Graphics and Archaeology: Interpreting the Past
Snowbird, Utah
20-23 May 2000
Presentation:
- Seeing Outside the Box: Visualizing Vision at Catalhoyuk
Presenters:
- Michael Ashley Lopez
Presentation Resources:
- http://www.mactia.berkeley.edu
- http://www.artic.edu/webspaces/arthi/faculty/faculty/jelkins/jelkins.html
- James Elkins, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing
Summary:
Michael challenged us to expand our perspectives on vision, especially in what we "see" with our technologies. First he presented a context for the Catalhoyuk site in Turkey. It is an archaeological mound, one of two, that they are working to excavate (known as the BACH area).
"What does it mean to see in archaeology?" To obtain knowledge of what is visible, one does not meerly analyze the images presented... one employs other faculties, including imagination.
He considered vision versus seeing. There are vision mechanics and then there is the ability to see (blindness - the ability to not see). There are broader spectrums to consider - for example, visible light as a spectrum is but a small amount of the entire radiation spectrum.
He covered issues of relfectsion, illuminations, and color constancy. In this last area, he showed how much difference there might be between full-open sunlight and the conditions inside the BACH tent (through a Macbeth Colorchecker).
Vision is a tool of investigation. He then covered how visual information is important to archaeologists, local workers, and local villagers, especially in how all of their contributions impacted the process of discovery and interpretation.
To see outside of the box, he considered "Visualizing Blindness in Archaeology". He offered that three of the most important invetions of the last few centuries were:
- photography
- artifical light
- computers
In their own way, they have all created blindspots in our awareness and our thinking. Consider, for example, the spectrum of light available to us - starlight, moonlight, indoor lighting, and sunlight. Things appear differently in starlight than they do in indoor lighting, yet we must remind ourselves that starlight is the context for many prehistoric peoples. There are limitations to artifical light, too - consider the cave art of Lascaux. How was it properly viewed?
Conclusions / Issues:
- Our technologies both enhance and blind us to available information and context - we must endeavor to see further, more complete pictures through using all that is available to us
- Where do we go from here?
- ethno-archaeology [accessing the past through its living descendants]
- vision science
- computer graphics
- The intersection of these areas is a real future for archaeology