Abstract
The cyber archaeometry concerns a new virtual ontology in the environment of cultural heritage and archaeology. The present study concerns a first pivot endeavor of a virtual polarized light microscopy (VPLM) for archaeometric learning, made from digital tools, tackling the theory of mineral identification in archaeological materials, an important aspect in characterization, provenance, and ancient technology. This endeavor introduces the range of IT computational methods and instrumentation techniques available to the study of cultural heritage and archaeology of apprentices, educators, and specialists. Use is made of virtual and immersive reality, 3D, virtual environment, massively multiplayer online processes, and gamification. The VPLM simulation is made with the use of Avatar in the time-space frame of the laboratory with navigation, exploration, control the learning outcomes in connection to the archaeometric multisystem work. The students evidently learned to operate the VPLM following operations made via visual and home-made scripting, gaining experience in synergy, teamwork, and understanding. The resulting meaningful effects of the cyber-archaeometry with virtual operations and virtual hands, texts, and video equip students especially for e-learning with the required basic knowledge of mineralogical examination, which help to understand and evaluate mineral identification from material culture and provides readiness and capacity, which may be refined in a real polarized light microscopy (PLM) environment.
Highlights
The higher education institutions are progressively looking for new ways to upgrade and update the quality of education, initiate student commitment, and manage knowledge resources
From a search regarding virtual microscopes, we found several applications and approaches that do not meet the needs of an archaeometry laboratory but mainly applications of biology
The results have shown that the 3D laboratory space, the game elements, and the automated exercises, excited the students and increased their desire to participate in the educational activities
Summary
The higher education institutions are progressively looking for new ways to upgrade and update the quality of education, initiate student commitment, and manage knowledge resources. Archaeometry involves applications with the use of available instrumentation and methods to unearthed material culture of archaeological excavations, or basic research implying novel mechanisms for getting, e.g., the age or construction of equipment for solving a particular archaeological question It can be divided into seven categories with subdisciplines: (i) dating methods, i.e., physical and chemical dating methods, which provide archaeologists with absolute and relative chronologies, (ii) characterization and provenance methods, i.e., artifact analysis, mathematical methods for data treatment (including computer-based methods), (iii) prospection techniques, i.e., archaeo-geophysical, aerial, and remote sensing methods for the location of buried antiquities, (iv) bio-archaeological techniques for the study of ancient DNA and diet, nutrition, health, and pathology of people, (v) environmental approaches, which provide information on past landscapes, climates, flora, and fauna, (vi) conservation sciences, involving the study of decay processes and the development of new methods of conservation and restoration of ancient remains, and (vii) archaeoastronomy, which is the study of astronomical knowledge of ancient and prehistoric societies from orientated structures, devices, and literature sources [28]. The integrated plan triggers show up and develop certain theoretical, cognitive, methodological, empirical, or practical (implemental) goals, which are critically discussed
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