ABSTRACT:Mining and underground archaeology are two domains of expertise where three-dimensional data take an important part in the associated researches. Up to now, archaeologists study mines and underground networks from line-plot surveys, cross-section of galleries, and from tool marks surveys. All this kind of information can be clearly recorded back from the field from threedimensional models with a more cautious and extensive approach. Besides, the volumes of the underground structures that are very important data to explain the mining activities are difficult to evaluate from "traditional" hand-made recordings. They can now be calculated more accurately from a 3D model. Finally, reconstructed scenes are a powerful tool as thinking aid to look back again to a structure in the office or in future times. And the recorded models, rendered photo-realistically, can also be used for cultural heritage documentation presenting inaccessible and sometimes dangerous places to the public. Nowadays, thanks to modern computer technologies and highly developed software tools paired with sophisticated digital camera equipment, complex photogrammetric processes are available for moderate costs for research teams. Recognizing these advantages the authors develop and utilize image-based workflows in order to document ancient mining monuments and underground sites as a basis for further historical and archaeological researches, performed in collaborative partnership during recent projects on medieval silver mines and preventive excavations of undergrounds in France.
A preventive archaeological excavation operation was carried out in the municipality of Boulazac (France), south-east of Périgueux, in a sector traversed by an ancient structure known since the early nineteenth century : the Grand-Font aqueduct. In an area close to the source, two branches were actually discovered, originally buried just beneath the ground surface. The main one is built in opus caementicum
with a mixed covering (limestone slabs and a low vault). The second branch is posterior and indicates a more direct water supply phase from the source. It is made of a succession of monolithic channel blocks. These data supplement our knowledge and confirm the old hypotheses on the installations located just downstream from the source.
À la recherche des ateliers monétaires grecs : l'apport de l'expérimentation Résumé-La démarche expérimentale en numismatique antique n'est pas nouvelle, D. G. Sellwood, dans les années 1950, mena une série d'expérimentations qui constitue encore aujourd'hui une référence. L'approche de notre groupe se voulait plus globale, traitant des différents aspects de la chaîne opératoire qui conduit du métal à la monnaie. 12 281 monnaies ont été frappées lors des deux saisons d'expérimentations, ce qui permet de fournir de nouveaux résultats sur les méthodes de fabrication des flans ou bien sur l'usure des coins monétaires. L'incapacité de notre équipe à calibrer le poids des flans, par exemple, remet en cause les hypothèses formulées sur le mode opératoire des monnayeurs des ateliers grecs. Le principal objectif de la reconstitution de l'atelier monétaire était de frapper un maximum de monnaies afin d'étudier l'usure des coins monétaires. Il en ressort qu'un coin de droit pouvait connaître une productivité différente selon la taille des flans, l'expérience de l'équipe et le métal utilisé. Les résultats permettent tout de même de fixer sa production moyenne dans une fourchette qui pourrait se situer entre 10 000 et 15 000 exemplaires. D'autres expérimentations à venir permettront, nous l'espérons, de fournir de nouvelles données et peut-être d'ajuster nos estimations. Summary-Experiments on Greek minting techniques are not a new deal: D. G. Sellwood, in the fifties, carried out a series of practical experiments which still represent a reference work. Our global approach focuses on the different aspects of the chain of operations from the metal through the minting of coins. 12 281 coins were struck during our two sessions, giving some new results on the melting of blanks or on the wear of dies. The incapacity of our team to produce blanks of a regular weight for example, ventures new hypotheses on the Greek minting process. The main aim of these experiments was to produce a maximum of coins in order to study the dies wear due to striking. It emerges that the production of an obverse die could be different depending on blank size, team experience and metal used. Nevertheless, the results should set its production range between 10 000 and 15 000 coins. Further experimentations would give us new data and the possibility to sharpen our estimations.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.