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HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
JOURNAL of the ARCHAEOLOGY & HERITAGE GROUP
Etruscan 'Tomb of the Leopards', Tarquinia See pages 3-4 Walter Brooks
Computerprocessed 'directional lighting' reveals hidden terrain See pages 5-6
Michael Doneus
AUTUMN 2013
Archaeology & Heritage Group Chairman R. Keith Evans FRPS 7 Grassy Lane Sevenoaks Kent TN13 1PN Tel 01732 743943
Secretary Rodney Thring LRPS 27 College Ride Camberley Surrey GU15 4JP
Treasurer Jim Tonks ARPS Earlton 174 Chairborough Road High Wycombe Bucks HP12 3HW
Committee Eric Houlder LRPS (Archaeology Editor) MartinFletcher LRPS
Ken Keen FRPS GwilOwen ARPS Dr Mike Sasse (Webmaster)
PERSPECTIVE With just one further event to come in our 2013 Programme - a visit to the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon - I look back with pleasure to the Group's activities in the past year. Foremost for many members, perhaps, have been our photographic visits to, in March, Winchester Cathedral; and in June Framlingham Castle, Suffolk, and the outstanding nearby church of Saint Michael, notable for its richly decorated tombs and other links with the Howard family, Dukes of Norfolk. Both here and at Winchester we enjoyed a short guided tour, then freedom to erect tripods and take pictures unimpeded. So too was the case on our visit to the 'neo-neo-Georgian' Hinton Ampner House in August, where we had the opportunity of a morning's photography in this National Trust property before the admission of other visitors. Chatham Historic Dockyard proved an interesting and challenging opportunity in April - challenging in that a fine sunny morning soon turned to cold, windy drizzle. So after lunch most participants concentrated on indoor pictures of this former Naval Dockyard's wealth of maritime buildings and machinery. Our plans for the 2014 Programme are well advanced, with once again six outdoor and two indoor events; full details will appear in Membership Matters and on the Group website. You will recall that at the Annual General Meeting last May, a number of members expressed concern at what they perceived as the serious state of the Group's finances, and directed your Committee to distribute with the next Newsletter a forecast of income and expenditure for the 2013-14 financial year. A copy of this is enclosed: don't hesitate to contact me should you have queries or further concerns. Speaking of the AGM, at which you elect the forthcoming year's Officers and Committee, I would add that we would very much welcome two or three additional Committee members. Consider now putting your name forward for election - and again, if you wish, contact me for details. Now to a few literary matters. You will by now have seen and enjoyed the article on the A & H Group in the excellent Portfolio 3, published by The Society in September and a worthy successor to volumes 1 and 2. In addition, let me recommend the series of articles on architectural and artefact photography running in British Archaeology, covering monochrome in the September/October issue, colour in November/December, and digital to follow. Finally, those of you who enjoyed reading our member Roger Rosewell 's 2012 book Stained Glass will equally appreciate his recent companion volume The Medieval Monastery (ISBN-13: 978 0 74781146 6), an authoritative and well-produced guide to these "intriguing and enduring symbols of Britain's medieval heritage".
R. Keith Evans, Chairman. Published by the Archaeology & Heritage Group of The Royal Photographic Society, October 2013 Copyright in all text and photographs is held by the credited authors , or as otherwise stated. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher . ISSN No . 0-904495-00-0
No 3 CoveredSlip at ChathamNaval Dockyard. Designed and erected in 1838 by The Royal Engineers, this was at the time one of Europe's largest wooden buildings- many of the Navy's great warshipswere cons'tructedhere. R. K. Evans FRPS
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The Etruscan roots of the Roman Empire For much of the recent past, study of the Etruscans has relied almost exclusively on the few references to their existence in writings from classical times. However, a distinct Etruscan civilisation can be identified from about the tenth century BC until it was finally absorbed into the Roman Empire during the first century BC, as our member Walter Brooks explains.
Those early references were mainly by such commentators as Hesiod and Homer, who were drawing largely on myths and legends, and by Herodotus, whose oft-quoted 'Histories' is as prone to embroidery as that of any other historian on the winning side of the argument. But we do know that for more than a thousand years, the Etruscans controlled a large part of the centre of Italy, covering roughly what is now Tuscany and Lazio, and had many trading posts in other regions. They were able to do so because of the massive d~posits of iron, silver, gold and other minerals in the area, making this a very wealthy society, as reflected in the quality of its burial sites. It is these sites that provide most of the information about the Etruscans, as what written Etruscan text survives is fragmentary and tends to be limited to simple statements of fact, rather than creative literature. Further, it is only in recent years that the script has begun to be deciphered, giving us a better understanding of the possible roots of the Etruscan civilisation. My own interest in the Etruscans has come from a wish to understand better the forces that helped to create one of the greatest empires that the world has seen - one that did more to form Western culture and values than any other. Rome, I believe, became the dominant player in the Mediterranean for two reasons: it developed a centralised state mechanism, and it showed a willingness to learn from, and then absorb, other societies with which it came into contact. It was quite willing, for example, to make room for other religions (note, for example, the Temple of Isis at Pompeii and the many Mithraic temples discovered at military sites), so long as due respect was accorded the State gods. What Rome drew from the Etruscans was its culture, but
of course this was not greatly acknowledged because, as victors, the Romans wrote the history books. In fact, the last king of Rome, whose behaviour led to his overthrow and the establishment of the Republic, was an Etruscan. One only has to look at such monuments as the Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome to recognise the strong influence of the Etruscan culture on the Romans. Built in 28 BC on the Campus Martius, the structure has an overwhelming feel of the 'beehive' tombs of the Etruscans, albeit on a much grander scale, as does the Monte del Grano, another beehive tomb to the south-east of the city.
Photographingthe tombs and their artefacts In 2012 I travelled with a specialist tour operator,Andante Travels, for a week of visits to sites with specific ties to the Etruscans. Top: 'Tomb of the Cornices' at Cervetari, dated to the second half of the 6th century BC. The entrance passage leads to a main room and two side chambers.
Left: The Etruscan acropolis at Volterra. The earliest section of wall dates from the mul-7"' century BC; the site encloses the foundations of two Etruscan temples, the vestiges of Hellenistic dwellings, a complex system of cisterns, and medieval roads and towers. The picture on our front cover shows the 'Tomb of the Leopards' in Tarquinia, from 470BC; the design on the ceiling suggests that the banquet is being held in a hunting pavilion.
HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
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This life-size te"acotta sculpture of winged horses comes from the pediment of the Ara della Regina , La CiviJa. Dating from the mid4"' century BC, itsjine anatomical detail shows the skiU of Etruscan craftsmen of the period. Left: 'Tomb of the Caronti' in Tarquinia. From around ISOBC, this is an uncommon example of a tomb with a vestibule, furnished with benches for the use of visiting family members. Access is by way of a curving staircase - another unusual feature . Below: 'Tomb of the Funeral Beds', Cerveteri. This type of 6"' century BC chamber tomb, carved from the living rock, was designed to reflect the way of life of the deceased.
Archaeologists classify the history of the Etruscans into five periods - the Villanovan (clOOO - 720 BC), the Orientalising (c720 - 575 BC) , the Archaic (c575 - 480 BC) , the Classical (c480 - 300 BC) and the Hellenistic (c300 - 1s1 century BC) . Where possible, I endeavoured to illustrate each period in my photographs - these were all taken with either a Nikon D5000 fitted with a Sigma 18-250mm lens, or a Panasonic Lumix DMC 1Z3 . Neither a flashgun nor a tripod was used. The fact that such a powerful and rich civilisation appeared to fade away and was largely forgotten by history inevitably raises questions about what brought about its end. What has to be borne in mind is that the Etruscan model of
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government was much more akin to that of the city states in ancient Greece than to that of the Roman Empire, with its centralised control. It was easy for Rome to apply the principle of 'Divide and Rule' to an agglomeration of cities in a loose alliance , either by direct conquest of the more vulnerable , or through treaties that gave a city the protection of the might of Rome against its cousins in other cities . Over time, as Romans colonised more of the Italian peninsula, so the distinctions between the natives and their overlords became blurred, as has been replicated throughout the millennia up to the present day. The numerous burial sites were forgotten, but the Etruscan culture was absorbed into that of its conquerors.
LiDAR-the new technology in aerial surveying Light Detection and Ranging: in the past few years Lidar has become the talking point in archaeological surveying. It is not strictly speaking photography, as its images are computergenerated, but the end product looks like a photograph and normally is assessed visually. Let's call it remote imaging, suggests archaeological photographer Gwil Owen ARPS.
Like many inventions Lidar has had a long gestation. Only in the past five years or so has technology caught up enough with the underlying ideas of remote sensing to make feasible airborne electronic surveying for archaeology. We are all familiar with the concept. Consider the bat, which squeaks its way around using the echoes to find the insects it eats. The time delay between squeak and echo gives distance, sequential echoes give movement, and the way the echo differs from the squeak - its quality if you like - shows what type of object is being 'seen'. The bat can pick out fine detail in its target because its squeak is high pitched. But it knows its position only relative to its prey, not where either is in absolute terms . Consider also Radar, developed primarily for the military in the 20th
century. It uses the electromagnetic spectrum, namely radio waves , to track aircraft or ships and to determine their position and speed. Seaborne radar scans plot the relative position of ship and target. Anchored to the ground, a land-based radar station , knowing where it is, can reveal a more relatively absolute position for its target. Radar, though, cannot resolve very fine detail, as its wavelength is quite long. Lidar extends use of the electromagnetic spectrum to be more accurate and discriminatory, like the bat. The key here is the laser. Lasers were invented, almost overnight, in the late 1950s. Their beam is narrow and each pulse can be analysed separately. Laser scanners were developed in the late 1960s and are now common in many fields such as architecture and museum research .
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Theory into practice The technology that enables a scanner to be operated accurately from an aircraft has a longer history. Rockets are centuries old, but it is only the post-WW2 space race that has resulted in the accurate placement of satellites in orbit, making possible the absolute positioning of a point on the ground and of the scanner in the air. Also there has been a huge technological advance in the inertial sensors used to control rocket flight. These themselves derive from gimbals used in early maritime exploration, and ultimately from little slivers of magnets floating in a saucer of water. Thus a rocket or aircraft can determine not only its position but also how level its flight is. So how does LiDAR work? The aircraft carrying the laser scanner records its own altitude and absolute position in the sphere of space
Drawing at kft illustrates the principles on which Lidar works. The aircraft'sprecise position, height and attitude are recorded at the same time as it beams down each laser pulse; these are then collated to produce a digital model of the terrain below.
Below we see how the laser pulses can differentiate between each kvel of tree cover, undergrowth andfeatures on the ground.
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HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
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Theforested landscapeof Purbach, Austria. How Li.darreveals details of the ground surface beneath the trees is well shown in the two pictures on our cover; all three depict the same area.
Photos courtesy of Michael Doneus, Institute of ArchaeologicalScience, Vienna
enclosing the earth every time it fires a laser pulse. Using its inertial guidance systems it knows its own attitude, and therefore to precisely where on the surface the laser is pointed. After the laser pulse is sent the reflected pulse can be timed and the height of each exact spot on the ground calculated. Through complex computing, this information can be turned into an image of the landscape, known as a digital terrain model. This can then be viewed as a map, or a picture, or indeed as a moving picture - a 'fly by' . In addition to this basic rangefinding ability Lidar, like the bat, can analyse details within the returned pulse. For example, in wooded country part of the returned pulse will correspond with the tree canopy, part will correspond with lower bushes, and part with the ground itself. Thus a forest overlying earthworks can be made to disappear as if by magic. Interpreting the image
A consequence of the Lidar image being artificially created is that, if it is to be viewed as a picture, some decision has to be made as to how the variations in terrain height are expressed. This can be done, for example, by representing different heights by different colours. We are all familiar with the idea of different colours showing vanations of temperature in infra-red imaging. Alternatively it is possible to add to the computer model the effect of sunlight; and, here is the sneaky bit, this 'sun ' can be made to shine from any direction. In early work done over the Stonehenge area, li~hting from apparently due north made visible a feature that is not evident under any
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natural conditions; a similar example of 'processed' directional lighting is that on our cover images - this time of the forested area of Austria seen in the picture above. Of course Lidar has its own limitations. Striking though its images are, their interpretation must be confirmed on the ground by conventional, manual archaeological techniques. A good example of this arose a couple of years ago when a Lidar survey of the Forest of Dean revealed, after the trees had been processed out, a typical ironworking site not previously noticed. Many months later the ground survey team turned up to do a bit of a dig, and found ... nothing. The 'ironworkings' turned out to have been a modem forestry log dump subsequently cleared away. We habitually expect that computers, with a few snappy algorithms, will whizz though whatever job is asked of them. With Lidar the sheer amount of data to be processed is a stumbling block. The resolution on the ground of a Lidar image can be as small as one centimetre (but commonly a metre or so), leading to impractically long processing times. Much research is
being done in working with such large datasets: for example in how to break up linear workflows into more independently manageable blocks. Technically too the common Lidar scanner is limited. For example it does not see underwater; the infra-red laser used in normal Lidar surveys does not penetrate water. Archaeologists working in shallow coastal seas such as the Baltic or the recently tectonically active shallows in the Mediterranean would dearly like to follow littoral remains out into the water. Green(ish) lasers are available which penetrate down to two or three metres. But this wavelength of laser is more dangerous to human tissue: you can't beam down green lasers over a beach full of sunbathers. This has to remain a work in progress. Undeniably Lidar is a fascinating technology from many different perspectives, but its main virtue is that it produces understandable, exciting . images of archaeological landscapes not normally seen - or indeed not always expected. Many such examples can be found on websites such as that of English Heritage and its complementary bodies in the rest of the British Isles. Try them.
Wri-ing and illustrating a book on local history
Since retiring 15 years ago, Eric Houlder LRPS has spent much time travelling around the country delivering illustrated talks on archaeology. One of his most popular topics has been Roman roads. Having directed several digs aimed at sectioning different Roman roads in Yorkshire, he has become a recognised expert on these fine examples of Roman engineering. Not just Roman roads, I was to discover. One of my early Yorkshire digs was on a site at Thorpe Audlin, near Pontefract on the Roman Great North Road M28b, which remained in use well into the Dark Ages. The well-known historian of the period, Sam Newton - later famous as a member of Time Team - spent an evening with me exploring the battlefield of Winwaedfield, which is situated at the point where M28b crosses the river Went. There is an excellent pub, the Fox & Hounds, adjacent to the bridge and ideally situated for scholarly discussion... Thus began my introduction to Dark Ages routes. Increasingly, people who have approached me after a talk have suggested that I put it all down on paper before I pass my own sell-by date, though it is normally put more diplomatically than that! Having studied history at university, and taught it at all levels from primary to post-graduate, I felt that I already possessed the requisite academic skills (research and source-handling), whilst experience of excavating Roman roads from volunteer to site director provided Âľte practical skills. The pictures to illustrate the
Above: Site of the battle ofWinwaedfield, 654AD, showing the Roman road outlined by crop marks as it approaches its crossing of the river Went at Thorpe Audlin. The battle mar'Jud the end of pagan England, as Penda, JJ<l(anking of Mercia, was killed by Oswy, Christian king of Northumbria. The dead, including Penda, still lie beneath these fields. Minolta, 28-85mm; Fuji Provia JOO
HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
work were already to hand in the form of transparencies and monochrome negatives, some dating back to the 1960s. What is more, a long conversation with writer and historian Michael Wood had alerted me to the possibility of an ancient route by-passing part of the Roman M28b, and originating in Saxon times. Michael was postulating a new location for the 'lost' battle of Brunanburh of 937 AD. Brunanburh was one of the most decisive battles of the so-called Dark Ages, cementing the Wessex Kings' hold over the whole of England. Won by Athelstan, grandson of Alfred, it is celebrated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and poetry, but none of the contemporaries felt it necessary to say where it was fought! As a result, locations from southern Scotland to Lancashire to the Midlands have been suggested by modem historians. Michael Wood had found an obscure reference in a Northumbrian document which gave an actual name: Wentbridge, just a few miles from Thorpe Audlin. Catalyst for a new book After selecting the pictures Michael required to illustrate his forthcoming paper, I spent some time scanning them, which gave long pauses in which to think. The more I thought, and examined the images on my computer screen whilst editing them (I find that transparency scans almost always require some adjustment, of levels at the least, depending upon the age of the original, and the tick-box entitled Restore Color is invaluable with some older originals too), the more I came to realise that there was indeed much evidence for a Saxon date
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An archaeologistwith a coin of Gratian in the primary silt of a Roman road ditch. This proves that the ditch coul.d not have been last cleaned be/ore the year 367AD, but at any time thereafter. Minolta, 35-70mm; Agfachrome Pro S
Roman road M28b being excavatedat Hundhill. This type of image, showingpeople at work, appeals to a more general readership than one with archaeologicalmeasuring scales and the like. Minolta, 28-85mm; Ektachrome JOO.
for an existing route between the Aire crossing at Castleford and the Went crossing at Wentbridge. By coincidence, I had written a short paper on the very same route in the 1960s, believing then that it was probably a minor Roman road. As the location of a tenth-century battle (Casterford, 948 AD) lay along this route, a recently-discovered Saxon minster, Taddenysclyf, lay at a change of alignment, and Michael's location for Brunanburh lay near the end, the evidence for the later dating appeared to be conclusive. The possibility of a book comparing both the route and construction of the original Roman road from Doncaster to Castleford (including the site of the great battle of Winwaedfield in 654), with the newly-discovered Saxon route was becoming an attractive proposition. Being primarily an archaeological photographer I envisaged a book with a lot of colour images, and began picking out more transparencies with this in mind. Initially I selected about twice as many images as would be required, including aerials, excavation record shots, and general topographical pictures. At this point I began to try to predict the type of reader who would buy such a book, and came to the conclusion that besides school and college libraries, the interested general reader would be the most likely customer. With this person in mind, I removed some of my purely record pictures and added other similar ones but showing people actually at work on the digs. People add scale, as well as interest. With the images scanned, edited and numbered, I was ready to begin writing. Each summer my wife and I spend at least a month in a relative's cottage in Brittany. It has no broadband, giving .us a rest from e-mails and similar distractions. This was the ideal time to do some writing during the rainy spells which always punctuate our time in the Morbihan. I selected the books, papers and other sources required, ensured that all the relevant images and sources were in a file on my laptOP,tand packed it all in the car. This was to be my first book written on a Windows PC, my first being on an Amstrad 8256 (remember them?) and the last on
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my trusty but now ancient Mac. As envisaged , there was plenty of time to write, and I completed not only the text but also the picture captions. Before returning home I copied it all to a CD and stored it in a different part of the car to the laptop. Another identical CD went in my camera bag, just in case. From laptop to print Back at home, I realised that a book on local history without maps would be pretty useless, so I sought permission to scan the First Edition One Inch OS map and use it as a base. To my surprise, it is out of copyright , though I did include an acknowledgement of the cartographers. For detail, I scanned a pre-1914 map of Pontefract, again inserting an acknowledgement of the cartographer, Percy Rhodes, who died during my teenage years. Surprisingly, a letter in the local paper failed to find a single living relative of this artist. Finally, I shot some contemporary pictures of sites of which I did not have cover. These latter images were the only digital originals in the entire book. The first organisation which I approached, PGT, agreed to publish the book, though they did insist that I contribute something towards the costs. Luckily, the Council for British Archaeology (Yorkshire) generously granted a large sum, and I then spent several fascinating mornings at PEN2print in Ferrybridge helping to lay it all out on a computer screen. At this point ¡I was informed that I had originally scanned the transparencies at too high a resolution , and had to export them to a lower figure. Also, some required re-scanning and further editing to make them usable. The final stage was to sign an agreement with PEN2print agreeing that everything was to my satisfaction. Less than two weeks later they e-mailed me to collect the finished books. The satisfaction of seeing one's photographs reproduced in full colour and actually in print is immense, as is the feeling that through such a book one has added to the sum of human knowledge , even if only infinitesimally.
Design and editorial : Media Management Services. Printed by Lakeside Printing Ltd , Tonbridge, Kent