3D model of a cairn grave near the Bear Trap in Northwest Greenland

This dataset consists of a 3D dense point cloud and a textured mesh model (see the README file) of a cairn grave that is positioned near ‘The Bear Trap’. The Bear Trap is a Norse ruin at the western end of the Nuussuaq Peninsula. The 3D model was created from 639 digital photographs that were processed using Agisoft Metashape Pro v1.7; Linux Ubuntu). A 24 megapixel Sony a6000 APS-C mirrorless camera fitted with a 17 mm lens was used to acquire ground-level imagery of the structure.

The image survey was conducted as part of the Vaigat Iceberg-Microbial Oil Degradation and Archaeological Heritage Investigation (VIMOA) project, which was funded by the Danish Centre for Marine Research and supported by the Arctic Research Centre at Aarhus University, the National Museum of Denmark, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, and The Greenland National Museum and Archives in Nuuk. Permits for the survey were obtained in advance from the Greenland National Museum and Archives in Nuuk. Walsh et al. (2020) provides an overview of the archaeological surveys conducted during the VIMOA project and Walsh et al. (in prep) provides further details specific to The Bear Trap and surrounding archaeological contexts. 

Walsh et al. (2020) The VIMOA project and archaeological heritage in the Nuussuaq Peninsula of north-west Greenland. Antiquity 94:e6 doi:10.15184/aqy.2019.230

Walsh, Matthew J., Daniel F. Carlson, Pelle Tejsner, and Steffen Thomsen. The Bear Trap: Reinvestigating a unique stone structure on the northwest tip of the Nuussuaq Peninsula, Greenland. Submitted to Arctic Anthropology.