Dr Geoffrey John Avern Contact: Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Archaeology, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading, PO Box 227, Reading, U.K. RG42 6NE Email: g.j.avern@reading.ac.uk Education: Docteur en Philosophie et Lettres avec plus grande distinction, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, 2001. Thesis: “High-Resolution Computer Imaging in 2D and 3D for Recording and Interpreting Archaeological Excavations.” Master of Science, University of Sydney, Australia, 1986. Thesis: “The Biology of the Nudibranch Mollusc Noumea haliclona (Burn, 1957) (Family Chromodorididae).” Career Overview: ..2003-present. Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, UK. ..1997-2001. Doctoral student in Archaeology at l’Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium under the joint supervision of Professeurs Pierre-Paul Bonenfant (Service des Fouilles, Faculté des Philosophie et Lettres) and Phillipe Van Ham (Systèmes Numériques et Logiques, Faculté des Sciences appliquées) on the recording and analysis of excavations using computer imaging and 3D modelling techniques. ..1987-97. Founding manager of the Australian Museum Electron Microscope Laboratory: collaboration on many research projects and independent work on computer imaging and analysis, stereography, 3D computer modelling and instrumentation. Winner of national and international awards including the Polaroid International Instant Photomicrography Competition for Electron Micrography. ..1981-87. Research Assistant, Department of Malacology, Division of Invertebrate Zoology, the Australian Museum: marine zoological taxonomic research. Current Research Interests: 3D Recording Tools for Excavators. Realisation of the theoretical concept of recording excavations in 3D is dependent on having practical field instruments for data acquisition. While there are more than 170 3D captors on the market, none are entirely appropriate for archaeology in terms of performance or the data collected. My research interest is in the development of tools for 3D recording and other types of data- gathering common to archaeological excavations. Practical and Theoretical Issues of Recording Excavations in 3D. A number of issues need to be addressed regarding the recording and analysis of archaeological excavations in 3D: • What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various forms of 3D modelling (GIS, Surface/Solid Modelling, Volumetric Modelling) for visualising reconstructed excavations? • Precisely what physical attributes of the terrain should archaeologists be recording (hue, intensity, texture) and how to regularise or calibrate such data? • How do we turn a collection of 3D surfaces into meaningful and useful archaeological information? This encompasses turning surfaces into sealed volumes (deposits), representing the multiple identities of surfaces (e.g. a cut which is also part of the bounding surfaces of 2 different deposits), and integration of 3D graphical data with textual data (i.e. fusing the 3D model and the site database). • What advantages to the interpretation and analysis of a site can be realised through recording it as a 3D model (e.g. using 3D graphics in phasing an excavation)? The Orthographic Approximation -Simplifying Ortho-Photomosaics. While the construction of a photomosaic from vertical photographs can be a faster means of recording plan views of an excavation than drawing it, none-the-less, remains an intensive and difficult task. Quantifying the geometry of near- range vertical photography has lead to conceiving of an “Orthographic Approximation” -a quantifiable region of acceptably small perspective error around the photographic axis of the image. The Orthographic Approximation permits the simple calculation and extraction of regular sized tiles, making the task of mosaicing simpler and faster. Research continues into apparatus for elevating cameras above the site. Affiliations: Member of CAA (Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology). Serving on Scientific Committee and chairing workshop and sessions concerned with various aspects of 3D modelling at CAA-2003 Vienna, Austria, and CAA-2006 Fargo, USA . Associate Member of Heritage 3D, an organisation which aims to develop and support best practice in laser scanning for archaeology and architecture. Applicant for Affiliate Membership of EPOCH (European research network on Excellence in Processing Open Cultural Heritage) which aims to improve the quality and effectiveness of the use of Information and Communication Technology for Cultural Heritage. Recent Publications: AVERN, Geoff. In Press. “Shortcomings of Current 3D Data Acquisition Technologies for Graphical Recording of Archaeological Excavations.” Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 32nd Conference, Prato, Italy, April 2004. AVERN, Geoff. 2004. “The Orthographic Approximation -a simple geometrical model for avoiding perspective error in constructing photomosaics.” Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 31st Conference, Vienna, Austria, April 2003. BAR International Series 1227: 405-8. AVERN, Geoff. 2002. “Reconstructions of the Excavations of Two Iron Age Chariot Burials from Belgium: Applying Virtual Reality to Old Excavation Data.” Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 29th Conference, Gotland, April 2001. BAR International Series 1016: 157-162. AVERN, Geoffrey John. 2001. “A New Technique for Recording Archaeological Excavations: Research Progress Report”. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 28th Conference, Ljubljana, April 2000. BAR International Series 931:3-7. PONDER, W.F. and G.J. Avern. 2000. “The Glacidorbidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) of Australia.” Records of the Australian Museum 52: 307-353.