Filed under: On Location
Susan Grinols and her RTI capture team document an Anthropoid Coffin
In October 2009, Susan Grinols – Director of Photo Services and Imaging for Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), assembled a team of scholars and imaging professionals to document an Anthropoid Coffin with the highlight RTI technique.
Sue and her team members were thrilled with the final results. Using the RTI Viewer, suddenly, hard to decipher glyphs were clearer and easier to view. The curators, interpreters and conservators were shocked at how the RTI technology delivered so much detail, in a completely nondestructive manner.
For a brief look into the RTI capture session be sure to view the flickr gallery.
Filed under: On Location | Tags: caves, Magdalenian, paleolithic, Pyrenees, RTI, UC Berkeley
By Carla Schroer
Mark Mudge and I had the incredible opportunity to shoot RTI and Photogrammetry of Paleolithic material in the south of France. The trip was organized by Professor Meg Conkey of UC Berkeley, a scholar of this region and this material where she has worked for decades. In this pilot project we imaged some engraved plaquettes which are quite difficult to see because of the fine lines and the age of the material (~ 12,000 – 14,000 years old – during the last ice age) We were also able to spend a day in the cave of Marsoulas with local archaeologists Carole Fritz and Gilles Tosello. They have been working in this cave for 12 years sorting out the overlapping fine lines and incredible painted animals and geometric signs found throughout this long and narrow cave. Their work is made more difficult by grafitti over the art in places as well as natural wear and water damage to some surfaces.
Graduate student Tim Gill was also with us on this trip, and will be presenting some of the results of the work at the Archaeological Research Facility at UCB.
It is humbling to stand in a place where such ancient and beautiful art was made. We are thankful for the opportunity and hope that our work can provide additional tools for the people working with this material.
Check out the Flickr Gallery: “Magdalenian Art in the Ariège“
Photogrammetry Environment in a Paleolithic cave in France (L-R): MacBook Pro, 580EX II with gary fong light sphere diffuser(s), Gitzo geared column tripod with a 5D Mark II mounted upside down, another 580EX II (triggered by pocket wizards) and UC Berkeley professor Meg Conkey.
Mark Mudge carefully setting up for an RTI capture.
