Testing the use and reliability of 3D Scanning Technology in the construction of a Digital Comparative Faunal Bone Collection

Summary

This poster presents methodologies for testing the use of 3D scanning in its ability to capture quality 3D images of faunal bones for comparative purposes. An investigation of prior studies confirms that 3D scanning has successfully been used in aspects of archaeological research. Yet, the full potential for the use of 3D scanning in zooarchaeology is still unclear. At present, zooarchaeologists often have to resort to loaning physical bone specimens from other institutions when comparative examples are not available in their local collections. The process of needing to borrow physical comparative collections can be timely and costly to the researcher. This research utilizes a MakerBot 3D Digitizer to test its accuracy for creating 3-dimensional representations of faunal bones. In particular, this project focuses on scanning various waterfowl and fish species. The long-term goal for testing the use and reliability of 3D scanning is to further aid in the development of digital faunal bone comparative collections. A digital repository of faunal bone comparative collections could drastically increase the availability of zooarchaeological collections to researchers across the global. Consequently, this will bolster the potential for collaborative research efforts across the archaeological community since digital faunal collections could easily be shared amongst institutions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17431