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)

Digital archaeological drawing on the field with QGIS

I should have written this post since long, but time is always missing... The topic regards the digital archaeological (vector) drawing on the field. 

During the CAA conference of 2015, held in Siena Italy), I participate, among others, in the session 9A (Towards a Theory of Practice in Applied Digital Field Methods), moderated by +nicolò dell'unto (Lund University) and James Stuart Taylor. After my speech I was asked if we (Arc-Team), as a professional archaeological society, were really able to perform the digital documentation in real-time during an ordinary excavation. I answered that, at least in Italy, this point is very important for a professional society and that in normal conditions (but this can also happens during most of the emergency excavations) we complete the digital archaeological documentation directly on the field. The reason is simple and it is every year more evident: money are always less and less, as the time goes by, for cultural heritage matters; at least this is the trend of the last decade. For this reason, if on the one hand we have to try to counter this phenomenon, on the other we have to adapt our methodology to the current reality and this means to use the economic resources for the excavation also to produce the related documentation (without counting on a post-excavation budget).
The old video below (2014) shows how we manage the digital archaeological drawing on the field with QGIS.

The vector layers can be related to georeferenced photomosaic (bidimensional photomapping), or to georeferenced orthophoto (coming from 3D operations based on SfM/MVSR techniques). Of course orthophoto are the best solution, but currently the 3D work-flow with standard hardware is pretty slow. This is the reason why for almost all the palimpsestic documentation we still work with both the system: 2D photomapping and 3D SfM; depending on the time-table we have on the field, we choose the post-processing operations.
Within QGIS it is possible to draw vector layers in different ways. Basing on our experience (as you can see in the video), the best two best solution are:

1. to use the plugin Freehand Editing (if you want to experience something that is really similar to the old-traditional methodology, with the pencil and the paper)

2. to use the standard vector drawing tools (if you want to avoid too complex sahpes, like polygons with too many nodes)

IMHO, Freehand Editing plugin is a perfect solution for field operation, so that I am planning to add it into qgis-archeos-plugin, for ArcheOS Hypatia.

The archaeometric excavation

Last year, on November 28, Arc-Team joined the conference "Lo scavo archeometrcio: scienza e tecnologia applicate allo scavo archeologico" (en: "The archaeometrcic excavation: science and technology applied to the archaeological excavation"), which was held in Rovereto (Italy) at the Museo Civico.

During the meeting we gave a presentation titled "Professional archaeology. Innovations and best practice with free technology. Toward an Open Research." Today I uploaded on our server the slides, so that we can share this work (like always under Creative Commons Attribution - CC BY).

As usual the presentation has been done with impress.js through the Graphical User Interface Strut (both GPL licensed) and it is optimized for Firefox or Iceweasel (better visualized here).

Here is a little explanation regarding the single slides:

SLIDE 1

A fast presentation regarding Arc-Team.

SLIDE 2

An animation representing the importance of geocoding in archaeology (from space to site).

SLIDE 3

Differential GPS and Total Station: the main tools needed by archaeologists on the field (to georeference every single element of the archaeological record).

SLIDE 4

Some examples of geocoding in archaeology: everyday work, project in extreme conditions and missions abroad...

SLIDE 5

... survay and excavations

SLIDE 6

In survay projects the geocoding tolerance for archaeology is higher, so that we are testing alternative solutions to build a low-cost and open source GPS with centimetric accuracy, using the software RTKLIB (or its port in Android)

SLIDE 7

All the recorded data (in 2D and 3D) can be imported into an open source GIS.

SLIDE 8

For aerial archaeology it since 2008 we are working with open source DIY UAV, like the UAVP or the KKcopter (in the slide).

SLIDE 9

Our last UAV prototype and an example of 3D pointcloud form aerial pictures.

SLIDE 10

Since 2014 we are testing DIY camera (using the filter of Public Lab) for NDVI and NGB pictures in archaeological remote sensing.

SLIDE 11

Just removing the IR filter, a normal camera can be used for endoscopic prospections in low light conditions.

SLIDE 12

In the field of geophysical prospections we use a DIY  machine for Electrical Resistivity Imaging. The data can be visualized in a GIS (e.g. GRASS GIS in the slide), using the east and north and the resistivity values.

SLIDE 13

Some geoarchaeological analyses can be performed directly on the field, like the settlement test (using the soil triangle) for the texture or the lithologic recognition for the skeleton.

SLIDE 14

Also some basic analytical chemistry can help during the excavation (giving indications on the ancient use of the soil), to verify the presence/absence of phosphates or of organic remains.

SLIDE 15

Other preliminary laboratory (flotation and sieving) analyses can prepare the samples for further investigation. Also in this case we use a DIY machine.

SLIDE 16

Colorimetry can be performed in many ways. Currently we are testing different options, like the open source spectrometer of Public Lab.

SLIDE 17

For some laboratory geoarchaeological analysis (e.g. microscopic morphology) we use normal optic microscopes, while for more advanced studies we externalize the service (e.g. SEM or energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy)

SLIDE 18

Currently we are testing the potentialities of the FLOSS MorphoJ to speed up the process in carpological remains recognition

SLIDE 19

To document archaeozoological remains in the field, we use the standard digital documentation techniques (in 2 and 3D), with FLOSS (e.g. bidimensional photomapping with the Aramus method or 3D recording through SfM and MVSR)

SLIDE 20

In the evolutionary anthropology field we developed a new technique (anatomical deformation) thanks to the FLOSS Blender

SLIDE 21

The same software (Blender) is used in the process of archaeological forensic facial reconstruction

SLIDE 22

Open source GIS (e.g. GRASS) are the main software we use to process and manage the recorded data

SLIDE 23

Thanks to open source UAV and Blender we experimented new ways to disclose archaeological data in a four-dimensional way (x,y,z,t)

A more detailed explanation of the entire presentation will come soon with the related article. For the topics which were already discussed in AOTR, I suggest to read the related post (see the above bibliography). For the latest experiment (e.g. near infrared, NDVI and NGB; Electrical Resistivity Imaging; Sedimentation test; litologic recognition on the field; flotation and sieving; colorimetry; microscopic morphology; MorphoJ;), we will try to write something as soon as possible.

Bibliography

Lo scavo archeologico professionale, innovazioni e best practice mediante metodologie aperte e Open research (here on Research Gate and here in Academia)

Webography (from ATOR):

3D and 4D GIS

gvSIG

SfM and MVSR

PPT-GUI (tutorial); from pictures to mesh (PPT, MeshLab, Blender); PPT with Bundler MultiTread; PPT with turntable (not recomended); PPT VS MicMac; PPT VS openMVG; recovering old data; underground documentation; big data; low-light conditions; underwater archaeology; aerial 3D; 3D GIS; anthropology;

Aerial 3D documentation

Caldonazzo Castle (case of study);

Archaeological endoscopy

normal endoscopy; IR endoscopy;

Geoarchaeology

genetic color, framework and edge analyses of skeleton; analytical chemistry on the field;

Archaeobothany

Vegetal macro remains indentification;

Evolutionary anthropology
Anatomical Deformation Technique (ADT): validation; ADT Paranthropus boisei; ADT Homo rodhesiensis;

Archaeoanthropology
Archaeological Forensic Facial Reconstruction (AFFR); Digital AFFR: technique validation; AFFR: state of the arts; AFFR: poster;

Archaeological dissemination
Caldonazzo Castle 4D (case of study);

Remote sensing with UAV in archeology (lessons at Lund University)

Since 2011, Arc-Team is teaching during the course "digital archeology" at Lund University, introducing the class to the use of Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS) in archeology (with ArcheOS). The course is held by Nicolò Dell'unto (Department of Archaeology and Ancient History). 

This year we had the opportunity to give a lesson regarding the use of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), and more precisely quadcopters,  in remote sensing projects. Our airfield was the Swedish village of Uppåkra, where the University is undertaking an excavation. 

Here you can see a coupe of video recorded in slow motion by our friends Carolina Larson and Stefan Lindgren of the Humanities Lab. Thanks to the slow motion, it is possible to observe the flight stability ...

... and the ability to maintain the position of the last drone we built (more details here).

The use of drones in the field of archeology has also attracted interest from the local press: the magazine of the University (LUM) published an article on the topic:

Radio-controlled helicopter maps
archaeological sites from above

Which GIS? OpenJUMP

We are often asked why there are so many GIS inside ArcheOS (GRASS, gvSIG, OpenJUMP, Quantum GIS, SAGA GIS, Udig). Today I start answering with OpenJUMP. This is my favorite software for an excavation GIS, due to its fantastic drawing tools (that make it similar to a CAD). So, from my point of view, OpenJUMP is the best GIS to draw vector layers from georeferenced photomosaics, like in the image you see below...

... but of course there are also many other tools, which sometime are usefull to handle excavation data (below you see the "warping" utility). Moreover the database integration in the program is pretty enought for this kind of small projects.

Metodo Aramus

In 2006 we joined the Aramus Excavations and Field School. That one was our first year in the project as a society. Our primary goal was to help in software migration from closed source softwares to FLOSS. The migration ended without problems, thanks to ArcheOS, but it caused some minor changes in the archaeological workflow. One of most important was the new methodology we had to develop in order to performe a fast photomapping technique of the excavation (at least as fast as the system they used before). We called this new methodology "metodo Aramus" and, untill now, we are still using it. The main reason is the quality we reached with the georeferenced photomosaics: compared with other traditional techniques, every single photo in the final image is equlized in brighteness and contrast. The result is a composite picture in which is more or less impossible to recognize the borders between the single photos.  

Comparison between traditional methodology and Metodo Aramus

Archaeological drawing from photomapping

IMHO one of the main benefits of photomapping is the fact that everybody is able to do good archaeological drawing. In this way it is not necessary to divide archaeologists between "diggers" (who simply excavate layer by layer)  and "drawers" (who just document). In our (Arc-Team) experience it is never a good solution when someone has to document a situation he does not know (because was exposed by someone else).
In other words, photomapping techniques and GIS allow also normal archaeologists to reach the same quality level of professionals in drawing layers or finds. As an example, the picture below shows the skeleton of a young goat found in Aramus (AM): the georeferenced photomosaic is done with photomapping techniques ("metodo Aramus") and the drawing is done by me (i am not a professional in drawing) using the GIS OpenJUMP (inside ArcheOS).

Georeferenced photomosaic and vector drawing with OpenJUMP