[Aztlan] Laser mapping tool traces ancient sites

[Justin Kerr]

Dear friends,
Please be aware as you read the note below, that Travis Doering is winding
up a FAMSI sponsored project to record the sculpture, using laser mapping,
of Kaminaljuyu for a three dimensional database.
You can read the preliminary report at http://www.famsi.org/reports/07007
Justin Kerr for FAMSI


-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
On Behalf Of eschele at mail.utexas.edu
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 10:09 PM
To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Subject: [Aztlan] Laser mapping tool traces ancient sites

INNOVATIONS
Laser mapping tool traces ancient sites: Device made for contractors helps
archaeologists create first-ever digital blueprints
Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Orinda retiree Ben Kacyra has made the biggest contribution to archeological
research since Indiana Jones added the bullwhip to his field kit.

Kacyra, who made his fortune as an inventor and civil engineer, has created
a
foundation to explore the research of a cameralike device that uses lasers
to
scan three-dimensional objects -- such as archaeological ruins -- to create
digital blueprints accurate to within a few millimeters.

Born in northern Iraq in 1940, Kacyra developed this laser-mapping tool
several
years ago to solve a problem in construction -- keeping accurate records of
the
real dimensions of factories and power plants when they deviate from the
architect's plans.

The 67-year-old sold his invention in 2001 and now works with his wife,
Barbara,
to get the $100,000 tool into the hands of archaeological researchers who
are
using it to create electronic blueprints so accurate that scientists sitting
at
computer terminals can glean the secrets of ancient monuments remotely.

"We both loved the ancient-built environment and we wanted to put high
technology to use saving ancient places," Kacyra said.

Today the Kacyras have created a Web site, at www.cyark.org, that allows
anyone
to see these blueprintlike images. But that's just the start. Down the line
they would like to superimpose real graphics on top of these geospatial maps
--
recreating ancient worlds onscreen.

For Kacyra, it's all part of sharing a love of the past that he learned as a
boy
growing up in Mosul, an Iraqi city known during biblical times as Nineveh.

"That's where the whale spit out Jonah," says Kacyra, who used to picnic
near
the gates of the ancient city where Assyrian chariots once thundered forth.

"My dad loved archaeology and he used to take me to all the ruins," recalled
Kacyra, an Iraqi Christian who got his undergraduate degree at a Jesuit
college
in Baghdad before immigrating to the United States in 1964 to get a master's
degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois.

To read more...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/22/BUG5IR472Q1.D
TL&type=business

And to see a video of how they used this at Tikal:

Video of the laser mapper at Tikal, go to: archive.cyark.org/map/tik

Elaine


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