A new aerial photogrammetric survey method for recording inaccessible rock art

This article presents a practical workflow that utilizes Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based photogrammetric survey to contextualize large expanses of rock art distributed across the complex topography of an inaccessible cliff face. We demonstrate our proposed workflow through a case study of a collection of petroglyphs along a two kilometer stretch of limestone escarpment in the vicinity of the archaeological site of Quilcapampa in the Majes district of southern Peru (ca. AD 800-1500). Following a review of existing methods of petroglyph documentation and digital heritage reconstruction, we then present our workflow for using UAVs to create a precisely georeferenced registry of petroglyphs on a three-dimensional model of a vertical cliff face and compare these results to more traditional pedestrian survey. We close by outlining the value of this model for future geospatial analysis, site conservation and visualization, and public archaeology.