Digital Archive from the Analysing Britain's Most Elusive Roman Sculptures Project
Ian Haynes, Lindsay Allason-Jones, Alex Turner, 2023. https://doi.org/10.5284/1090382. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Elusive Sculptures Project unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Primary contact
Ian
Haynes
Professor of Archaeology
Newcastle University
School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
UK
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 4457
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1090382
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
This collection comprises 3D models, images, and scan data from the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust funded-project 'Analysing Britain's most elusive Roman sculptures' which examined sculpture from the hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall.
Over five hundred sculpted stones have been identified in this region. Of these, 65 constitute Britain's most elusive examples of sculpted stone from the Roman period; their location and/or condition has previously prevented detailed scholarly examination. Many of these pieces are held in private houses or built into farm buildings or church walls where they cannot easily be seen. Others are displayed or stored in museums in a manner which prevents detailed scholarly examination. Most are hard to access or are in places where low light conditions inhibit appropriate analysis.
The study and documentation of these sculptures marks the last task remaining for the completion of the final scheduled British volume of the Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani (CSIR) series of comprehensive surveys of Roman sculpture. The results of this project have been incorporated into Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani: Great Britain. Vol. I, Fasc. 11. The Hinterland of Hadrian's Wall and Derbyshire. Successful completion of this task marks the completion of a research programme for Britain first launched over half a century ago and means that Britain is the first province of the Roman Empire to have achieved comprehensive coverage of all its regions.
To undertake and enable further research on the most elusive examples, project members undertook a programme of Structure from Motion photography and structured light scanning. This approach allows for higher resolution models and can offer advantages over conventional photography.
