WW1: High Alpine Survey Data - Work in Progress

Last summer we've had the possibility to survey along the first Italian front-line of WW1 on the ridge between the the two strategically important summits of Mt. Quaternà (2.503m) an Col Rosson (2.305m).
(Commissioned by the Algudnei-Mueseum in Dosoledo) 
They are situated in the north of the Italian region of Veneto, near to the Austrian and Tyrolean border.

The project area. Pay attention to the trenches in the middleground.

It took several weeks to document an unexpected amount of military remains built between May 1915 and November 1917.

Trenches at the foot of Col Rosson

The central part of our approach was an intensive and very accurate DGPS-survey of every visible structure on the surface, attended by sfm-documentation of objects of special interest. Also underground structures, first of all caverns of different typology, were recorded with 3d-pointclouds.

Commemorative inscription of a machine-gun detachment.

Furthermore we've made several thousands of pictures with recorded position of the photographer and viewing direction.

Overview of the survey results

At this moment we've competed the postprocessing of the approx. 80.000 GPS points, prising out 4.194 features with an individual ID number and a description in English, Italian and German language.

High density of remains around of Mt. Rosson.

The next step will be the archaeological interpretation of the results, incorporating documents and maps of different military archives.

First and second Italian line.

The fieldwork was crucially supported by our colleagues Michele Mazzurana and Gianluca Fondriest.
The whole project would not have been possible without the direction of Daniela Zambelli and the confidence of Algudnei's director Arrigo De Martin Mattiò.
All images in this article are free, following the terms of CC-BY-4.0 Creator: Arc-Team Archaeology

Arc-Team: Conflict Archaeology Workflow

Since 2011 Arc-Team is working on the field of modern conflict archaeology.
The most recent step was the conclusion of our European Project (Interreg IV), during which we had the possibility to document for the first time on lage area the military remains of both conflicting parties: The Austro-Hungarian Army and the Italian Royal Army.
We've filmed the single steps of archive studies, field work, data processing and tests for future applications of the collected data.
The result is a 4:22 minutes long video clip, which we want to share with you:

Soon we will post also some scientific details and results of the project.

Special thanks to +Michele Mazzurana for his contribution.

See also the related posts: 

• Aerial images and videos of the WW1 trenches along the border between Austria and Italy 

 

• WW1 - Documentation Project: New Data Aquisition Season

 

• The Austro-Hungarian emplacements on top of Mt. Roteck
  
   

Arc-Team: Conflict Archaeology of the First World War on the Carnic ridge and in the Sexten Dolomites

With the centenary years 2014–2018, a hitherto relatively unknown branch of archaeological research, the so-called conflict archaeology, is coming into the limelight. Since  excavation work is able to supply only very selective assertions on account of the enormous extent of the mountain front, the overriding objective of monument conservation in the years to come must focus on taking stock of all material remains from the WWI era.

As a result of the developments in satellite geodesy and 3D documentation, it is now possible to approach this task on a wide scale and comparatively economically. The data collected form the basis of targeted protection measures and provide for future reference numerous new methods of presentation which fulfil the requirements of nature and monument preservation as well as the growing interest of demographic groups.

The article is illustrating the latest research results of Arc-Team and is written in German Language by Rupert Gietl. 
It was published inside the volume:
Das Pustertal und der Krieg 1914–1918 (TAP-Forschungen, Bd. 2) by the 
Tyrol Archive for Photography (TAP)

Download the article

The Austro-Hungarian emplacements on top of Mt. Roteck

(2390m)

Dolomites / South-Tyrol 

 A case study for extensive survey and documentation on occasion of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WW1 on the Italian front in May 2015.

As reported on ATOR in summer 2013, Arc-Team is pushing ahead the plan of  mapping extensive areas of the high alpine frontline of WW1 from the Swiss border to the Dolomites.

Our approach consists in a very detailed DGPS-survey, terrestrial structure from motion, geolocalized images, archeological description and aerial survey by our drone.

Of course we are basing the whole working process on Open Source Soft- and, where possible , also on Hardware.

Now we want to share the latest version of a presentation, given originally in occasion of the 7th Fields Of Conflict Conference in Budapest (Hungary) in October 18.-21. 2012.

It outlines the characteristics of the high alpine working environment, the nature of the WW1 remains, the challenges to meet, our project strategy and first results.

WW1 - Documentation Project: New Data Aquisition Season

Finally, after a rainy spring, we are going to start a new campaign of data acquisition over 2150 m.a.s.l. along the WW1 front line. This time we will document a section of GUA10B (Grenz-Unter-Abschnitt) KAIII (Kampf-Abschintt) named Hahnspiel, a second line of austrian fortifications along the Dolomites frontline between May 1915 and November 1917.

The main innovation of this year will be the usage of our aerial drone (Naza DJI) in order to have an additional point of view in this mountainous and uneven terrain.

In addition to our traditional approach (GPS-survey, terrestrial structure from motion, geolocalized images and archeological description) we want to implemet data from aerial survey in order to create models of lager areas.

We hope to get through the summer without any crash :-) so that we could share our experience with you next autumn.