The Analysing Britain’s Most Elusive Roman Sculptures Project was undertaken by staff from the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Newcastle University and funded by the British Academy and Leverhulme Trust.
The project sought to examine the most elusive sculptures from the hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall. While over five hundred sculpted stones have been identified and documented in this region, a large number have eluded detailed scholarly examination due to their location and/or condition. 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 inhibits detailed scholarly examination. Most are hard to access or are in places where low light conditions inhibit appropriate analysis.
To enable further research these sculptures were recorded via Structure from Motion photography and light scanning to create a series of interactive 3D models. This approach allows for higher resolution models and can offer advantages over conventional photography.
This archive, published on the ADS in March 2023, contains an extensive array of material related to this project that is available to download and reuse under a Creative Commons Licence. The download section of the archive includes 3D models, images, and scan data of more than 60 different Roman sculptures.
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), a 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.
This archive is available from the link below:
Ian Haynes, Lindsay Allason-Jones, Alex Turner (2023) Digital Archive from the Analysing Britain’s Most Elusive Roman Sculptures Project [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1090382
