Visualizing the Site – Creating a rock art site in 3D!
Step 1 – Acquiring the 3D data for the site
The Optech ILRIS-3D laser scanner is used to acquire a 3-Dimensional model of the rock features at each of the sites. The scanner is setup in multiple locations around each site in order to obtain a complete and accurate 3D model of the rock. The number of setup locations at each site varies depending upon the size and layout of the site. For example, the scanner was set up at eight different locations
of the rock overhang and because of the extremely sloped landscape in which the shelter is set.
A variety of different scan resolutions were tested during the scanning of the first site - the Narrows . The first three scans of the Narrows were acquired at a 3mm resolution in efforts to try and capture the detail of the petroglyphs found in the shelter. However upon evaluating this first round of data, only the deeply incised petroglyphs were apparent in the scans. Because the Optech is only accurate to about a 3mm depth resolution, it was decided that a higher resolution scan would not yield better results. Additionally, the 3mm data set was simply too large for the visualization of the entire site. Therefore it was decided that a 1cm resolution was sufficient for acquiring 3D data for the rock features at each site. Additionally, if any petroglyphs were found at a site, a higher resolution scan of the area around the petroglyphs would be acquired for documentation purposes.
