A Proposed Low-cost System for 3D Archaeological Documentation

To meet the requirements for rapid, accurate and effective recording and documentation of archaeological excavation sites a prototype system is under development. This paper presents the first results from an easy-to-use system that utilizes photogrammetric and computer science methods, as well as tools for on-site recording, modeling and visualization of an archaeological excavation. The software-component is the main focus of our research. Its aim is multifold, such as to provide a three-dimensional reconstruction of the excavation site in a very accurate way, rapid and almost real-time recording and documentation, multiple outputs for various uses and finally to achieve all these tasks requiring minimal knowledge of Digital Photogrammetry and CAD systems, through a sophisticated and user-friendly interface, easy to be used by people, such as archaeologists that are not experts in Photogrammetry or in Information Science. Finally, in the near future it is planned to evaluate and demonstrate under real circumstances the functionality and the effectiveness of the system, so as to be performed the necessary improvements