New Eyes on Old Objects: teaching archaeology with photogrammetry | Thoeming et al. | CAAA2020

Описание: New Eyes on Old Objects: photogrammetry as a pedagogical tool for teaching archaeology.
Alix Thoeming, Lesley Beaumont, Simon Wyatt-Spratt

Photogrammetry is an increasingly common component of archaeological recording and analysis. In a museum context, photogrammetric models provide both a new method to display objects and create interactivity within exhibits and also a tool for artefact digitisation which can democratise access to collections. In a professional context, photogrammetry has become a highly sought-after skill in complement with existing artefact management protocols. To date, though, there has been little formal discussion around the use of photogrammetric models as pedagogical tools. First-year archaeology students at the University of Sydney have traditionally been given supervised hands-on access to artefacts from the Nicholson Collection of the Chau Chak Wing Museum (CCWM) as part of their tutorials. This however excludes objects that are too fragile to be handled and also restricts student interaction with the objects to a very narrow temporal window due to the requirement that all object handling take place under staff supervision.

The New Eyes on Old Objects project was a trial digitisation initiative between the University of Sydney Department of Archaeology, Arts eLearning and Sydney University Museums that aimed to both increase student access to the collection and support its use in practical assessment tasks. Selected objects from the West Asian and ancient Mediterranean collections were digitised using a low-cost photogrammetric method. Students were initially given access to the physical objects in class and then were able to access their models online afterwards, before incorporation into object-based assessments. This paper will present the architecture of the NEOO project, staff and student reception, and the lessons we learned in its implementation. Digital accessibility, in particular, remains a challenge for projects of this sort. We argue that through the use of this relatively simple tool, archaeology departments can leverage their collections in increasingly adaptive and progressive ways.

You can find the models for the New Eyes on Old Objects project here: https://sydney.pedestal3d.com/

Presented on September 12 2020 as part of CAA Australasia Digital Archaeology Conference.

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