View source for Unsolved:Laser scanning at Stonehenge

The first use of 3D laser scanning at Stonehenge was of the [[History:Bronze Age|Bronze Age]] dagger and axes inscribed on the [[Unsolved:Sarsen|sarsen]]s, which was undertaken in 2002 by a team from Wessex Archaeology and Archaeoptics. They used a [[Company:Minolta|Minolta]] Vivid 900 scanner to analyse and record surfaces of the [[History:Prehistory|prehistoric]] and post-medieval carvings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stonehengelaserscan.org/press.html |title=Hi-tech lasers throw light on Stonehenge secrets |author=Wessex Archaeology |access-date=9 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317214223/http://www.stonehengelaserscan.org/press.html |archive-date=March 17, 2011 }}</ref>

The [[History:Bronze Age#British Bronze Age|Bronze Age]] carvings of a [[Engineering:Dagger|dagger]] and an axehead were first discovered by [[Earth:Archaeology|archaeologist]] Richard J. C. Atkinson in 1953 on stone number 53, one of the imposing [[Unsolved:Sarsen|sarsen]] [[Unsolved:Trilithon|trilithon]]s. A contemporary survey in 1956 by Robert Newall revealed that the total number of axes on this stone totalled 14, all on the same face of the stone, looking inwards to the centre of the stone circle. Typologically, the axes have a Middle [[History:Bronze Age|Bronze Age]] date.

The surface of stone 53 containing [[History:Bronze Age#British Bronze Age|Bronze Age]] carvings was laser scanned at a resolution of 0.5mm, resulting in hundreds of thousands of individual [[Physics:Dimension|3D]] measurements known as a [[Point cloud|point cloud]]. These data were then processed into a meshed 3D solid model for analysis using custom software written by Archaeoptics called ''Demon3D''.

The team pioneered some visualisation techniques to enhance the outlines of the known carvings. During this process, the faint outline of two previously unknown axes was spotted in an animation,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stonehengelaserscan.org/animations.html |title=Laser Scanning Stonehenge |access-date=2006-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060102060940/http://www.stonehengelaserscan.org/animations.html |archive-date=2006-01-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> separate from the carvings recorded by Newall. Subsequent enhancement of the data confirmed that the shapes were of [[Engineering:Flange|flange]]d axes, similar in shape to those clearly visible, but either badly [[Earth:Erosion|eroded]], or were originally carved much shallower than their counterparts. The larger of the two carvings<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stonehengelaserscan.org/stone53/s53newcarvings.html |title=Laser Scanning Stonehenge |access-date=2006-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051201194412/http://www.stonehengelaserscan.org/stone53/s53newcarvings.html |archive-date=2005-12-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> differs slightly from the other axes in that it has two 'lugs' along its shaft, and others have interpreted that it could represent either an axe, a mushroom, or a ram's skull.

The results of these investigations were published in an article entitled "The Stonehenge Laser Show"<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Stonehenge Laser Show|journal=British Archaeology|date=November 2003|first=Thomas|last=Goskar |author2=Alistair Carty |author3=Paul Cripps |author4=Chris Brayne |author5=Dave Vickers|volume=73|pages=9–15|url=http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba73/feat1.shtml}}</ref>  in the November 2003 edition of British Archaeology.

In 2011 English Heritage commissioned a full laser scan of the visible faces of all stones as Stonehenge in high resolution (sub-millimetre), as well as a lower resolution scan of the ground in the area known as the "Stonehenge Triangle".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/stonehenge-in-high-definition/ |title=Stonehenge in High Definition |author=English Heritage |access-date=9 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517041359/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/stonehenge-in-high-definition/ |archive-date=May 17, 2011 }}</ref>

==References==

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==External links==
*https://web.archive.org/web/20051225111736/http://www.stonehengelaserscan.org/

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[[Category:Stonehenge]]

{{Sourceattribution|Laser scanning at Stonehenge}}