Mapping high alpine lakes for archaeological explorations

Hi all,

as you see we are writing few post in ATOR in the summer season, due to different field projects which take us away from home. Today I try to start again to dedicate some time to our research blog.

The topic of this post regard a solution we are currently using to help us in the archaeological exploration of high alpine lakes: the documentation of the bathymetry through a low cost sonar.

As you maybe know, since a couple of year we are working on underwater archaeology projects in the alpine lakes of our region (here an example). This kind of exploratory mission are difficult, due to the altitude of the site we have to investigate (almost always over 2000 meters asl), so that our divers have to acclimate themselves for one whole day, before starting the working. Also for this reason we started again to study archeorobotics and develop, together with our friends of the WitLab, an open hardware ROV called ArcheoROV (in order to help divers in exploratory mission).

The ArcheoROV (photo by WitLab)

 
This year we focused or research in find a cheap solution to map the bathymetry of the lakes, while WitLab went on working on the  Wi-Fi buoy which gives our ROV a long-range operability (respect the limitation of a simple control on shore). For this reason we tested a cheap sonar called Deeper, which normally is used as a fishfinder.
We started our test in the Lake Tovel, thanks to the hep of Prof. +Tiziano Camagna , who is leading the exploration project since many years. This lake is almost our playground to develop and test new solutions for underwater archaeology, since it is a difficult environment, but not extreme (like other high mountain lakes). We chose this location also because, on unlike other lakes, its bathimetry was documented by Edgardo Baldi in the 30s. We already digitized this map, processing a 3D model in GRASS GIS, so that we have some data to check our results with our small sonar (as you can see in the image below).

On the left the map drawn by Edgardo Baldi between 1937 and 1938; on the right the 3D derived map developed by Arc-Team in GRASS GIS

Some more details of the 3D map developed with GRASS GIS

To test the Deeper sonar, Porf. +Tiziano Camagna designed a small buoy which can be towed by a kayak. This solution stabilize the sonar (which remain always in the right position) and, at the same time, avoid its submersion (which causes the lost of the GPS signal).

The stabilization buoy developed by Prof. +Tiziano Camagna 

First positive results (image below) encouraged us to use this solution on a real mission, at the Monticello lake (almost 2600 meters asl), at Paradiso Pass (near Tonale Pass, Trentino, Italy).

A comparison between the digitized map of E. Baldi (on the left) and the map (work in progress) obtained with the Deeper sonar (on the right)

The expedition was joined also by our friends of the Team Nauticamare (Massimiliano Canossa and Nicola Boninsegna) and gave us the opportunity to accomplish a first mapping of the Lake Monticello, during the first day of acclimatization. This helped us very much during the archaeological underwater mission of the second day. As a result we have now a good 3D map of the bathymetry of the lake, which we will use also in the next expedition (September 2017). Her below is a short video (done with +QGIS plugin qgis2threejs), which shows the 3D model of the lake.

PS
I recorded some videotutorial related with the processing of these data. I will try to upload them ASAP in our channel.

Have a nice day!

Digitizing the excavation

The 21st Conference on Cultural Heritage and NEW Technologies (CHNT 21, 2016) took place in Vienna  the first week of November 2016. In that occasion we gave a presentation entitled "Digitizing the excavation. Toward a real-time documentation and analysis of the archaeological record". Today I found the time to publish it in our blog, to share our research regarding this topic and in particular some interesting projects of "archeorobotics" we are working on.

Here below you can see the video of the presentation, done like always with the open source software impress.js and Strut...

... and here is a short description of each slide:

SLIDE 1

The title (strictly related with Digital Archaeology in general)

SLIDE 2

A short presentation of Arc-Team

SLIDE 3

All the work has been done thanks to Free/Libre and Open Source Software. In order to keep going on with our research regarding archaeological methodology we need the source code!

SLIDE 4

The fundamental schema of the archaeological cognitive process elaborated by G. Leonardi in 1982. The schema shows the progressive reduction of the informations regarding human actions before and during the archaeological excavation (Human activities --> Traces on the soil --> Natural and anthropological degradation of the record --> archaeological excavation --> archaeological documentation) until the interpretative knowledge starts recover information during the post-excavation stage (with analitical data interpretation and reconstructive hypothesis)

SLIDE 5

A practical example of the schema from the site of Torre dei Sicconi in Italy (a medieval castle):

1. Human activities (summarized in the building of the castle, the medieval battle and the destruction of the main structure and the controlled explosion during the Great War)

2. Traces on the soil (summarized in the evidences of the battle, of the controlled explosion and of recent agrarian activities, while just negative layers were found regarding the construction of the structure)

3. Natural and anthropological degradation (summarized in the battle, the explosion, the agrarian activities and the normal natural dynamics)

4. Archaeological excavation (the most destructive investigation: in Torre dei Sicconi all the layers concerning the tower and the main central building has been removed by this activity)

5. The importance of archaeological documentation comes from distructive analysis (excavation). Being a long term project, Torre dei Sicconi was documented both with traditional and digital methodology

6. Data analysis. During this stage our knowledge of the site started to grow again. In this case both archaeological and historical techniques have been used

7. Reconstructive hypotheses represent the maximum increase of our (interpretative) knowledge of the site. For Torre dei Sicconi this stage has been achieved just for the central part of the castle (tower and main building)

SLIDE 6

The archaeological excavation is the most critical (destructive) stage of our knowledge regarding a site.

SLIDE 7

Arc-Team's excavation strategies:

1. increasing the amount of information registered decreasing the time-consuming operation of archaeological documentation

2. on-site direct observation for a better interpretation, avoiding at the same time any kind of data selection

3. moving the lab into the field (chemical and physical analyses)

SLIDE 8

A milestone of our research: in 2006 the development of the "Metodo Aramus" gave us a better (more precise and accurate), faster and corect (equalized) 2D digital documentation with FLOSS.

SLIDE 9

Another milestone. Between 2008 and 2009 the migration from pure photogrammetric software to SfM and MVSR methods (through the development of a GUI for +Pierre Moulon's application  Python Photogrammetry Suite) gave us better and faster 3D digital documentation

SLIDE 10

Even today we still use a combination of 2D and 3D techniques to meet different requirements of various archaeological projects

SLIDE 11

2D digital documentation through GIS is fast enough for on site interpretation during emergency excavation

SLIDE 12

A software like +QGIS  allows a direct interpretation on the field without the necessity of long post-rpocessing

SLIDE 13

3D documentation gives better results, but needs longer processing time (even if it does not need long data acquisition on the field, which is always performed)

SLIDE 14

We achieved (a lower quality) 3D data acquisition which has the fundamental characteristic of being real-time, thanks to open hardware (archeorobotics)

SLIDE 15

Our experience in archeorobotics dates back to 2006 with our first prototype of UAV, which could be use professionally just in 2008.

SLIDE 16

Currently or archeorobotics research regards our last prototype of Archeodrone (a UAV specifically designed for aerial archaeology)...

SLIDE 17

... some CNC machines and, above all, the Fa)(a 3D, a 3D open hardware printer which without any kind of modifications was able to satisfy our archaeological needs (like 3D printing casts of unique finds or exctract and print DICOM data form x-ray CT scan)...

SLIDE 18

... and the ArcheoROV, the open hardware Remotely underwater Operated Vehicle which we developed with the +Witlab Fablab 

SLIDE 19

Some pictures of the first test of the ArcheoROV

SLIDE 20

A first step into 3D real-time documentation through SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) techniques has been done with the open source ROS (Robot Operating System) and RTAB-Map via Kinect...

SLIDE 21

... and tested for 3D real-time documentation in wooden areas (where SfM and MVSR or laserscab would have been too slow), reaching in almost one hour of work a model (with real dimension) of 75000 points.

SLIDE 22

A benefit of archaeorobotic system like these (which are ROS capable) is the possibility to change the sensor in order to adapt the hardware to different situation, using monocular or stereo cameras (for odometry) as well as LIDAR or SONAR devices.

SLIDE 23

Another benefit is the wide range of possibilities offered by the different open source software (e.g. RTAB-Map, LSD-SLAM, REMODE, Cartographer, ecc...)

SLIDE 24

Currently the precision/accuracy level of a real-time 3D archaeological documentation cannot be compared with the results achieved with post-processing through traditional SfM - MVSR systems, but there are good prospects for improvement.

SLIDE 25

Nowadays, basing on our professional experience, the best use of such devices seems to be during extreme operations, such as high mountain archaeology, glacial archaeology, underwater archaeology or speleoarchaeology

SLIDE 26

Another important step to improve the reaction time of professional archaeology, in order to avoid errors during the critical stage of the excavation, is the possibility to perform some basic archaeometrical analyses (chemical and physical) directly on the field.

SLIDE 27

Considering the composition of any archaeological layer based on two different elements, the skeleton (macroscopic) and the fine earth (microscopic), it is obvious that different analyses can be performed in different work environment.

SLIDE 28

For instance, in the case of the skeleton, a fast petrografic (ontoscopic) analysis can be easily performed directly on the field (defining allogeneic elements), while further (more specific) investigations need an equipped laboratory.

SLIDE 29

Also in the case of fine earth, some raw descriptive analyses can be performed on the field, while laboratory investigation can reach very detailed results (e.g. with the Scanning Electron Microscope).

SLIDE 30

The field analysis of the fine earth is more problematic (compared with the skeleton) the most common test (e.g. the Soil texture by feel) are anametric and subjective

SLIDE 31

For this reason, archaeometric test are the better choice (e.g the sedimentation test)

SLIDE 32

The sedimentation test on the field can be improved with basic physical analysis (e.g. considering the Stoke's Law in order to define sand, silt and clay by the tme they need to sediment)

SLIDE 33

Another implementation on the field for the sedimentation test is the possibility to directly store the data into a PostreSQL/PostGIS database (through some specific fields of the archaeological recording sheet), using the open source application geTTexture.

SLIDE 34

An example of the use of geTTexture

SLIDE 35

Other archaeometric test which are simple to perform directly during the excavation are based on basic chemical analyses, and specifically with the quantification of compounds like phosphates or nitrates.

SLIDE 36

Moreover, with some simple workarounds, it is possible to turn anametric (boolean) analyses of carbonates or organic substances, into metric (quantitative) observations.

SLIDE 37

The Archaeological excavation is a destructive process, subject to fatal (not reversible) errors. Moreover the reduced time and budget in professional and emergency archaeology increase stress conditions during decision making stages.
Real-time 3D mapping can speed up data interpretation, avoiding data selection on the field, while on-site chemical and physical analyses (geoarchaeology and archaeometry) can define a better (data-driven) digging strategy.


I hope this presentation can be useful. Have a nice day!

The devils boat

This year, thanks to Prof. Tiziano Camagna, we had the opportunity to prove our methodologies during a particular archaeological expedition, focused on the localization and documentation of the "devils boat". 

This strange wreck consists in a small boat built by the Italian soldiers, the "Alpini" of the battalion "Edolo" (nicknamed the "Adamello devils"), during the World War 1, near the mountain hut J. Payer (as reported by the book of Luciano Viazzi "I diavoli dell'Adamello"). 

The mission was a derivation of the project "La foresta sommersa del lago di Tovel: alla scoperta di nuove figure professionali e nuove tecnologie al servizio della ricerca” ("The submerged forest of lake Tovel: discovering new professions and new technologies at the service of scientific research"), a didactic program conceived by Prof. Camagna for the high school Liceo Scientifico B. Russell of Cles (Trentino - Italy).

As already mentioned, the target of the expedition has been the small boat currently lying on the bottom of lake Mandrone (Trentino - Italy), previously localized by Prof. Camagna and later photographed during an exploration in 2004. The lake is located at 2450 meters above see level. For this reason, before involving the students into such a difficult underwater project, a preliminary mission has been accomplished, in order to check the general conditions and perform some basic operations. This first mission was directed by Prof. Camagna and supported by the archaeologists of Arc-Team (Alessandro Bezzi, Luca Bezzi, for underwater documentation, and Rupert Gietl, for GNSS/GPS localization and boat support), by the explorers of the Nautica Mare team (Massimiliano Canossa and Nicola Boninsegna) and by the experts of Witlab (Emanuele Rocco, Andrea Saiani, Simone Nascivera and Daniel Perghem).
The primary target of the first mission (26 and 27 August 2016) has been the localization of the boat, since it was not known the exact place where the wreck was laying. Once the boat has been re-discovered, all the necessary operations to georeference the site have been performed, so that the team of divers could concentrate on the correct archaeological documentation of the boat. Additionally to the objectives mentioned above, the mission has been an occasion to test for the first time on a real operating scenario the ArcheoROV, the Open hardware ROV which has been developed by Arc-Team and WitLab.
Target 1 has been achieved in a fast and easy way during the second day of  mission (the first day was dedicated to the divers acclimation at 2450 meters a.s.l.), since the weather and environmental conditions were particularly good, so that the boat was visible from the lake shore. Target 2 has been reached positioning the GPS base station on a referenced point of the "Comitato Glaciologico Trentino" ("Galciological Committee of Trentino") and using the rover with an inflatable kayak to register some Control Points on the surface of the lake, connected through a reel with strategical points on the wreck. Target 3 has been completed collecting pictures for a post-mission 3D reconstruction through simple SfM techniques (already applied in underwater archaeology). The open source software used in post-processing are PPT and openMVG (for 3D reconstruction), MeshLab and CloudCompare (for mesh editing), MicMac (for the orthophoto) and QGIS (for archaeological drawing), all of them running on the (still) experimental new version of ArcheOS (Hypatia). Unlike what has been done in other projects, this time we preferred to recover original colours form underwater photos (to help SfM software in 3D reconstruction), using a series of command of the open source software suite Image Magick (soon I'll writ  a post about this operation). Once completed the primary targets, the spared time of the first expedition has been dedicated to secondary objectives: teting the ArcheoROV (as mentioned before) with positive feedbacks, and the 3D documentation of the landscape surrounding the lake (to improve the free LIDAR model of the area).
What could not be foreseen for the first mission was serendipity: before emerging from the lake, the divers of Nautica Mare team (Nicola Boninsegna and Massimiliano Canossa) found a tree on the bottom of the lake. From an archaeological point of view it has been soon clear that this could be an import discovery, as the surrounding landscape (periglacial grasslands) was without wood (which is almost 200 meters below). The technicians of Arc-Team geolocated the trunk with the GPS, in order to perform a sampling during the second mission.
For this reason, the second mission changed its priority an has been focused on the recovering of core samples by drilling the submerged tree. Further analysis (performed by Mauro Bernabei, CNR-ivalsa) demonstrated that the tree was a Pinus cembra L. with the last ring dated back to 2931 B.C. (4947 years old). Nevertheless, the expedition has maintained its educational purpose, teaching the students of the Liceo Russell the basics of underwater archaeology and performing with them some test on a low-cost sonar, in order to map part of the lake bottom.
All the operations performed during the two underwater missions are summarized in the slides below, which come from the lesson I gave to the student in order to complete our didactic task at the Liceo B. Russell.

Aknowledgements

Prof. Tiziano Camagna (Liceo Scientifico B. Russell), for organizing the missions

Massimiliano Canossa and Nicola Boninsegna (Nautica Mare Team), for the professional support and for discovering the tree

Mauro Bernabei and the CNR-ivalsa, for analizing and dating the wood samples

The Galazzini family (tenants of the refuge “Città di Trento”), for the logistic support

The wildlife park “Adamello-Brenta” and the Department for Cultural Heritage of Trento (Office of Archaeological Heritage) for close cooperation

Last but not least, Dott. Stefano Agosti, Prof. Giovanni Widmann and the students of Liceo B. Russel: Borghesi daniele, Torresani Isabel, Corazzolla Gianluca, Marinolli Davide, Gervasi Federico, Panizza Anna, Calliari Matteo, Gasperi Massimo, Slanzi Marco, Crotti Leonardo, Pontara Nicola, Stanchina Riccardo

QGIS Time Manager, for archaeological drawing on RTI-like raster series

Hi all,

I go on today writing about the Time Manager plugin of QGIS we saw in our last post. 

This time I will focus the attention on one of the alternative (and unconventional) use we can do of this tool for archaeological aims: an archaeological vector drawing based on RTI-like raster series.
Of course, when I speak about archaeological vector drawing, I mean a GIS based technique (like the one described in this old post). We already developed a little bit further this methodology in order to use it in a semi-automatic way for archaeological finds (related post 1 and 2; bibliography here), so that this post can be seen as an integration of that work-flow. For the concept of RTI, I suggest you to read +Rupert Gietl 's post about a large scale case of study for such an application and my post about the open source tool developed by Giampaolo Palma (Visual Computing Lab of the CNR-ISTI).
The concept of RTI-like raster series is pretty simple: if in a common archaeological excavation is planned an RTI documentation (e.g. to further analyse particular artefacts such as small pottery fragments, coins, inscriptions in stone, etc...), than it is also possible to use some of the original pictures (with different light conditions) to simulate an RTI viewer within any GIS software. Once one of this picture has been rectified (and georeferenced, when needed), the related worldfile can be used also for all the other images (considering that they have all the same size), so that in QGIS it is pretty simple to create a raster series through the Time Manager plugin.
The video below shows the result of this operation on a pottery fragment from the excavation of Khovle Gora, an archaeological mission in Georgia which we supported for the University of Innsbruck (Institut für Alte Geschichte und Altorientalistik).

I hope this post will be useful, have a nice evening!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 9 - Rebirth

After surveying, digging and historical research and virtual reconstruction, here is the final result:

Watch in the last chapter of Arc-Team's "Torre dei Sicconi" series our idea of how the castle looked like in the Middel Ages.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 9 - Rebirth

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Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 8 - Reconstruction

After surveying, digging and historical research, we have started to think about, how the castle was looking like in the Middle Ages. 
Photos from the beginning of the 20. century, archaeological finds, 3D models, the comparison with similar, preserved castles: This are the bases for the virtual reconstruction made by Cicero Moraes.
Watch in the next chapter of Arc-Team's "Torre dei Sicconi" series the single steps of 3D reconstruction with Blender

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 8 - Virtual Reconstruction

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Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 7 - Historical Research

Historical Research is one of the most important steps during a research project like "Torre dei Sicconi". 
If we want to understand and interpret what we are finding during excavation and survey, we need to compare our site with other contemporary sites nearby. 
Watch in the next chapter of our "Torre dei Sicconi" series Arc-Team researching between the walls of the medieval castle ruin.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 7 - Historical Reseach

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Presentation: Glacial Archaeology in South-Tyrol

During the last "Frozen Pasts" conference, taken place in Innsbruck (A) from 12. to 16. October, we have presented - charged by the Cultural Heritage Department of South-Tyrol - the most important glacial sites discovered during the last 25 years in this region.

25 years ago, the dicovery of the iceman „Ötzi“ marked the beginning of a new discipline of archaeological research and cultural heritage preservation in South-Tyrol: The glacial archaeology.

Since than the Department of Archaeological Heritage has been focusing on several new high altitude sites, detected and reported exclusively by private persons: Leggings, socks and residues of shoes from the Iron Age on the Rieserferner (2.841 m Puster Valley).

For some years we have been investigating at the Langgrubenjoch (3.017 m Schnals Valley) remains of leather, pelt, and a wooden belt hook dating from the Copper Age, residues of a wooden building (roofing shingles made of larch) from the Bronze Age and other wooden findings from the Roman Age. Frequent visits to the main Alpine ridge since prehistory are documented by new finds on the Gurgler Eisjoch (3.134 m Schnals Valley).

Glacial archaeology meets modern conflict archaeology on the highest mountain group of the South-Tyrolean territory:

From the Stilfserjoch to Mt. Cevedale we have to deal with the remains of the frontline of WW1 between 1915 and 1918. Even the highest peaks like Mt. Ortler (3.905m) and Königspitze (3.851m) were permanently occupied by Austro-Hungarian and Italian mountain troops.

100 years later climate change uncover extraordinarily well preserved materials and structures which give us new insights into events and every day life on the high altitude positions.

Here is the presentation together with the live-recording of the talk.

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 6 - Excavation

The archaeological excavation is still one of the most important steps during a research project like "Torre dei Sicconi". 
The main goal was to understand the construction phases, to get information about the composition and ornamentation of the interiors and the every day live of the inhabitants of the castle.  
Watch in the next chapter of our "Torre dei Sicconi" series Arc-Team excavating between the walls of the medieval castle ruin.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 6 - Excavation

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ArcheoROV, an Open Hardware ROV specifically designed for archaeological aims

ArcheoFOSS 2016 is concluded. I will soon post a report about my impressions regarding the conference, but today I start with the less funny work of uploading the presentations we gave during the event.

The first project we presented regarded the "ArcheoROV, an Open Hardware ROV specifically designed for archaeological aims" and describes the Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle we developed in partnership with the Witlab of Rovereto (TN - Italy).

Here below is the link to the original presentation, for the reader who wants to see it directly online:

 www.museidironzone.it/openLibrary/html/archeorov/archeorov.html

For those who prefer to see it on youtube, I just uploaded it on our channel:

For a better explanation of each slide, I report here below a short abstract:

SLIDE 1

title

SLIDE 2

A short presentation of Arc-Team

SIDE 3

A short presentation of Witlab

SLIDE 4

ArcheoROV is designed to satisfy specific needs of underwater archaeology

SLIDE 5

Since 2006 Arc-Team works on "archeorobotics" in order to solve specific archaeological problems. The research branch was started after an aerial archaeological project in Armenia.

SLIDE 6

After two years of research, a first prototype of Open Hardware UAV (project UAVP) was ready to work.

SLIDE 7

The last prototype of Open Hardware UAV in action (documentin WW1 evidences and and iron age site.

SLIDE 8

The Open Hardware 3D printer Fa)(a3D in action (printing the cast of an Homo georgicus from Dmanisi and a metal ring digitally recovered from the body of a Ptolemaic mummy).

SLIDE 9

Testing the OpenLab spectrometer.

SLIDE 10

ArcheoROV's first target: exploration.

SLIDE 11

ArcheoROV's first target: safety.

SLIDE 12

ArcheoROV's first target: extreme missions.

SLIDE 13

ArcheoROV's development time-line. 

SLIDE 14

From ArcheoROV 0.1 to ArcheoROV 0.5

SLIDE 15

ArcheoROV 0.5 3D model

SLIDE 16

Open Hardware used or fabricated for the project

SLIDE 17

Open Software used for the project

SLIDE 18

The main strenghts of the prototype

SLIDE 19

Future improvements via ROS and SLAM.

SLIDE 20

Credits

SLIDE 21

A gallery of the first Open Water and Deep Water test in Sardinia (Italy). 

Have a nice day!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 4 - Documentation

Working on archaeological documentation requires different types of equipment a techniques. Watch in this video some of them in action, while we are continuing to work on the picturesquely situated site of Torre dei Sicconi.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 4 - Documentation

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 3 - GPS

The third chapter of our video, talking about historical and archaeological research and virtual reconstruction of a medieval calstle.

This time we are surveying the castle hill by our DGPS system.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Caldonazzo - Monte Rive: Chapter 3 -GPS

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Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 2 - On the way to new discoveries

The second chapter of our video, talking about historical and archaeological research and virtual reconstruction of a medieval calstle.

This time we are locating the site and finally going to work.

Enjoy!

Torre dei Sicconi - Caldonazzo - Monte Rive: Chapter 2 - On the way to new discoveries

Torre dei Sicconi - Chapter 1 - A long time ago...

The Castle of Torre dei Sicconi (Tower of the Sicconi clan) was destroyed by troops from Verona and Vicenza in 1385.

For that reason we don't know how the building looked like in the Middle Ages.

One way to learn more about the original shape of the complex is reading historical sources which are speaking about the Torre dei Sicconi castle and it's single parts.

Some of them we would like to present in the first chapter of our film:

A long time ago...

Watch also the trailer of 

The rebirth of a lost castle

Torre dei Sicconi - The Trailer

The Castle of Torre dei Sicconi (Tower of the Sicconi clan) is situated on the foothills south of the village of Caldonazzo. It was founded in 1201. 

The castle was destroyed by troops from Verona and Vicenza in 1385. 
The Cultural Heritage Department of Trento (office of archaeological heritage) has conducted excavations and restoration works between 2006 and 2008. 

That data was used for a virtual reconstruction of how the castle may have looked like 600 years ago.

During the next weeks we will publish nine chapters of a movie we've made, explaining the long way from archaeological excavation to virtual reconstruction:

Torre dei Sicconi - Caldonazzo - Monte Rive - 

The rebirth of a lost castle.

We start today with an appetizer: The 90 seconds long trailer of the project.

Mandrone WW1 Project - the Trailer

We have recorded hours of movies during our diving project in the Mandrone lake.
Later this year we will publish a video illustrating us while we are working over and under the water surface.
In the meantime we want to whet your appetite with just a few pictures...
Enjoy!

Mandrone WW1 Project

On August 25th and 26th 2016 a team of divers and archaeologists has explored the bottom of lake Mandrone (2.409 m.a.s.l.), Adamello Alps/Italy. Under the direction of prof. Tiziano Camagna, the team has localized and documented the wrack of a boat build there during World War I.

Team-leader Tiziano Camagna was supported by the archaeologists of Arc-Team Ltd. (Cles/Sexten – Italy), Alessandro Bezzi, Luca Bezzi and Rupert Gietl. Massimiliano Canossa and Nicola Bonisegna, underwater-experts from NauticaMare DiveTeam, have realized high-resolution videos and photos.

The main target of the mission was the localization and documentation of the wooden remain on the ground of lake Mandrone. The boat was build between 1916 and 1918 and sank some years after the end of WW1. Pictures and videos taken by the divers will now be processed by the archaeologists in order to extract a detailed 3D model using Computer Vision technologies like SfM (Structure from Motion) and MVS ( Multiple View Stereovision).

Tiziano Camagna first localized the remain in 2003, comparing it with two historical photos published by Luca Viazzi in the volume "I diavoli dell'Adamello - 1915 -1918 La guerra a quota tremila". The first shot is showing Italian mountain troops (Alpini) building a boat near the “Julius Payer” refuge, situated about 800m northeast from lake Mandrone. The second Capt. Castelli rowing on the lake.

The Adamello Alps have been one of the highest war theaters of WW1. In the area around lake Mandrone and the refuge “Città di Trento” we can still find lots of archaeological remains of that period: Trenches, barracks, observation positions and a small military cemetery.

Austro-Hungarian and Italian troops had not only to fight against each other, but primarily against the harsh climate on altitudes up to 3.900 m.a.s.l., 10-12 meters of snow in the winter and temperatures right down to -30°C (-10°F).

Thanks to the support of the wildlife park “Adamello-Brenta” and the Gallazzinis, tenants of the refuge “Città di Trento”, the equipment of our expedition was transported on site with the goods cable lift of the refuge. The team went up by foot, walking about three hours starting at the head of “Genova” valley. On the last stage, from the refuge to the lake, the gear was carried on the back.

In order to facilitate the transport, divers choose light equipment like the sidemount system.

During the dive our photographer Nicola Boninsegna localized a wooden trunk on the ground, a discovery that gives rise to some new research questions, considering the total absence of trees on that altitudes. 

The find will be analyzed soon, in order to get dating and identification of the species.

This mission was also an opportunity for a high altitude test of our ROV prototype (Remotely Operated Vehicle), named ArcheoROV developed by WitLab laboratories from Rovereto, in collaboration with Arc-Team.

Last but not least the team wants to thank the Department for Cultural Heritage of Trento (Office of Archaeological Heritage) for close cooperation.

Archaeologist: A 360° Profession

Following this blog, it may seem that modern archaeology consists mostly of hacking, compiling software and staring blankly at the computer-screen.

But fortunately it's not always like that!

Maintenance of cultural goods, for example, is a big challenge.
Arc-Team is proud to contribute to that on numerous occasions.
Like in this video: Two of us are members of the board of trustees "Schloss Welsperg". The castle was build in the 12th century and is cared by that association since 1989.

Watch us doing forestry work along the curtain wall of the Castle Welsperg:

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Glacial Finds from the Langgrubenjoch (Gde. Mals and Gde. Schnals) in South Tyrol. Preliminary Report

We've published a preliminary report in german language about our project on Langgrubenjoch (South-Tyrol) in the german journal Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt.
It has a profile as a topical scientific journal on issues of Prehistoric, Roman and Medieval archaeology and related sciences in Europe. Beside topical debates the journal provides a place for the publication of new finds and short analysis of general interest. (Definition by RGZM)

Bringing home the finds

Finds from thawing névés and ice fields were discovered at the Langgrubenjoch (3017 m a. s. l.) between Matscher- and Schnalstal in the southern Ötztal Alps. The finds are predominantly made up of wooden parts, many of which are fragments of boards and show tool marks. 

GPS

First radiocarbon and dendro dates reveal artefacts dating back to the Copper Period, middle to late Bronze Age as well as the Roman period. The toolmarks and comparable finds suggest that the pieces of boards consisting of larch (Larix decidua) were the remains of the roof shingles of a late Bronze Age hut. 

Parallel documentation with Geopaparazzi

Although the Langgrubenjoch cannot be crossed easily it is the shortest route between the Obere Vinschgau in the area of Mals and Schnalstal and the region north of the alpine main ridge. The periods of time indicated by the finds, i. e. the late 3 rd and 2 nd millennia BC as well as the Rom an period, witnessed a relatively low extent of the glaciers or warm phases.

Documentation

In those times the Langgrubenjoch was possibly easier accessible and therefore used more intensively.

Glacial Finds from the Langgrubenjoch (Gde. Mals and Gde. Schnals) in South Tyrol. Preliminary Report

Authors:
Alessandro Bezzi, Giuseppe Naponiello, Rupert Gietl (Arc-Team)
Hubert Steiner (Cult. Heritage Dep. of South-Tyrol)
Kurt Nicolussi, Thomas Pichler (Uni Innsbruck)

Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 46 (2016) 167-182.

Related postings & videos:

• Professionals at Work - the "Frozen Stories" videoclip
• Flying on 3.100 Meters

Automatic Soil Texture Triangle

As the regular ATOR readers know, since some years we are trying to improve our laboratory's technologies in order to achieve a better metric classification of archaeological data and to expand our research interests in other archaeological sub-disciplines and mainly in archaeo-anthropology (as well as taphonomy and mummiology), archaeo-zoology, archaeo-bothany in general (and carpology and dendrochronology in particular), geoarchaeology and archaeometry. 

Soon we will start a series of post about our lab (aka ATLAB, Arc-Team LABoratory), which is evolving fast thanks to the effort of +Gianluca Fondriest  and +Mattia Segata.

Today I want to illustrate one of the tool we developed to speed up the geo-archaeological interpretation of the soil texture of the different layers during our excavations. This project (which is now in its early stage) starts from the need to use the Soil Texture Triangle to help archaeologists (especially the new diggers) in correctly interpreting the texture components using an objective method like the sedimentation test (because often new archaeologists are not comfortable with more subjective analysis like the Ribbon test or the squeeze-ball test). I leave the explanations of the operations to perform on the field for another post, while I want here to show the small software "geTexture", which +Giuseppe Naponiello developed to use automatically the Soil Texture Triangle from internet.
To illustrate how the application works, I recorded a short videotutorial:

The software is currently just in Italian, but we will translate it in English soon. The development is still active and this can be considered just a pre-release (it will be implemented also with a tutorial explaining how to perform the sedimentation test on the excavation). If you want to help us, on GitHub you can find the source code, while if you need already to use the software, here is the link where is is accessible. In the next days I will try to program also a small app for Android devices.

Stay tuned and have a nice day!

Notes

Some of the results of ATLAB can be seen in the article "Lo Scavo archeologico professionale, innovazioni e best practice mediante metodologie aperte e Open Research" (here in ResearchGate and here in Academia)