Interpretation Process at Çatalhöyük using 3D

The project “3D-Digging at Çatalhöyük” started in 2009 as an on-site digital experiment to record every phase of the archaeological excavation in 3D, using different technologies such as terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), image-based modeling (IBM), remote sensing, and photogrammetry. The end goal of the project is to make the excavation process virtually reversible using different simulation environments: Z-Space (desktop stereoscopic display); Oculus Rift (immersive head mounted display) and the DiVE (Duke Immersive Virtual Environment). During the excavation of B.89 and other buildings, all the georeferenced 3D models were imported in the GIS geodatabase and integrated with other spatially related data, equally stored and arranged in the geodatabase. The capability of the GIS to integrate, display and analyze diverse data sets within a single environment makes this tool an ideal infrastructure for archaeological interpretation and an optimal place for 3D data to be used in the interpretation process. Indeed, 3D interaction and visualization allow very detailed analyses of all the stratigraphic relations in the 3D space and a more advanced reconstruction of all the archaeological excavations