Best Practices for 3D Digital Recording and Global Sharing of Catacombs from Late Roman Sicily

Abstract

During the most recent excavations at the Catacombs of St. Lucy at Siracusa, carried out between 2013 and 2015, an array of 3D technologies were employed to record excavation data and provide new interpretative models for the site. The research focused on some very problematic parts of the Region C of the complex. This area most effectively documents the long life of the Christian hypogeum, which incorporated previous structures and artefacts related to the Greek and Early Roman Imperial periods and continued to be used until the Middle Ages. During the exploration 3D digital techniques were used for the daily recording of the archaeological units, but also to create high-resolution virtual replicas of certain districts of the catacombs. Furthermore, the same techniques were applied to support the study of certain classes of materials, such as frescoes and marble architectural elements that could not otherwise be studied due to the dark environment of the catacombs. The virtual archaeology research undertaken at the Catacombs of St. Lucy represents the first systematic application of 3D digital technologies to the study of such a special archaeological context in Sicily, culminating in a work-plan for digital global dissemination.