Tacheometric Survey and 3D-Model Building of Fortification Objects in the South of Western Siberia

Abstract

Purpose. The most objective planigraphy of the earthen fortifications is one of the initial conditions for the reliability of the description of these objects and the subsequent analysis of their defensive capabilities. One of the most common devices for the instrumental surveys in modern archaeological research is a total station. The purpose of the tacheometric survey was to build 3D-models of the earthern fortifications of various types (cape settlements – Chultukov Log-9, ostrogs and redoubts (Umrevinsky, Salt Turn). The work at these objects included two stages – an instrumental survey of the monument and subsequent processing of the survey results with the 3D-models buildings and objects indication.Results. The tacheometric survey was carried out in various landscape zones (the Altai mountains, the northern forest-steppe of the Upper Ob, the steppe zone of the Middle Irtysh) within the river valleys of the Katun, Ob and Irtysh. The wide chronological framework of the sites (the Chultukov Log-9 settlement, the Umrevinsky ostrog, the Salt Turn redoubt) corresponds to the period from the beginning of the 1st millennium AD up to the first quarter of the 18th century and provide an opportunity for the most objective assessment of the tacheometric survey results.Conclusions. The result of the work was the building of the 3D-models of various earthen fortification objects (hillforts, ostrogs, redoubts). Both previously untraceable defensive structures (ditch), and the characteristics of the fenced areas of these structures, previously recorded in written sources, have been identified.