A high-precision photogrammetric recording system for small artifacts

Archaeologists, preservationists, and many other researchers have increasingly turned to photogrammetry as an alternative to optical 3D-scanning hardware. The technology is sufficiently new that researchers have only begun to establish the protocols and standards. This article presents a simple yet rigorously controlled method for 3D modeling small artifacts ca. 5-10 cm across. The specimen is rotated on a turntable to facilitate photography, and artificial lighting creates an even illumination throughout the resulting models. A masking technique allows a full 360° view of the object to be restored simultaneously, eliminating the need for aligning and merging partial scans or other post-processing. Repeatability tests of the resulting models indicate high precisions and accuracies that exceed those reported previously for photogrammetric modeling in the literature. The method can match the accuracy typically attained by commercial optical scanning systems.