PHOTOGRAMMETRY: FROM FIELD RECORDING TO MUSEUM PRESENTATION (TIMIRYAZEVO BURIAL SITE, WESTERN SIBERIA)

Abstract

A 3D-recording project was introduced into practice in 2014 by Tomsk State University during investigation of Timiryazevo burial site (5th–10th centuries AD). During the excavation, three-dimensional models of the whole archaeological site were made at each stage, as well as individual records of all artifacts. 3D recording was conducted by SFM technology. The data obtained was used for research and in work on the exhibition project ‖Secrets of Timiryazevo Burial Site: The Circle of Life and Death in Siberian Shamanism‖. The exposition centers on unveiling the meaning of the rite of burying lookalike dolls of the deceased, which was practiced by many indigenous peoples of Siberia. The exposition is designed to enable the visitor to pass through the whole cycle of knowledge extraction together with archaeologists, the ―detectives of the past‖: from a bunch of strange miniscule objects found in the sand to reconstruction of the whole sophisticated rite of the ―ultimate funeral‖ including the burial of the deceased’s lookalike doll. The tools used to develop the topic included a stereoscopic video created with Autodesk 3D Studio MAX 2014 and displayed in the exhibition. Stereoscopic videos displayed by specialized museum equipment create a total participation effect, enabling any visitor to watch excavations step by step, in all their detail and from all perspectives.