One of the main interests in the interpretation of the archaeological record and its variability within and through time and space is the production and use of past human stone tool technologies. Tool design and function are inevitably intertwined and strongly related to tool use. Understanding tool design provides information about early human technological adaptations and reflects human behaviour in the sense of conscious or unconscious decision-making. Nevertheless, the reason for major changes (including novelties, innovations, and loss) in past human stone tool technology is still poorly understood. A comprehensive approach focusing on tool function (What was the tool meant for?) and use (What was the tool used for?) can help to overcome this gap. While tool function (including performance) can be investigated experimentally, tool use can be addressed with use-wear analyses. These questions can be best investigated on technological systems showing little tool variability but strong evidence of maintenance and long-term use, such as Middle Palaeolithic industries.The Late Middle Palaeolithic record of Central and Eastern Europe is marked by the emergence of an asymmetric tool-type called Keilmesser (bifacial backed knives). Due to their sophisticated morphology, Keilmesser as a case study offer the potential to address aspects of raw material selection, tool production, maintenance, and reworking.This paper presents the results of an experiment designed to study the tool performance of Keilmesser from three archaeological sites, namely Balver Höhle, the Upper site of Buhlen and Grotte de Ramioul by testing raw material, edge angle and movement as independent variables. A highly controlled, sequential experiment was conducted using a mechanical device performing unidirectional cutting and carving movements on hard contact material. Results demonstrate the possibility to perform the mentioned task with 35° and 45° edge angles, maintaining function, albeit at differing levels of efficiency. The data has a direct impact on the interpretation of the archaeological assemblages regarding aspects such as stone tool morphology and resharpening. At the same time, the study highlights the importance of raw material analysis to understand the variability in the archaeological record and the implications on past human decision-making strategies.

In stone tool studies, the analysis of different technological and typological features is known to provide distinct but interrelated information on the design and use of artefacts. The selection of these features can potentially influence the understanding and reconstruction of past human technological behaviour across time. One feature frequently part of a standard lithic analysis is the measurement of edge angles. The angle of an edge, unmodified or shaped by retouch and an integral part of the overall tool design, is certainly a parameter that influences the interpretation of an artefact. The acuteness of an edge angle is often linked to aspects such as cutting, carving, or scraping efficiency and durability and thus, tool performance. Knowing the actual edge angle of a stone tool can therefore have important implications for its interpretation. In the case of edge angle analyses, manual measuring techniques have been established for many years in lithic studies. Here, we introduce a new method for accurate and precise edge angle measurements based on 3D data (hereafter 3D-EdgeAngle). 3D-EdgeAngle consists of a script-based, semi-automated edge angle measuring method applicable to 3D models. Unlike other methods, 3D-EdgeAngle illustrates an objective way of measuring the edge angle at cross sections along the entire tool edge in defined steps and, moreover, allows measurements at different distances perpendicular to the edge by controlling three involved parameters. Thus, with this method, the edge angle can be measured at any point in a high resolution and scale of analysis. Compared to measurements taken manually, with this method random and systematic errors can be reduced significantly. Additionally, all data are reproducible and statistically evaluable. We introduce 3D-EdgeAngle as a standard method to calculate edge angles with a highly accurate and systematic approach. With this method, we aim to improve the process of studying lithics and thus to increase the understanding of past human tool design.

The repository contains 3D meshes of 83 wood samples from the LEIZA reference collection documented as part of the project „Mass Finds in Archaeological Collections“ funded by the Federal Cultural Foundation, from 15.04.2008 to 31.12.2011 within the framework of the "Programme for the Conservation and Restoration of Mobile Cultural Property" (KUR, see www.rgzm.de/kur). Each wood sample has two 3D meshes, one before conservation (KUR_3D_Vorzustand.zip) and one after conservation (KUR_3D_Endzustand.zip). A 3D fringe light projector (GOM ATOS III Rev.01) with a resolution of 0.25 mm was used to digitize the samples. Additional information can be found in the stored metafiles (*.json, *.ttl). The acquisition of 3D data was done during July 2009 - August 2014.

Cultural heritage objects made of wood can be preserved under waterlogged conditions for many years, where decay is slowed down and the wood structure is more or less completely filled with water. Depending on the degree of degradation, finds may collapse and shrink when they are allowed to dry in an uncontrolled manner after excavation, leading to total loss of the object and its information. Conservation measures are taken to prevent damage of objects and dimensional stability is an important criterion. In this study, structured-light 3D scanning and micro-computed tomography were used to analyse the dimensional stability of wood after conservation, as well as its long-term stability. 83 samples from a reference collection established between 2008 and 2011 allowed this comparative study of the most common conservation methods at that time. The effects of conservation methods using alcohol-ether resin, melamine-formaldehyde (Kauramin 800 ® ), lactitol/trehalose, saccharose, and silicone oil on dimensional stability were investigated. In addition, different polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatments with subsequent freeze-drying were also investigated: one-stage with PEG 2000, two-stage with PEG 400 and PEG 4000 and three-stage with PEG 400, PEG 1500 and PEG 4000. The data received from analyses of both volume and surface gave detailed information about the success of each conservation method. Attempts were made to quantify the damage patterns, specifically shrinkage, collapse, and cracks. While PEG and freeze-drying, alcohol-ether-resin, as well as the Kauramin 800 ® method gave the best results, analysis also highlighted the failures of each method.

This dataset is meant to test 3D-EdgeAngle – A semi-automated 3D digital method to systematically quantify stone tool edge angle and design. The dataset contains a 3D model (stl format), digitalised edges (igs format) as well as the results of the edge angle calculation. The scripts for the 3D-Edge angle have been written with Python in GOM Inspect Professional 2016. The repository containing the scripts is also as available as open access on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7956767). The 3D model is a model of an archaeological tool (co-called Keilmesser) from the Upper site of Buhlen, Germany. The artefact dates to the Late Middle Palaeolithic. The archaeological finds from Buhlen are normally stored and displayed at the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Kassel, Germany (https://museum-kassel.de/de/museen-schloesser-parks/hessisches-landesmuseum). For more information about the artefact see: Schunk L. Understanding Middle Palaeolithic asymmetric stone tool design and use: functional analysis and controlled experiments to assess Neanderthal technology Verlag des Römisch- Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz. https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1076 The 3D model was produced with an AICON smartSCAN-HE R8 from the manufacturer Hexagon (software version OptoCat 2018R1), featuring a blue light LED and two black and white cameras with 8 megapixels each. The S-150 FOV used has a point-to-point distance of 33 µm. After scanning, the 3D model (STL file) was edited in the free software GOM Inspect 2018 (2018 Hotfix 2, Rev. 111729). The scanning took place at TraCEr, Laboratory for Traceology and Controlled Experiments at MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, RGZM, Neuwied, Germany.

In this repository we provide 3D scan projects and the 3D models processed from them with their metadata using the example of a wood sample. The metadata was generated using our metadata generation script, which is described in the referenced publication. The 3D scan projects were created in two different software (atos v6.2 and atos 2016). For each there is a scan project, a 3D model and the generated metadata with and without uri in this repository.

Motivated by the increased use of 3D acquisition of objects by cultural heritage institutions, we were investigating ontologies and metadata schemes for the acquisition process to provide details about the 3D capturing, which can be combined with preexisting ontologies describing an object. Therefore we divided the 3D capturing workflow into common steps starting with the object being placed in front of a 3D scanner to preparation and publication of the 3D datasets and/or derived images. While the proposed ontology is well defined on a coarse level of detail for very different techniques, e.g. Stucture from Motion and LiDAR we elaborated the metadata scheme in very fine detail for 3D scanners available at our institutions. This includes practical experiments with measurement data from past and current projects including datasets published at Zenodo as guiding examples and the source code for their computation. Additionally, the free and Open Source GigaMesh Software Framework’s analysis and processing methods have been extended to provide metadata about the 3D processing steps like mesh cleaning as well as 2D image generation. Finally, we discuss the current limitations and give an outlook about future extensions.

In this repository, we provide supplementary metadata files for 3D scans generated by our metadata generation script which is described in the referenced publication. The first metadata set describes the capturing and processing metadata for the 3D scan of a ship, the second metadata set describes the capturing and processing metadata for the 3D scan of a stone as referenced in our work.

Der Beitrag fasst die Ergebnisse eines von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) im Rahmen des SPP 1630 von 2012 bis 2018 geforderten Projekts zusammen. Wahrend der Feldkampagnen wurden archaologische, baugeschichtliche, geoarchaologische und geophysikalische Untersuchungen durchgefuhrt. Der Fokus der Untersuchungen lag auf der topographischen und wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung von Ainos in der Antike, insbesondere in der romischen Kaiserzeit, sowie in der byzantinischen Epoche. Neue Erkenntnisse konnten hinsichtlich der Entwicklung der Stadt und der Lokalisierung von moglichen Hafenstandorten erzielt werden. Dabei zeigte sich, dass die Romische Kaiserzeit in Ainos nicht, wie lange vermutet, als Epoche des Niedergangs zu bewerten ist. Die landschaftlichen Veranderungen, allen voran die Verlandung durch das sich sudwestwarts vorschiebende Delta des Hebros, fuhrten erst ab der fruhbyzantinischen Zeit zu Einschrankungen hinsichtlich der Landeplatze.

The article describes the comparison and analysis of five 3D models of the hunting tool from the Ljubljanica River found near Sinja Gorica. The 40,000 years old Palaeolithic point, discovered by underwater archaeologists during a preventive archeological survey, was made out of yew wood. Five 3D models of the point were taken over the period of ten years, two before and three after the conservation process. The comparison of the 3D models serves two purposes. The primary goal is to evaluate the changes of the artifact that occurred during this period and, specifically, to compare its shape before and after the treatment. Conservation of waterlogged wood is still a delicate and somewhat uncertain process in regards to the long term survivability of such artifacts. The second goal is to asses which software tools are currently available for such comparison, what are technical problems that need to be addressed, and how to effectively present or visualize the sometimes small but critical changes of shape.