Airborne laser scanning (ALS) data is increasingly distributed freely for ever larger territories, albeit usually in only low resolution. This data source is extensively used in archaeology; however, various remains of past human activities are not recorded in sufficient detail, or are missing completely. The main purpose of this paper is to present a cost-effective approach providing reliable and accurate 3D documentation of the deserted medieval settlement of Hound Tor, a complex site consisting of preserved stone building walls and field system remains. The proposed procedure integrates ALS data with structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry into a single data source (point cloud). Taking advantage of the benefits of both techniques (reclassified ALS data documents the hinterland, while SfM records the residential area in high detail), an enhanced 3D model has been created surpassing the available ALS data and reflecting the actual state of preserved features. The final outputs will help with the management of the site, its presentation to the general public, and also to enrich understanding of it. As both data sources are currently easily accessible and the proposed procedure has only limited budget requirements, it can be easily adopted and applied extensively (e.g., for virtual preservation of threatened complex sites and areas).

No abstract

Abstract The Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) recently represents widely used method for documentation of archaeological artifacts and research in this field. The RTI creates digital presentation of images from sequence of snaps with lighting from different directions. Information about lighting from this group of images is mathematically synthesized in a RTI image which can help the user to illuminate interactively the object surface and improve the final image in significant details. The RTI method is very successful in improving details of badly preserved coins, sometimes illegible for the first sight.

The paper deals with the plowlands of deserted medieval villages (DMVs) representing a specific data source of medieval settlement research. Its basic priorities are based on the needs of archaeological heritage protection for a better definition of DMVs’ hinterlands, which are significantly less distinguishable in comparison with villages’ intravilans. At the same time, not much attention was paid to this area, even in known or well-surveyed sites. These issues are important especially in the context of what exactly we are looking for within the DMVs, how we define it and where we can find the best examples worthy of protection or further study. The basis of the presented work is the processing of a digital terrain model derived from airborne laser scanning data. The primary procedure consists of the ALS data processing into a DEM, its subsequent visualization, and classification of objects in DMVs’ hinterlands, which is further supplemented by selected examples of field verification. The informative value of the hinterlands is also discussed on the example of several differently preserved sites.