As part of the conference “Expanding Boundaries: Science and Theory in Prehistoric Studies — An open discussion between Prehistoric Egyptian/Nubian Studies and World Archaeology”, Dr Kathryn E. Piquette will give a talk on the imaging method Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI).
Title: Computational photography for robust documentation and analysis of protohistoric Egyptian visual culture.
Place: UCL Institute of Archaeology, London, UK
Date: 24-25 October 2014
Link: http://expandingboundaries.uk/
Abstract:
The types of image-based media used to research Late Predynastic Egyptian material culture has changed significantly over the past 15 years. Beyond the pervasive 2D digital image, 2D+ and 3D digital images are increasingly important to modern scholarly activity within pre- and protohistoric archaeology. In this talk I focus on Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), a computational imaging method with manipulation techniques that significantly extend the capabilities of conventional digital photography. Examples from Late Predynastic visual culture illustrate the kinds of insight RTI provides into early image practices. Visualisation tools enable users to explore the micro-typography of an artefact surface and think through the complex sets of relationships that gave rise to the material expression of past symbolic meaning. While RTI provides relatively robust data concerning the reflectance of artefact surfaces, visual perception by the researcher/user constitutes a more emphatically interpretive act – a point often overlooked when deploying imagery in the reconstruction of prehistoric pasts in general. I argue that inasmuch as we concern ourselves with theoretical frameworks of interpretation for prehistoric imagery, we must also address this for the contemporary imagery of that evidence. Theoretical and practical awareness is required at several levels for rigorous yet reflexive use of digital image data, e.g. understanding of the technical underpinnings of hardware and software for capture, processing, and result use and dissemination. Dialogue between computer scientists, software developers and imaging specialists on the one hand, and academic users on the other, must therefore be strengthened.