Trench 24 Model with Photogrammetry

The combined benefits of photogrammetry, drone photography and increased computing power have taken archaeology forward in various ways. Phil Docherty ran the first photogrammetry course at SHARP in 2018, with full attendance for the first two years before the Covid break. Most of us who learned with Phil have endeavoured to use the knowledge in a variety of ways, from small-scale objects to landscape views.

The company who have developed the software we use have developed a new service over the past few months, both enabling processing in the cloud and a cloud-based site with facilities for adding further information. The image of Trench 24 below will take you to the model. Ian Drummond undertook the drone photography in 2022 when the excavation for the season was at its maximum. Working offline it is possible to see the trench in more detail; this cloud-hosted version is working to size constraints suitable for web browsers.

Click the arrow to access the image; there are menus which come out from either side of the window. We won't try and explain all the measuring facilities here; you can see more at Freshdesk. In the Digital Trench section of the SHARP site, you can go through a series of photogrammetric modules for Trench 27.

We'd be grateful for feedback if you try using this model - what works and what doesn't? This summer we have tried another approach, which you can view at Trench 24 Walkthrough July 2023. We're planning to add more to this module as time permits.

Hoping this is all of interest; you may well have thoughts and more skills as usage of this type of software progresses.