Archaeological Digital Archiving – London Stone

Europac — Tue, 09 May 2017 10:08:07 +0000

CASE STUDY

Archaeological Digital Archiving – London Stone

The latest 3D technologies have been used to unlock the secrets of the 1000 year old London Stone that’s currently on display at the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). The name “London Stone” or “Londenstane” was first recorded in around the year 1100, although the date and original purpose of the Stone remain a mystery it is often referred to as a ‘the protector of London’.

The stone is believed to be of Roman origin however it has been surrounded by interest and speculation about it since at least the 16th century. To help answer questions, Europac 3D, was approached to create a full 3D scan of the famous stone as part of the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) 20-month exhibition.

Artec Space Spider

The detailed scan was made using the Artec Space Spider which is a remarkably portable device, perfect for getting deep into the deep dark vaults of the MOLA museum. The Space spider was also particularly adept for the task in hand, as it can capture tiny points as little as 0.1mm while at the same time capturing in full glorious colour. The scan of the stone revealed several man-made carvings, one of which is believed to have been made when Jack Cade entered London ahead of a rebellion against King Henry VI, he symbolically struck the Stone with his sword to claim lordship of the City.

The scan of the stone, which was able to pick up detailed markings of less than the width of a human hair exposed a range of markings and textures that the stone had accumulated over the years due to weathering and events in time. The scan was captured using Artec Studio software whereby multiple ‘chunks of data’ were collected and then registered together using a ‘best fit’ algorithm which could then be used to create the full, detailed 3D image of the precious London Stone.

Digital Archiving

The 3D scan of the stone has also helped ensure that there is always a ‘digital backup’ that could be turned into a full-size, exact 3D replica of the stone if needed. Miniature versions of the stone have also been 3D printed as part of the exhibition so that everyone can feel protected by the stone in the future in the same way the stone has protected London for years.

Mark Beckett, Technical Director at Europac 3D, comments: “It’s exciting to be using the very latest technologies to investigate the origins and purposes of the historic London Stone. Having recorded the details, archeologists are now able to closely examine the details and markings on the stone to better understand its history. It has also allowed the exact measurements and details to be recorded for future reference and prosperity.”

The London Stone was resting in Cannon Street, London before its removal for examination. The stone is believed to be only the upper portion of a once much larger object. The surviving portion is a block of clipsham limestone is approximately 53 cm wide, 43 cm high, and 30 cm front to back as is believed to have originated in Rutland before being transported to London for building purposes.

For more information please get in touch

The post Archaeological Digital Archiving – London Stone appeared first on Europac3D.

3D Digital Archiving Hedd Wyn’s Black Chair

Europac — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 09:48:13 +0000

BACK TO CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDY

3D Digital Archiving The Black Chair

The sad tale of Hedd Wyn, winner of the 1917 Eisteddfod poetry competition and Bardic Chair, is enshrined in Welsh history as a story that remembers a lost generation of young Welsh men who died in WWI. Europac 3D were commissioned to create a 3D scan of the famous Black Chair.

Poet Ellis Humphrey Evans (Hedd Wyn), who entered the Eisteddfod poetry competition under the assumed name of ‘fleur-de-lis’ in 1917 was soon after killed at the Battle of Passchendaele, sadly only weeks before his entry ‘Yr Arwr’ (The Hero) was declared the winner. The winner is traditionally presented with the Bardic Chair – on this occasion a wonderfully ornate work of art created by Flemish refugee craftsman, Eugeen Vanfleteren, who decorated the chair lavishly with Celtic and Welsh symbols and motifs making it one of the most impressive Eisteddfod chairs ever made. When the name ‘fleur-de-lis’ was announced as the Eisteddfod winner on September 6th, 1917, it was solemnly proclaimed by the Archdruid that Hedd Wyn had died in battle and was therefore unable to claim his chair. A black sheet was draped over the empty chair and it was returned to his family farm in North Wales where it remains to this day.

Kreon Skyline 3D Laser Scanning

The Snowdonia National Park Authority and CyMAL commissioned Europac 3D to scan the famous Black Chair. In the small surroundings of the farmhouse a Kreon Skyline arm and laser scanner, was used to completely scan the chair and pick-up the incredible detail in the wood carving. The Kreon Skyline scanner was particularly adept at this task with a 200mm laser line bandwidth and an incredible data capture rate of 600,000 points per second. A vast amount of raw point cloud data was collected on the chair in order to make sure every part of the chair was completely digitally documented in its current form, the team at Europac 3d then used Polyworks software to convert this data into a 3d mesh surface model suitable for further analysis and visualisation operations.

With this information, the original chair has in effect been archived and the data can be used to re-engineer the chair in its entirety if necessary. Using normal internet browsers, people all over the world can now read the story of Hedd Wyn and see a fully rotatable version of the chair, enabling it to be inspected at all angles and at varying levels of zoom. We also created a fly-through video which moves through both solid model and fully rendered versions of the chair for use in exhibitions and websites.

The post 3D Digital Archiving Hedd Wyn’s Black Chair appeared first on Europac3D.

Digital Archiving Archives - Europac3D

Archaeological Digital Archiving – London Stone

Archaeological Digital Archiving – London Stone

Artec Space Spider

Digital Archiving

For more information please get in touch

3D Digital Archiving Hedd Wyn’s Black Chair

3D Digital Archiving The Black Chair

The sad tale of Hedd Wyn, winner of the 1917 Eisteddfod poetry competition and Bardic Chair, is enshrined in Welsh history as a story that remembers a lost generation of young Welsh men who died in WWI. Europac 3D were commissioned to create a 3D scan of the famous Black Chair.