USF archaeologists use laser scanners to create 3-D images
Posted: 2007-6-6
By:
BARBARA BEHRENDT
TAMPA - Two archaeologists from the University of South Florida are using technology of the future to help preserve priceless pieces of the past.
Travis Doering, and Lori Collins, have traded in picks and shovels for lasers and computers, helping pioneer a new way to learn about ancient sites without having to dig them up.
With global positioning satellites and laser scanners like those used by surveyors, they are creating three-dimensional images of fading artifacts and vanishing historic sites.
So far the two have studied the design of the Miami Circle, the minute details of vast stone carvings scattered around Mesoamerica and nearby historical gems like the Yulee Sugar Mill and the Crystal River Archaeological State Park in Citrus County.
Now captured forever in the virtual world, the sites are assured of an immortality of sorts.
...
Travis Doering, and Lori Collins, have traded in picks and shovels for lasers and computers, helping pioneer a new way to learn about ancient sites without having to dig them up.
With global positioning satellites and laser scanners like those used by surveyors, they are creating three-dimensional images of fading artifacts and vanishing historic sites.
So far the two have studied the design of the Miami Circle, the minute details of vast stone carvings scattered around Mesoamerica and nearby historical gems like the Yulee Sugar Mill and the Crystal River Archaeological State Park in Citrus County.
Now captured forever in the virtual world, the sites are assured of an immortality of sorts.
...
