Archaeological Surveying and Solutions
We can facilitate a variety of site recording method, from simple high level recording to advanced rectified imaging, orthophotography and detailed colour analysis.
High Level Photography
We have several high level packages available. The most flexible is an 8 meter high hand-held system. This allows the creation of top down views of complete sites or individual sections or trenches. This has significant advantages over a vehicle mounted system as the mast can be brought on site and images captured directly above the site in question to obtain true vertical images, minimising image distortion. The handheld mast system can also be used to lean over a large trench to capture detail shots without having to come onto site. The hand-held nature of the equipment also makes it very efficient to use and so multiple positions can be set up in a fraction of the time that it takes for vehicle mounted equipment. Where access is complex the combination of mast and cherry picker also allows for the capture of otherwise impossible images.
Vehicle mounted mast imaging provides an alternative where an elevation of above 8m is necessary. Where possible it is recommended to use the hand-held system because of the greater flexibility in terms of positioning and lower impact on site.
Site Analysis and Recording
Landlines offers a number of solutions for the recording of archaeological sites from corrected imaging to highly sophisticated analysis. These services provide a digital method of site mapping
Rectified Analysis
A rectified site survey involves the creation of a control net across the whole site. The site is then surveyed using the hand high level imaging system. Images are then indexed and referenced before being corrected and stitched together. The final output as a Tiff file is a true to scale ortho-projection of the site. This facilitates measurement of individual features or an accurate record of the whole site. This can be effectively combined with a high level imaging survey, and the rectified analysis applied to the most important areas only.
Colour Analysis
The rectified recording of a site can be taken further to record the colour values for each section. This can then be referenced against soil data to obtain an extra level of historical detail. With mosaics and other sites such as evidence of burning where colour is very important this is a highly innovative and valuable service.
Stone by Stone Analysis
Building on the rectified image survey a scaled CAD trace can be provided of individual stones in a trench or section. This provides a highly accurate alternative to manual recording and facilitates the capture of other information at the same time as the other information.
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