Laser scanning for conservation and research of African cultural heritage sites: the case study of Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa

Heinz Rüther*, Michael Chazan, Ralph Schroeder, Rudy Neeser, Christoph Held, Steven James Walker, Ari Matmon, Liora Kolska Horwitz

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

129 Scopus citations

Abstract

The 'African Cultural Heritage and Landscape Database' project, initiated and directed by the senior author and administered by Aluka (www.aluka.org), is aimed at the creation of a digital library of spatial and non-spatial materials relating to cultural heritage sites in Africa. The archaeological site of Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa) is one of the 19 sites documented to date using laser scanning, conventional survey, digital photogrammetry and 3D modelling. To date, it is one of the few archaeological caves worldwide to be fully scanned. This paper explores the different uses to which the spatial data derived from this cave have been, or will be, put - for historical and educational purposes, scientific research and site conservation and development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1847-1856
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Archaeological Science
Volume36
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2009

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding for this project was provided by a grant from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Wenner-Gren Foundation (to M.C.). Laser scanning of Wonderwerk Cave was supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation (to H.R.). We wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

Keywords

  • 3D modelling
  • African cultural heritage
  • Laser scanning
  • Wonderwerk Cave

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