In the current panorama of 3D digital documentation, the survey of tiny artifacts with micrometric details is strongly influenced by two factors: firstly, the still high cost of the instruments and technologies (active sensors) required to achieve the necessary level of accuracy and resolution; secondly, the needed professional skills for the macro-photogrammetric approach. In this context, this research aims to meet the demand for a digital survey and 3D representation of small objects with complex surfaces and sub-millimeter morphological characteristics using a low-cost configuration (passive sensors) for an image-based approach. The experiments concerned cuneiform tablets, which are challenging due to their morphological and geometrical characteristics. The digital replica of these unique artefacts can be helpful for their study and interpretation and many innovative applications: access and sharing, a collaborative interdisciplinary study among several experts, experimentation with machine learning for automatic character recognition, and linguistic studies. The micrometric surveying system described proves to be an efficient and reliable solution for cuneiform tablet digitization and documentation.

Abstract. The configuration of new survey approaches for digitizing tiny artefacts is gradually emerging in favour of the related results sharing in new modalities such as 3D printing and or Cultural Heritage open-access datasets. Unfortunately, due to the still high cost of the instrumentations and the time required for specialized operators training, both the digital documentation of small artefacts and the dissemination of 3D data are still a long way from becoming truly mainstream practices.Alternative solutions, often at low cost, could be considered, involving the use of passive sensors for image-based modelling processes, relying on a widespread technology that is now within everyone’s reach. Therefore, we intend to meet the demand for the three-dimensional representation of small objects with complex surfaces and sub-millimetre morphological characteristics by designing several custom accessories that optimize the photogrammetric workflow while maintaining very high metric rigour.In this current work, the authors will focus on researching the most suitable acquisition method and hardware setup to achieve a digital twin of a complex and detailed cuneiform tablet replica using the now widely available on the market digital portable microscopes, able to achieve high magnification. The results were compared with a reference dataset from an active sensor acquisition for the necessary procedure validations.

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The contribution illustrates the applied procedure of the digital survey and documentation of a funerary epigraph written in Greek but dating back to the Roman period (dimensions of about 31 cm x 20 cm). It comes from Velia (Salerno), a Greek and then Roman city in southern Italy. It was found in 1967 and currently represents the only Greek funerary inscription of the Roman period coming, most probably, from the necropolis of Porta Marina Sud. The inscription presents many gaps and preserves only part of the upper right and lower margins. The surface is highly eroded, maybe due to the exposure to atmospheric agents, making the text interpretation extremely difficult. The implemented image-based and range-based techniques contributed to reading the inscriptions, letting to recover much information that was invisible to the naked eye. The 3D survey system choice has to be consistent with the work aims and the physical object characteristics. A high degree of geometric detail was essential for our case study. Therefore, a triangulation laser scanner performed the first digital capturing, subsequently integrated with a structured light system (Artec Eva and Leo) and finally, a close-range photogrammetric acquisition to produce a high-resolution orthophoto.