Digitising stećci – 3D documentation and relief visualisation of medieval tombstones

This study explores the medieval funerary phenomenon of stećci through advanced digital techniques. Employing photogrammetry and structured light scanning, we digitised a number of stećci to compare the effectiveness of these methods for accurate surface reconstruction. The comparisons have shown that both methods are capable of producing comparable models under optimal capturing conditions. A number of different smoothing and mesh refinement techniques were employed to remove surface deformations and make the carvings more visible. The use of surface-enhancing visualisations proved to be a prerequisite for accurate and reliable interpretation of the iconographic and epigraphic features on stećci. Among the tested visualisations, those based on Digital Elevation Models (DEM) were the most effective, with the Simple Local Relief Model (SLRM) combined with hillshading from three directions (HSMD) proving particularly reliable.