Towards a Museum Quality Artifact: 3D Documentation of Maya Artifacts from Blue Creek, Nojol Nah, Tz’unun, and Xno’ha in Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ancient Maya Landscapes in Northwestern Belize, Part II" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Large collections of culturally significant material are often at a heightened risk of destruction simply due to their collective proximity. Organizations and individuals have begun to recognize the vulnerability of the artifact. The artifact is not something that can be easily copied and reprinted. Artifacts often possess a highly complex matrix of 3-dimensional and material qualities. The Blue Creek Archaeological Project recovers and documents immense amounts these highly complex artifacts. Digital archaeological techniques such as photography, photogrammetry, laser scanning, structured light scanning, etc. have emerged as favorable solutions to the problem of the mortal artifact. The Center for Heritage Conservation has worked closely with the project to apply these techniques and build a digital archive of recovered artifacts. This collection raises issues of proper visualization and dissemination of culturally sensitive to broader audiences.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ancient Maya Landscapes in Northwestern Belize, Part II   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26043