3D-DOCUMENTATION OF GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES IN SUBTERRANEAN ARCHAEOLOGY

In recent time geological research in archaeological projects became more and more important. Archaeology of mining and resources came to a bigger stage. More than anywhere else here the accurate documentation of geological structures in an archaeological context is an essential necessity. But also the architecture and structure of rock-cut tombs, like we find them abundantly e.g. in Egypt, is dependent on the surrounding geology. For better understanding building techniques and methods, a precise record of the geological structures is necessary.

Image based 3D modelling and laserscanning are valuable tools for this purpose. New technologies made especially image-based methods derived from the "Structure from Motion" principle (SfM) in combination with geographic information systems (GIS) attractive to a wider public. But like for all new technologies here are issues concerning data record, processing and analyses of data collected.

This presentation shows among others with two medieval mines of a mining-archaeological project in Northern Italy as well as an 18th-Dynasty Egyptian tomb of a settlement-archaeological project on Sai Island, North Sudan, how 3D-documentation of geological structures in subterranean archaeology could be implemented and developed.