Explanation
In archaeology, artifacts are often incomplete, broken, and very fragile. To aid in this problem, digital scanners and graphics manipulation programs are being used to help archaeologists arrange the small pieces on a computer screen, rather than risk damaging them by arranging them by hand. The scanner used is a standard page scanner and the images can be saved as standard file types.
Uses in Archaeology
Virtual reconstructions are especially useful with artwork that has been damaged over time, such as murals and other wall decorations. It is more difficult to work with three dimensional pieces, as the computer cannot easily read or manipulate them. Pieces can be scanned on site and transferred over the internet or stored for later processing, which saves from having to move the pieces more than necessary. The computer helps to align features on the pieces and fill in the missing sections, but human manipulation is necessary to determine the arrangement.
Cost
The El Brujo virtual reconstruction project only required a HP page scanner, an IBM RS/6000 computer, and a piece of software called ARMADO, designed especially for their project.
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