Digital Documentation and Three-dimensional Reconstruction of Predynastic-Early Dynastic Rock-Art in Aswan (Egypt)

Within the concession areas of the Aswan–Kom Ombo Archaeological Project (AKAP), managed by Yale and Bologna Universities, several Predynastic rock art sites are under threat from modern human activities. Khor Abu Subeira South (KASS1) and Nag el-Hamdulab are the most important sites. Three-dimensional technologies, such as digital surveying, laser scanning, and photogrammetry, are tested for the first time in the Egyptian Nile Valley in order to document the rock art and its environmental setting in a very detailed manner. At the same time, techniques of virtual restoration are used to refresh the original legibility of those scenes that have been preserved in old photographs. This new digital approach improves the data quality, saving economic resources and reducing fieldwork