Virtual windows to the past: reconstructing the ceramics workshop at Zominthos, Crete

The reconstruction of the ‘Ceramics Workshop’ at Zominthos, Crete is an ideal example of the contribution of computer graphics to the interpretation of archaeological data. Room 13 has been interpreted as a ceramics workshop without taking into account the peculiar absence of windows. A virtual reconstruction and illumination analysis of this area helped to identify its plausible uses, while several alternative models enabled a comprehensive approach to the simulation of lighting. This paper will discuss the decision making process based on the archaeological evidence and will address all the possible readings of this ambiguous dataset by explicitly examining the various structural and lighting models produced, while trying to understand how people perceive the environment and interact with it