Honors College Capstones
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10877/17056
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Browsing Honors College Capstones by Subject "3D modeling"
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Item Digital Archaeology and the Curation Crisis: 3D Modeling as an Answer to the Problems of Collections Access and Use(2014-05) Marcone, Mallory Claire; Black, Stephen L.; Willis, MarkThe archaeological curation crisis has plagued repositories and archaeologists alike with a multitude of problems for several decades, most notably inaccessibility to collections. Archaeological artifacts continue to be curated in repositories with little prospect of ever being used by researchers to uncover new information about the past, rendering them essentially useless and removing much of the moral justification of archaeology itself. However, in creating digital 3D models of artifacts and site excavations, archaeologists and repositories can make archaeological data and research widely available to people around the world through the Internet while protecting artifacts from transfer, travel, and potential harm through handling. Alongside 3D models, digital repositories like tDAR are helping to alleviate the problem by providing a digital environment for curation and instant access. An analysis of 3D model creation and digital repository curation, along with a discussion of how to alleviate copyright and access control concerns that arise from sharing digital information, show that while there are still some problems that exist, the benefits of digitizing archaeological collections for research far outweigh the costs.Item I've Been Working on the Railroad: A Digital Reconstruction of the Southern Pacific Railroad(2022-12) Mezzell, Maddie; Kilby, David; Valencia, LouieThis thesis explores the history and archaeology of the Lower Pecos stretch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, specifically focusing on a bridge abutment along an abandoned section of track located near the town of Langtry, Texas. There have been archaeological investigations into the camp life of the different railroad labor groups, which were often made up of Chinese immigrant workers. However, less is known about the conditions of labor at the work sites and craftsmanship that went into the construction of railroad features. By analyzing the abutment through these lenses, I contribute to a greater understanding of how skilled labor was conducted in a time in which industrialism was becoming prominent. I use photogrammetry and computer graphics software (SfM) to create a 3-D, digital reconstruction of the abutment (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Additionally, I inventory and analyze the railroad artifacts, collected from the land that the abutment is on, to increase comprehension about what tools and objects the workers were utilizing during construction. The reconstruction of the abutment and analysis of artifacts, coupled with literary research, will be combined into an online platform meant to inform on the experiences of laborers and what can be learned from examining the product of their labor (https://arcg.is/CKCXf). Because the creation of the railroad and use of largely immigrant labor are intertwined with the diaspora of immigrants across the American West, studying a site of labor can be indicative of working-class treatment and its intersection with issues of immigration and ethnicity.