On the road to smart archaeology

作者：Nikita Chunakov

Trade routes from ancient and medieval times crossed the territories of the modern-day Republic of Ingushetia in the Russian Federation. The Silk Road was the main trade route crossing the North Caucasus plains of present Ingushetia. The route often underwent changes as it crossed numerous territories with radically different political relationships at different points in time.

Local residents took part in trading and made profit from watching over the trading routes. To control the Silk Road corridors and protect inhabitants from conflict, fortified tower settlements appeared along the caravan routes.

There are 40 fortified tower settlements in the foothills of the Ingushetia plains. One of these tower settlements is located in Bisht, a high-mountain village, in the Dzheyrakhsky District of the Republic of Ingushetia.

为了创建带有石塔的坚固堡垒的3D型号及其周围区域，用于建模和重建乡村物体，这是一家经验丰富的俄罗斯建筑公司Noviy Proyekt，并为该任务的地理系统测量设备提供了准备。

A dream for a tourist, a challenge for a surveyor

The ancestral towers in the Ingushetia mountain territories are the republic’s main tourist attractions. The heritage marvel sitting on the marvellous Caucasian mountains has an average elevation of 1,750 metres and a change in elevation of approximately 300 meters.

Noviy Proyekt had to gear with equipment that would resist abrupt weather changes from +16ᵒ Celsius to -4ᵒ С. The survey of approximately 32 hectares was conducted in the autumn to avoid the heavy summer foliage and early winter snow.

由于场地的环境条件和位置，两位测量师需要以下规格的设备：

• 轻的
• High level of dust and moisture protection
• Minus temperatures resistant
• 3D scanning and surveying view of results right on the field
• A tool that enabled as many tasks as possible.

考古扫描激光扫描

To survey in this environment with the requirements needed, the Leica Nova MS60 MultiStation was chosen, allowing tolaser scan at a distance of up to 1,000 metres.

“It was a pleasure to work with Hexagon Geosystems Russia. We worked with great enthusiasm with the new equipment. I am still amazed from the speed and quality of the laser scanning device. It has really sped up the execution of our tasks,”Noviy Proyekt首席测量师Vitaliy Galaktionov说。

One of the advantages of laser scanning is the ability to survey even when direct access to the facility is obstructed. The georeferenced trigonometrical surface generated with the point clouds was transferred to architects for analysis of:

• Two tower complexes
• 几座住宅独立塔
• Two cemeteries
• 一大批坟墓穹顶
• 埋葬grounds
• 庇护所。

The surrounding area for the structures was laser scanned using larger spacing, with a distance range of 10 to 300 metres depending on visibility conditions. During scanning, the laser beam hit both the ground and vegetation, but using specialised filters for post-processing the data array, it was possible toselect only the points on the ground. Surveying such vast territories with a total station, using both reflector and reflectorless distance measurements, would have taken substantial time and required two specialists for this task.

One of the challenges of architectural surveys is capturing facades with detail – much depends on the quality and completeness of the survey. Using the most complete data array in the form of points clouds, ensures data integrity with all necessary captured points. Aspects, such as stone size in the brickwork, flange size for the beams, and the geometry of cracks were captured with the MS60.

From outer space to the office

When working on the mountains, it is necessary to be sure of the quality of the results, which is why the Leica Viva GS16 GNSS smart antenna was selected. The smart antenna, with leading RTK technology, was integrated with HxGN SmartNet, a 24/7 HNSS network RTK and DGNSS correction service to quickly determine points withcentimetre-level accuracy in an area covered with trees.

A robust communication to a correction service is needed but cannot always be relied upon. Despite a narrow window for satellite visibility and poor coverage of the area by mobile network during the survey, the highly-sensitive board and computer core of the smart antenna delivered reliable centimetre-level positioning. Particularly suitable for this kind of low-populated area with unstable RTK communication, SmartLink fill helped Noviy Proyekt specialists toretain the positioning accuracy even if the RTK data link was lost.

The satellite-corrected GS16 smart antenna was used for:

• Surveying the outline of road edges, buildings and ruins
• 地方坐标系中的柱子
• 机器人总站的设置和定向。

收集了大约2,000个点和线条，直接在现场绘制了各种粒料和花纹，从而促进了后续的办公处理。

The Leica Captivate software on the Leica CS20 field controller and the MS60 made possible to check the survey completeness, transfer projects from one instrument to another, and make quick decisions directly on the field.

Smart workflows for archaeologists

使用集成方法来进行考古任务，可以在对象上收集最完整，最可靠的数据。测量技术与易于使用的软件和最大的参考站网络配对，可以允许定位，可视化，地理份量和保留任何文化资产，以供子孙后代。