Abstract
In the past decade, computer graphics have become strategic for the development of projects aimed at the interpretation of archaeological evidence and the dissemination of scientific results to the public. Among all the solutions available, the use of 3D models is particularly relevant for the reconstruction of poorly preserved sites and monuments destroyed by natural causes or human actions. These digital replicas are, at the same time, a virtual environment that can be used as a tool for the interpretative hypotheses of archaeologists and as an effective medium for a visual description of the cultural heritage. In this paper, the innovative methodology and aims and outcomes of a virtual reconstruction of the Borg in-Nadur megalithic temple, carried out by Archeomatica Project of the University of Catania, are offered as a case study for a virtual archaeology of prehistoric Malta.
Highlights
In the last fifty years, the growing use of computer applications has become a main feature in cultural heritage preservation policies [1, 2]
Since the 1990s when computer science was oriented towards the creation of tools and solutions for the archive and management of quantitative data, to the current development of virtual models and the dissemination of knowledge, computer applications came to embrace a true theoretical approach for the problems of archaeology
During an excavation the technological applications are mainly restricted to the use of laser scanners and 3D GIS, where archaeologists can be considered as mere “users”, in the moment of decoding ancient data and in the subsequent phase of encoding and simplifying them, research strategies and goals of archaeology and computer science may converge [4]
Summary
In the last fifty years, the growing use of computer applications has become a main feature in cultural heritage preservation policies [1, 2]. Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering to communicate those data with a visual language From this point of view, the application of 3D reconstructions, obtained using different techniques, became the core area of study in VA, for its potential of facilitating the sort of cognitive interaction offered by a 3D model [3]. One largely neglected potential of “virtuality” centered on evidence coming from the past is that it can offer a valuable experimental environment in which to test the reliability of one’s assumptions From this point of view, 3D computer graphics came to be considered on the same level as archaeology itself, as a digital version of archaeology by experiment [7], characterised by the study of the “practice supporting the theory”. In this scenario is situated the multidisciplinary project of computer science solutions for Cultural Heritage preservation “Archeomatica Project” (http://www.archeomatica.unict .it/), that produced the application presented in this paper
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