Data copyright © Access Archaeology, ACCORD project unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Dr
Stuart
Jeffrey
Research Fellow
Glasgow School of Art
Digital Design Studio
The Hub
Pacific Quay
Glasgow
G51 1EA
Scotland
Tel: +44 (0) 141 566 1465
The ACCORD team worked with the Access Archaeology Group from the 18th to 20th of August 2014. The project was based in the Uists located in the Outer Hebrides. Together on North Uist, Western Isles we recorded and modelled the Grimsay wheelhouse. Additionally we modelled and recorded the remains of an Early Medieval chapel and a cross-slab at Howmore, South Uist. We used both the techniques of Reflectance Transformation Imaging and photogrammetry.
Access Archaeology have only been active since early 2014, and are an informal group of approximately 10-15 people with open membership, "who aim to encourage the interest of the local people in the rich Archaeology that is on their doorstep." They take part in archaeological activities and workshops organised by the University of the Highlands and Islands, and are very active in recording the heritage of the Uists, regularly helping with archaeological work in the area including volunteering on SCHARP (Scotland’s Coastal Heritage at Risk) projects and on excavations run by CFA Archaeology.
For photogrammetry, data collection consisted of digital images captured with an 18-55mm Nikkor lens on a Nikon D5300 DSLR camera and other various camera models (owned by members of the group). Before any images were taken, the camera and lens settings were set to automatic with no flash and images captured at JPG fine quality (metadata for each image is provided in the accompanying excel spreadsheet). A total of 463 digital images were captured in order to create a photogrammetric model of the Grimsay Wheelhouse.
For reflectance transformation imaging, in both cases, data collection consisted of digital images captured with an 18-55mm Nikkor lens on a Nikon D5300 DSLR camera. Before any images were taken, the camera and lens settings were fixed so that each image was taken within controlled parameters, with no flash and images captured at JPG fine quality. We used the RTI builder software available from Cultural Heritage Imaging, which uses a polynomial texture mapping plugin. We used a LED hand-held light source for highlight based data capture and a shiny black sphere mounted on a tripod next to the object surface. To minimise light pollution data capture took place under a tarp. In total we took 84 of the Howmore cross-slab and 38 of the initialled and dated stone at the Grimsay Wheelhouse (RA 1993/7).
All ACCORD datasets provided via the ADS are licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license