Visual Viewshed Simulation: Applying a 3D environment in archaeological research at Faysaliyya (southern Jordan)

Abstract

The shift from presenting and analyzing three-dimensional data in 2D to displaying and analyzing them in a3D environment is becoming increasingly prevalent in archaeological practice. This approach opens new possibilities, such as a3D virtual reality, that archaeologists can take advantage of. This paper presents an application of the Visual Viewshed Simulation, a 3D virtual reality tool for (re)constructing the visibility of objects in the field, taking into account factors such as atmospheric and lighting conditions. This approach can provide a new way to research people–place relations and may be particularly useful in landscape archaeology.

Keywords

• Virtual landscape
• 3D in archaeology
• simulation
• visibility analysis
• visibility reconstruction
• landscape archaeology