Digital survey and reconstruction for enhancing epigraphic readings with erode surface

Abstract

Abstract 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.