Entorno 3D para el análisis y la recreación virtual de las actuaciones arqueológicas en Cueva de la Cocina (Dos Aguas, Valencia, España)

Abstract

In this paper we present our procedure for digitising fieldwork information on the fly (data management), and its combination with the virtual reconstruction of the stratigraphy (virtualisation), of the Cueva de la Cocina site in Dos Aguas (Valencia, Spain). The main tool for the Geographic Information System (GIS) implementation has been OpenJUMP, whilst for the three-dimensional (3D) recreation of the cave virtual environment MeshLab, ParaView, CloudCompare and R open software have been used. According to the data recovered during the two last field seasons at the cave -2015 and 2016-, we present the current state of the stratigraphy virtualisation in the excavated sectors. We also provide not only a general view of the cave, but also different points of view to incorporate distinct geomatics tools into archaeological research. The computer treatment of the data collected in the field provides a better understanding of their spatial relations; which in turn facilitates its analysis and interpretation as well as the realisation of virtual profiles. In the same way, the differences in the frequency of materials belonging to adjacent and/or superimposed stratigraphical units, as well as the total quantities, volumetry and density of the artefacts, with respect to their own stratigraphical unit, or even the whole excavated area, can also be analysed. The combination of both approaches -data management and virtualisation- allows us to integrate geographic information technologies in the daily life of the Mesolithic and Neolithic communities, of which the virtual reconstruction of the different test pits carried out in Cueva de la Cocina constitutes a perfect example.