A Hands-on Past: 3D Replication as a Form of Archaeological Engagement

Summary

Let’s face it: 3D printing is cool.  It is also, thanks to a push from many different sectors, much more affordable, flexible, and accessible through college campuses and even city libraries.  This presentation will focus on a recent project at the University of Denver where anthropologists teamed with the engineering and computer science school to take advantage of our different suites of knowledge.  Together we crafted curriculum for students from many different academic backgrounds to employ 3D printing for enhancing experiential learning.  Teams of students chose an existing 3D artifact model (accessible through online databases or provided by museums or researchers) and then designed a research project only made possible with access to artifact replicas.  The wide range of items chosen by students, their engagement with the research, and new embodied understandings of items, all suggest that 3D replication can be a valuable avenue for public archaeology and artifact analysis.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Intersection of Technology and Public Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 144