Miguel Ángel HERVÁS HERRERA | Jeffrey P. Du VERNAY | Victor Manuel LOPEZ-MENCHERO BENDICHO
(Baraka Arqueólogos, Ciudad Real, Spain)
Keywords: Calatrava la Vieja, 3D documentation, 3D graffiti, Methods comparison
Abstract:
The enclave of Calatrava la Vieja (Carrión de Calatrava, Ciudad Real, Spain) played a leading role in the settlement of the Alto Guadiana region for centuries, due in part to its strategic location next to one of the main fords of this stretch of the river, and its subsequent link to the road network that articulated the economic exploitation, the administrative structure and the military defense of the territory throughout its history. Inhabited since the Bronze Age, it housed successively an oppidum or walled city in the Iberian period, a small Roman settlement with continuity during the Visigoth period, the Islamic capital of the area for almost five centuries, a Templar fortress, and the founding convent of the military order of Calatrava. The archaeological research works began in Calatrava la Vieja in 1984, and has continued for 34 years. These works have allowed to discover, until now, more than half of the walled perimeter, the entire inside of the alcázar, and about 10% of the medina. Due to lack of technical and economic resources, until 2016 the research team of Calatrava la Vieja did the archaeological documentation of the discovered structures with traditional 2D drawing techniques. In July 2016 and September 2018, GDH and Baraka Arqueólogos did a complete documentation campaign using 3D methods (terrestrial laser scanners, drone photogrammetry, high resolution photogrammetry, 360º photography) with the intention of producing new highly detailed 2D and 3D representations of the entire site. This has allowed us to directly compare the results obtained with both methods, and analyze the advantages, disadvantages and limitations of each. The differences in documentation are best shown at both the macro-scale – the entire site, and the micro-scale – graffiti on a cistern (aljibe) prison. We show that 3D techniques are critical but require a multi-disciplinary approach.
Relevance for the conference: A comparison between traditional heritage and archaeological documentation techniques and digital documentation, especially 3D photogrammetry and laser scanning, demonstrates the effictiveness in regards to cost, time, speed, accuracy, and quality of data.
Relevance for the session: Calatrava la Vieja is a cornerstone project in the development of digital heritage documentation in Spain and demonstrates the role of both macro-scale documentation and micro-scale documentation in the creating of digital heritage.
Innovation: A direct quantitative comparison between traditional documentation techniques and digital techniques.
References:
• HERVÁS HERRERA, Miguel Ángel & RETUERCE VELASCO, Manuel (2014): “Calatrava la Vieja. Capital islámica de la región y cuna de la Orden”, en Alarcos y su contexto histórico. Actas de las IX Jornadas de Historia Local “Biblioteca Oretana”, I Jornadas de Historia Local de Ciudad Real (Ciudad Real, 22-24 de octubre de 2014), Ciudad Real, Ediciones C & G, 2014, pp. 235-282.
• HERVÁS HERRERA, Miguel Ángel & RETUERCE VELASCO, Manuel (2014): “Usos hidráulicos urbanos en el Alto Guadiana en la Edad Media. Calatrava la Vieja”, en MEJÍAS MORENO, Miguel (ed.): Las Tablas y los Ojos del Guadiana: Agua, Paisaje y Gentes, Madrid, Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales e Instituto Geológico Minero de España, 2014, pp. 105-146.