Forum Renascens (Los Bañales de Uncastillo, Zaragoza): Arqueología de la Arquitectura de un foro romano al servicio de la difusión por medio de la Arqueología Virtual

Highlights: Photogrammetric technique saves the real information that emerges and prevents much of it from disappearing, a common occurrence in archaeological excavations. Virtual reconstruction is an effective method of presenting the results in an educational way for the general public. The final product needs to show the result of a scientific hypothesis in an attractive and understandable way. Abstract:This article reports how the new information technologies are used in two practical examples in the field of archaeology from the early stages of excavation up to the reporting of the results. The first example is an urban settlement focused on the process of documentation and recording, the presentation of the archaeological remains and the resulting museum discourse in Tortosa, Tarragona (Spain). The second example is a settlement near the coast with no urban problems or conditions, which is more focused on the diffusion of research results through a variety of virtual communication channels (La Cella, Salou). In this regard, we present a variety of techniques and systems that we apply to achieve our objectives. Photogrammetry is now an essential tool for recording archaeological data because it facilitates fieldwork, provides extremely accurate measurements and considerably increases the quality of the result. It also enables archaeological and heritage research to be socialized and the results target scientific and interpretative analysis. If it is combined with the appropriate software, the remains of artefacts and buildings recovered at the sites, and which in some cases cannot be conserved, can be displayed in 3D. Finally, it can be used to make recreations and virtual interpretations that can present all these archaeological data to a non-specialized public in the form of a virtual museum, an immersive virtual reality experience, or can be applied to improve scientific research, through 3D modelling and virtual experimentation.Keywords: dissemination; 3D reconstruction; virtual recreation; photogrammetry; virtual reality; heritage. Resumen:En este artículo presentamos una metodología de trabajo basada en la aplicación de las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en el campo de la arqueología desde las primeras fases de excavación hasta la exposición final de los resultados mediante dos ejemplos prácticos, un yacimiento arqueológico en un contexto urbano, centrado o bien en todo el proceso de documentación y registro o bien en la propia presentación y discurso museístico de los restos arqueológicos en Tortosa, Tarragona (España); y un poblado justo al lado de la costa, sin ninguna problemática urbanística o condicionantes urbanos, centrado más bien en la socialización de los resultados mediante diversos canales de difusión virtuales (La Cella, Salou). En este sentido, presentamos algunas de las técnicas o sistemas utilizados para conseguir estos objetivos: en primer lugar, la fotogrametría se ha convertido en una herramienta imprescindible para el registro de datos arqueológicos (agi...

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

La arqueología virtual: de la excavación arqueológica a la gestión y socialización del patrimonio. Les cases de la Catedral (Tortosa) y el yacimiento protohistórico de La Cella(Salou), Tarragona

Cots

Vila

Fons

et al. 2018

“…Así mismo, para el renderizado utilizamos el motor Cycles incorporado en las versiones más recientes de Blender. Ambos se han mostrado como excelentes herramientas con resultados más que satisfactorios, demostrando, como en otros proyectos (Serrano, 2015), estar a la altura de otros softwares comerciales.…”

Section: La Arqueología Virtual Y Las óRdenes Militares: Metodología unclassified

La arqueología de órdenes militares en Castilla-La Mancha y la reconstrucción virtual de su patrimonio

Mota

Valle

2018

Lo más destacado: Planteamiento de la arqueología virtual como metodología útil en la investigación interdisciplinar del patrimonio de las órdenes militares: pros y contras, problemas y soluciones. Proceso y resultado de la aplicación de la arqueología virtual en varios estudios vinculados a las órdenes militares: castillos, conventos, hospitales o explotaciones rurales. Desarrollo de la investigación a través del uso de la arqueología virtual: generando interrogantes y buscando respuestas. Extended Abstract:The objective of this paper is to show the virtual archaeology as one of the methodologies applicated in the research line "Archaeology of the military orders" developed for some years by the University of Castilla-La Mancha in collaboration with the Fundación Castillo de la Estrella.The military orders are very important institutions for the study of the Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula. Because of that, there is a rich literature which approaches many aspects of these institutions: their origins and evolution; organisation; economic dimension; social reality... In contrast, the studies which have focused on the heritage linked to these orders have not had the same degree of development. This lack has motivated the creation of this important research line, where several specialists from different disciplines such as history, archaeology, architecture or restoration try to focus on the research of the military orders heritage, mainly in the region of Castilla-La Mancha. Thus, our research line is based on an interdisciplinary methodology, combining traditional practice with new technologies, like the virtual archaeology, which is described as the "using computer-based visualisation for the comprehensive management of archaeological heritage" (Principios de Sevilla, 2012). Virtual archaeology as a research methodologyThere are several applications for the virtual archaeology, but we could summarize them in three: research, conservation and restoration, and communication. In this paper, we focused on the first of them. We have worked with virtual archaeology in several cases such as the Castle of La Estrella (Montiel, Ciudad Real), the fortress and priory of Uclés (Uclés, Cuenca) or the hospital of Santiago of Alarcón (Alarcón, Cuenca), and we can say that this methodology has contributed to progress in the knowledge of all the elements which have been recreated. In the creation process of a virtual model, it is necessary to collect all information and data as are possible of the element on which we work. In this process, a lot of questions about several aspects appears, and we must try to find responses. In this way, we discover things which probably never would have been approached without this process. Furthermore, the virtual archaeology is an excellent method to sketch and discuss different hypothesis. It is a visual language with whom the specialists could show their ideas as support of the traditional text formats or other graphics sources as photos or plans. WorkflowOur workflow is similar to ot...

“…For instance, in the recreation of "La Venta", the major regional center of Olmec culture during the period 800-400 BC in present-day Mexico, Gillespie & Volk (2014) used manual modeling starting with plans mainly produced from the archaeological excavations. Also resorting to archaeological excavations that had been made in Zaragoza, Spain, Basterra & Pintado (2015) produced a virtual model of the "Forum Renascens", the ancient public square of the Roman town, a place which is still in process of research. The recreated 3D model was produced by manual modeling and constitutes, as the authors emphasize, a working piece for the team of researchers that studies the historical place and that includes architects, archeologists and historians.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recreating a medieval urban scene with virtual intelligent characters: steps to create the complete scenario

Cláudio¹,

Carmo²,

Carvalho³

et al. 2017

From historical advice to 3D modeling and programming, the process of reconstructing cultural heritage sites populated with virtual inhabitants is lengthy and expensive, and it requires a large set of skills and tools. These constraints make it increasingly difficult, however not unattainable, for small archaeological sites to build their own simulations. In this article, we describe our attempt to minimize this scenario. We describe a framework that makes use of free tools or campus licenses and integrates the curricular work of students in academia. We present the details of methods and tools used in the pipeline of the construction of the virtual simulation of the medieval village of Mértola in the south of Portugal. We report on: a) the development of a lightweight model of the village, including houses and terrain, and b) its integration in a game engine in order to c) include a virtual population of autonomous inhabitants in a simulation running in real-time.