Late yesterday afternoon I took the ScanStation out to the site and took some scans of the basilica as a test. I wanted to make sure that the Leica was working properly and to see how my initial results looked. Everything went well, so I am planning on scanning it more intensively in a few days. I did not have a chance to work with the data for more than a few minutes (I just made sure that it was working – software and hardware), so the image below is very rough (and probably not impressive). The apse shows up nicely, but since I only did 3 scans there are areas where the scanner’s laser did not reach due to elevation. More scans will produce more data and a more defined image.
We went back to the apotheke today. It was pretty much the same routine as usual. We had identified some excavation layers to target for ceramic analysis, and continued to read them. The boxes we read today, were not terribly exciting. They were, however, very consistent. The only different items were some pieces of slag, and a ceramic vessel that appeared to have been used in some sort of industry work – it was a ceramic tube with a center that contained a metal core.
Other news for the day – I finally remembered to get my jeweler’s magnification visor out of the heavy case that carried the tripods for the Leica ScanStation. It unfortunately did not survive the trip. The plastic holding the magnifier to the visor had busted off. This is very disappointing, since I like to wear this visor for two reasons: 1) it actually helps when I need to look more closely at inclusions or small details on the pottery (and yes I probably need reading glasses); and 2) it seems to irritate Bill when I wear it. Oh, and we had a rat in the apotheke today. Not a mouse. A rat. A bit of excitement over that.
RSM
Ancient History Ramblings 