From the Lab to the Cave and Back: 3D Modeling Finger Flutings

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Finger flutings are lines and markings drawn with the human hand in soft sediments in caves and rock shelters throughout southern Australia, New Guinea, and southwestern Europe that date back to the Late Pleistocene. Over the last two decades, Kevin Sharpe and Leslie Van Gelder developed a method to determine characteristics of the creators, such as age, sex and group size. However, research on finger flutings is still constrained by physical challenges and limitations of the cave environment. 3D scans of the fluting panels would allow researchers to conduct measurements and other analysis in the lab. In order to determine the most appropriate method of 3D documentation, I conducted an experimental project in which I created and scanned replica panels using three different 3D scanners. I compared the process and results of each digitization method based on how well each accommodated for the challenges posed by the flutings and the cave environment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25433