Ángel M. FELICÍSIMO | María-Eugenia POLO | Trinidad TORTOSA | Alicia RODERO
(University of Extremadura, Institute of Archaeology of Mérida and National Archaeological Museum of Madrid, Mérida, Spain)

Keywords: Digital photography, Graphic documentation, Rollout photograph

Abstract:
Peripherical or rollout photography is a non-destructive technique that aims “unroll” the surface of an object in order to represent it on a flat surface and to obtain a more comprehensive and continuous view of the decorative motifs. This technique is especially useful in cylindrical objects. The rollout photography was developed in the mid-twentieth century and was consolidated in the 1970 when Justin Kerr made a series of hundreds of rollouts of Mayan vessels, that can be seen in http://www.mayavase.com/.
Nowadays, this process has been simplified with the arrival of digital photography. Today, it is possible not only to use conventional cameras, but also to work with filters and digital treatments that go beyond the traditional photo.
Therefore, digital rollout image in archaeology offers a solution to the complete visualization of the decoration, and thus a detailed analysis and documentation, as it allows integrating the iconographic content of the three-dimensional structures with decorations in all its sides, shown by the same two-dimensional aesthetic narration.
This communication will present the methodology to obtain high resolution rollout images considering all technical aspects from the photo shoot to digital processing. In addition to emphasizing issues, which have not always been accurately solved as, for example, the colour calibration, we will show our own development techniques to merge and “unwind” the images. Finally, we will explain the application of specific filters (DStretch) to reveal aspects of the decoration that are not clearly visible in the conventional image, improving its documentation and, therefore, providing a complete reading in the study of these collections.
This process will be applied to the so-called “The Warriors´Cup” of Archena (Cabezo del Tío Pío, Murcia), a big Iberian kalathos from the Hellenistic period, with a decoration in ochre tones, currently exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid.

Relevance for the conference: We explain some useful methods (rollout photography and DStretch filter) to display the archaeological object from other point of view in exhibitions.
Relevance for the session: We compare the same method (rollout photography) both from the analog and digital perspective using conventional and digital cameras showing 3D information on a flat surface.
Innovation: The improvement of the rollout process using digital cameras and the application of specific filters (DStretch) that can make pictographs visible although are nearly invisible to the naked eye.
References:
• Felicísimo, Á.M. Vase rollout photography using digital reflex cameras. Technical Briefs in Historical Archaelogy 2011, 6, 28-32. http://dehesa.unex.es/handle/10662/7470