We have just completed a new page summarising one of our many niche services – digital enhancement of rock art.
In the past, making rock art panels clearer to study was often an invasive, destructive, and often messy activity. Chalk, paper rubbings, torchlight, mirrors, and even plaster or latex casts have all been used. The stuff of nightmares for modern conservators. Thankfully, those days are mostly gone, and we can use non-contact digital methods to reveal obscure or hidden details on carved rock art panels.
Our rock art digital enhancement services are available for projects anywhere in the world. Universities, museums, archaeologists, or private researchers are all welcome to get in touch. We are experienced with both hands-on (well, hands-off) fieldwork as well as working with remote teams.
Why are we launching this? We have been working with rock art – and its related fields of classical and early medieval inscriptions and decorated stones (the enhancement techniques are transferrable) since 2002. Like many small and incredibly specialised areas, our work comes from people who know us and our work. After some interesting enquiries and some recent projects, we would like to expand our work in this area, and it’s about time more people knew about how we can help. We’ve built up a large ‘toolbox’ of 3D and computer vision techniques and approaches, and are well-versed in the art of spotting faint details.
As 3D visualisation becomes mainstream, we felt that there seems to be more focus on photorealism rather than surface geometry which is where the all the details hide. If you have captured a great deal of detail, then there is something to work with. We want to use our experience to help rock art projects across the world capture their panels at sufficient detail to pull as much detail from them as we can. From this, we can create a detailed record, enhance and interpret, and help research teams gain a better understanding of their site.
There aren’t many people specialising in rock art enhancement. It can be hard for teams to find people who can help. So we thought that it’s time that we shouted about our work in this rather niche but fascinating area.
Explore our Rock art: digital enhancement service.