Wiltshire Archaeological Conference

The Wiltshire Archaeological Conference in Devizes is a one-day conference exploring recent archaeological work in Wiltshire.

 Set in the heart of Devizes in the Corn Exchange, the Wiltshire Archaeological Conference was well attended with just under 200 attendees from various commercial and academic backgrounds. The conference was well-publicised and -organised by the Wiltshire Museum and the Archaeology Field Group of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society ensuring a large, engaged audience. With ten presentations throughout the day ranging in subject and timeframe, there was one uniting factor for everyone there: Wiltshire.

 Roy Canham from the Bradford-upon-Avon Museum presented his research project combining field survey, historical maps and LiDAR data to investigate the historical landscape of Bradford-upon-Avon. Canham walked the audience through obtaining and manipulating LiDAR data and the information which might be gleaned through such data was thrilling to see. He produced a short video about his results which overlaid archival maps, geophysical survey data and the newly-obtained LiDAR data to showcase its applications within mapping, referencing a seminal publication about LiDAR (English Heritage 2010).

 A talk by Neil Wilkin of the British Museum about metal hoards from Bronze Age Wessex was another highlight of the conference. Wilkin spoke about the controversial reliance on metal detectorists as an essential source of information. The Treasure Act of 1996 and the 2002 Designation Order has enhanced the quality of data that is being utilised in archaeological studies, because the process became formalised and enshrined. However, proper data collection is still heavily dependent on the training and technology available to detectorists. Nonetheless, there has been a dramatic increase in treasure reported through the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Wilkin’s presentation highlighted some of the most exciting new finds, especially the Wardour Hoard, and asked why these hoards were deposited and what patterns might be identified. He posits that many of these hoards are single deposits within a short timeframe although some of the artefacts may have been more than 1,000 years old when buried (BBC News Wiltshire 2014).

 Overall the conference was a fascinating glimpse into the exciting new archaeological work being undertaken in Wiltshire, and it was a pleasure to a part of it.

AutoCAD Project Problems

I'm in the process of researching for a project in my 3D recording and interpretation class. The assignment will test my ability to choose appropriate Computer Aided Design (CAD) methods to address an archaeological question, to critique their applications and thoroughly document my outcomes.

Because I'm primarily interested in Prehistoric stuff, I'm finding it extremely difficult to find a subject that is suitable for this project. The CAD technology seems to be too rigid for such a subject because most prehistoric remains and features are so organic in shape (and mostly in ruins).

So I've decided to steer away from such ancient remains and model a medieval castle. Herein lies the problem. Finding accurate plans and measurements for medieval castles is nearly impossible. After days of researching, I have yet to find something I can model! So I had this idea to start a blog about my problems (and, hopefully, successes). I'd like to think that this might help someone searching for the same answers.

Here's some cool things that I've found.


A 3D model of Le Château de Pierrefonds
This is the work of Andrea Polato (who has a beautiful website by the way). His work on the castle is exquisite, unfortunately I don't know where he got his source material! According to the website, this project took one and a half years to complete and it shows in the level of detail. With his reconstruction, Andrea was able to visually phase the restoration of the castle, first by producing a ruin model, then a middle restoration and finally a complete restoration model based on the work of Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. Simply beautiful.

Caldonazzo Castle - From Ruins to Archaeological 3D Reconstruction
This model was created using Structure-from-Motion which creates a point cloud in a virtual environment from a series of photographs. The results are an accurate 3D model of this beautiful castle using free and open software.


This is my mom and brother in the early '90s near my favorite castle in the world: Chillon Castle in Switzerland. I would really love to model this castle in AutoCAD. Blueprints and floor plans exist but I'm having trouble finding accurate dimensions of the height of the building.

More stuff coming soon...