one of the village and one of a lodge, and an animation sequence were viewable. A brief history is also included along with old photographs of the site.

Sipapu Chetro Ketl Great Kiva: A 3D Reconstruction of a Sacred Anasazi Kiva
Website : http://sipapu.gsu.edu/html/kiva.html

This website hosts a Quicktime VR of a Great Kiva located in Chaco Canyon , New Mexico . There are several options to viewing the interior of the Kiva including an interactive movie, a “fly-through,” and a web-enhanced tour equipped with additional texts, images and artwork associated with the kiva. Within the kiva, there are fairly accurate depictions of ancient art and pottery. Audio files of Native American chants/music are also available and provide a nice touch while viewing the visualizations, particularly the “fly-through.” There is also an option to view and rotate the pottery pieces individually (VR object files). The VR Kiva was created using Metacreations Infini-D. Site created and designed by John Kanter of the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Georgia State University

Troia VR
Website : http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/troia/vr/vr0101_en.html

Troia VR is a series of 3D computer reconstructions that document the nine major phases of occupation/excavation of the city of Troy in Turkey . The phases cover over 4000 years (3000 BC – 1300 AD) of history of the city. For each of the nine phases (excluding Troy I), a series of 3D reconstructions are viewable by interactively clicking on highlighted areas of an aerial photograph of the city. The reconstructions are specific to certain areas of the site. Some of the reconstructions are displayed interactively with excavation data (actual images of the excavation) which can be viewed by moving the cursor from the 3D reconstruction to the descriptive text. Other reconstructions are displayed from multiple views and in varying levels of detail. The Troia VR Project sites archaeological documentation (excavation reports, site plans, photographs etc…), comparable sites, artistic representations, and ethnoarchaeology as the main building blocks for the 3D recreations of the ancient city.

Virtual Assyria Project
 The Virtual Assyria Project is a collaborative effort by UB (University of Buffalo) archaeologists, engineers and professionals at Learning Sites to reconstruct the ancient palaces and temples of Ancient Assyria (modern day Iraq).

Website #1: “The Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II at Nimrud .” Hosted by UB Virtual Site Museum at the University of Buffalo. http://www.classics.buffalo.edu/htm/UBVirtualSiteMuseum/summaryNimrud.htm

This is the University of Buffalo 's website describing the project. A summary of the project is given along with a list of project researchers as well as links to relevant news briefs. Descriptions detailing some of the methods used for the construction of the interactive virtual environments are also provided (i.e. the creation of VRML files and software packages used) and there are several preliminary Quicktime and Real Player sequences that can be viewed.

Website #2: “The Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II at Nimrud : An Interactive Publication – Prototype” published by The Learning Sites, Inc. http://www.learningsites.com/NWPalace/NWPalhome.html Site Updated 10 June 2002.

This site details more of the technical aspects associated with the creation of the 3D VR model of the northwest palace. The site includes a detailed description of how a rendered 3D model is generated using the appropriate software, scanned drawings and photographs. Recent renderings as well as a complete VR model of the palace throne room are also viewable. A description of the history of the palace and the project are also provided. Of particular importance is the discussion of the “rationale for the details of the reconstruction” under the “Recent Renderings” link. Links to relevant conference papers and presentations are also posted.

For a good general description of the project, read Patricia Donovan's article: “Palace unearthed with digital "tools:" UB archaeologists, engineers virtually "reconstruct" ancient Assyrian structure” at http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol33/vol33n3/n3.html

Virtual Wroxeter Roman Fortress
Website : http://www.arch-ant.bham.ac.uk/bufau/research/bt/default.htm

Created by the University of Birmingham Field Archaeology Unit , this virtual reconstruction is the first of a phase of models designed to document and illustrate the history of the Roman fortress in Wroxeter , England . Virtual Wroxeter is an educational package made available for download and installation on personal computers. The package contains a 3D model of the site as well as descriptive texts made available in three education levels that describe various features and events associated with the site. Users can naviagate the 3D model using the control panel provided by the software and click on various features in the model to learn more about them. A guided fly-through is also provided as an option. According to the website, the model was generated based on data from excavations, aerial photography and geophysics. For the buildings that had no documentary evidence, studies of other similar fortresses were consulted.