A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Reading the Past and (Digital) Interpretation in the 21st Century, a Case Study from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

Summary

During 2016 and 2017, Bighorn Archaeology participants used on-the-ground photogrammetric methods and aerial photography to document features at archaeological sites throughout the Bighorn Basin and surrounding foothills in northwestern Wyoming. The sample includes both horizontal and vertical features such as stone circles (tipi rings), a hunting driveline, defensive rock bulwarks, and pictograph rock shelter overhang panels. In this presentation, we discuss our evolving methodology and the resulting three-dimensional models and orthomosaics, along with implications for future uses of these techniques. The applied methodology highlights the potential of this emerging technology to rapidly document and assess site features when on-site time is limited. We also discuss issues related to processing, affected by proprietary software availability and computer memory capacity, especially for building models while in the field. High-precision technology applied to document surface architecture and fragile rock art on the mountains and plains of western North America in the last decade has focused on establishing regularized patterns of domestic life and distributions of resources across the broader social landscape. Layering in three-dimensional models produced using hundreds of photographs from a DSLR camera further directs these efforts and re-defines expectations for archaeological interpretations, especially in cultural heritage and preservation dialogues.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21739