Aaron Bergstrom looks over a 3D computer image of the front half of a ceremonial Native American stone pipe from an archealogical dig near Ft. Berthhold, N.D. Above is Brian Slator, left, and Jeffrey Clark. Photo by Bruce Crummy / The Forum

Professors and students from North Dakota State University are again breaking technological ground.

A core group of about 15 has developed and implemented a revolutionary integration of technologies to create digitized, three-dimensional, visual models of artifacts that are stored, using a relational database, in an Internet-accessible archive.

And they are the first group in the world to do it.

"Now, we will be able to sit here in North Dakota and do research for artifacts (on the Web)," said Brian Slator, professor of computer science at NDSU. "We can describe, see, compare and evaluate stone adzes, for instance. Then, when the search goes out, it will give you a list of others, anywhere in the world, in a seamless and transparent way."

Slator is one of a group, along with Jeffrey Clark, William Perrizo and Francis Larson, who have been spearheading the Digital Archive Network for Anthropology project.

According to Slator and Clark, the DANA project significantly improves archaeological analyses, modeling, interpretations, access, and curation, and can be used for future studies.

The project also begins to negate the need for physical travel to examine artifacts.

The process

In order to "digitize" a physical artifact, a series of laser scans are taken with a Minolta Vivid 700 camera, encompassing all sides of the object and saved on PolyWorks software (by InnovMetric) for 3D modeling.

Other key software in the ATL includes 3D Studio VIZ (for manipulating 3D models in virtual worlds), AutoCAD2000 (for use in 3D renderings), Oracle 8 Client and Microsoft Access (for databases), PhotoShop 5.0 and Surface Suite Pro (for surface texture mapping), and several other programs.

An individual artifact may need as many as 20 or 30 scans to complete a 3D digital likeness. The digital memory necessary can range from approximately 5 megabytes to 40 or more.

A 30 to 40 MB scan may be necessary for that of a hominid cranium, Clark said.

The scans are in color, and produce accurate (to within 0.3 mm) polygonal-mesh models with realistic surface texture.

To view and download the scans, the broadband network of Internet2 provides a smooth and reliable operating system for rapid access of large data files.

The databases will be on servers linked with 100 MB.

Good investment

In January 1999, NDSU's, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, established the Archaeology Technologies Laboratory.

External and internal funds, amounting to approximately $55,000, were used to equip the ATL with the technology necessary to undertake 3D modeling.

The project has since garnered a $713,000 National Science Foundation grant, which along with other grants from the NSF, the Department of Education and NDSU, among others, total more than $3 million for the NDSU Worldwide Web Instructional Committee for conducting research on this and related topics.

One of these, the Like-A-Fishhook Village at Ft. Berthold project, also headed up by Slator and Clark, re-creates an actual Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara settlement which was excavated just before Lake Sakakawea was flooded in 1954.

"Our effort has been to reconstruct the archaeological site into a virtual site," Slator said.

A visitor to the Web site may "fly through" the 3D village, stopping to click on an earth lodge or an artifact. That object can be rotated and will be linked to information stored in the DANA archive.

The fly-through views similar to a video game, with zooming and turning capabilities.

Slator has been collecting a great deal of information about the excavation site, but still has one request:

"If there's any eyewitness accounts at the excavation site (1951-53), or anyone who possibly took notes on it, I would like to hear from you."

Clark says the plan is to continue developing and expanding the DANA project, and has been working with other archaeological groups in Germany, India, American Samoa and Hawaii.

Pioneers

Clark and Slator today are in Washington, D.C. at an invite-only digital library conference as the sole representative in the field of anthropology. Other invitees bring projects in film, audio and several other fields.

"We would like to get other institutions involved (in DANA), but there are very few places that have scanners and 3D databases," Clark said.

Clark raves about the project and its future, a virtual learning environment.

"You can do with this technology what you couldn't before," Clark said.

And the ongoing endeavor, in digital form, should remain for perpetuity.

You can reach Forum reporter Dan Haglund at (701) 241-5637