FROM PHOTOGRAMMETRIC DATA TO DATA ANALYSIS. THE SHAWBAK PROJECT

In this paper we present an interdisciplinary project which is a work in progress towards a 3D Geographical Information System with a specific focus application on the Castle of Shawbak. The Shawbak archaeological project is a specific and integrated project between medieval archaeological research and computer vision done thanks a long-term cooperation between University of Florence and LSIS/CNRS Marseille. Focusing mainly on stratigraphical analysis of upstanding structures we conducted a survey using photogrammetry, both in a traditional way and using the most advanced techniques to obtain a dense map, and then a tool for statistical analysis. The photogrammetric survey is driven directly by archaeological data which is formalized by ontologies as a link between all the archaeological concepts which are surveyed. The 3D GIS is the last step of this chain and aims at the automatic production of 3D models through archaeological database queries: these 3D models are, in fact, a graphic image of the database and at the same time the interface through which the user is able to modify it and produce different kinds of analysis.