Photogrammetry of selected skeletal trauma from Iron and Viking-Age Scandinavia: a BODY-POLITICS 3D-model dataset

Overview

These are the 3D models generated for the individuals A1860, X2753 and 4278-PF (3 individuals) in the formats of .PLY with texture and .OBJ with texture. The 3D models (secondary data) were generated with the photogrammetric software Agisoft Metashape by Dr Vasiliki Louka using image files (primary data) captured by Dr Emma Tollefsen from the physical skeletal remains. The models have been uploaded as .zip and can be viewed by using a 3D viewer or further imported to open-access sofwtare such as Blender.

Dr Vasiliki Louka accessed the software Agisoft Metashapte at the ULAS (University of Leicester Archaeological Services) facilities at the University of Leicester. The images were imported to the software and were processed in order to generater a point cloud. The cloud was further processed to increase accuracy and reduce unecessary points by utilising the settings provided by the Agisoft Metashape user interface. Finally, the 3D meshes were produced and the texture was applied to create the final 3D model. Screenshot of the corresponding models appear in the relevant manuscript.

About photogrammetry

"Photogrammetry is the science and technology of obtaining information about the physical environment from images, with a focus on applications in surveying, mapping and high-precision metrology (Schindler and Förstner 2021)".

In essence, photogrammetry is the method through which 2D data from image sources (e.g., photography, video) are transformed to generate 3D by being imported in a photogrammetric software. 

For these models, the photographs were taken with 50%+ overlap with each other using a Canon EOS 2000D DSLR and a tripod. The selected remains were mounted on a turntable in front of a white backdrop. Once obtained, the images were imported to Agisoft Metashape. The quality of the images was calculated while images with suboptimal quality (blurred, over- or underexposed) were removed. The remaining images were aligned to obtain the initial sparse cloud which was further processed to remove unecessary points and areas (e.g., the background). The final mesh was generated afterwards and then texture was applied to produce the finished, textured 3D model. 

The operational system for photogrammetry was a HP Z4 G4 Workstation (x64-based PC), with Intel(R) Core(TM), i9-7900X CPU @ 3.30Mhz (10 Core(s), 20 Logical Processor(s)).

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the staff from University of Leicester Archaeological Services for granting access to the facilities and permitting use of the software Agisoft Metashape.

References

Schindler, K., Förstner, W. 2021. Photogrammetry. In: Ikeuchi, K. (eds) Computer Vision. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63416-2_139