3D Reconstructions of monuments and landscapes: Impressionistic or Expressionistic views of the Past?

Spilios THEODOROPOULOS¹ / D. MOULLOU² / D. MAVROMATI² / C. LIAPAKIS³ / V.BALIS³

(¹Laboratory of Geophysical-Satellite Remote Sensing & Archaeo-environment, Institute for Mediterranean Studies, Foundation for Research & Technology, Hellas (FORTH), Greece / ²Acropolis Restoration Service / ³Consultant Engineers UGP with discretive title “Geotech”)

A number of 3D reconstructions and models of monuments and landscapes have been created in the context of culture and archaeology. The quality of such models is always questionable in terms of their resolution and detailed information they contain, as well as the concepts, references and background information that they are based upon. Frequently, such models are constructed independently of each other and thus they are deficient in presenting an integrated picture of the ancient landscapes. In most cases they do not exploit either the archaeological records or other dimensions of archaeological research (e.g. geophysical data, archaeo-environmental data, etc). In this way the models contain a certain degree of fuzziness and abstraction that moves between impressionism, expressionism and realism.
Examples of the above will be drawn from different archaeological reconstructions such as of the circuit Wall, the Erechtheion, the Parthenon (Acropolis of Athens) and the Bouleuterion, the Stoa, the Theatre and other Temple of Sikyon (Peloponnesus). The data sources used for the above reconstructions will be discussed and compared to the available testimonies and archaeological evidence. Different versions and variations of the reconstructions will be presented together with the techniques used in the modeling process.