Technological assessment of Mesolithic portable art in Norway and Ukraine via submillimetre 3D modelling

TEMPA-3D offers a transdisciplinary approach to study endangered archaeological collections from Kamyana Mohyla, Ukraine and Rogaland, Norway.

By fusing photogrammetry and experimental archaeology TEMPA-3D will initiate new research subfield and make an impact on the broader discourse about Mesolithic portable art.The study addresses the lack of targeted investigations of how the engraved ornaments were made, and moves beyond state-of-the-art by developing a method for linking specific surface modifications to particular engraving techniques.

By attending art as a process of making, this project will contribute to our understanding of the complex nature of human craft-making and creativity – a topical subject in present society. The main objective is to assess the engraving techniques used for producing the Mesolithic portable art.

The chosen case studies, each representing late Mesolithic fishing societies, reveal similarities and variation in art-making technologies and symbolic expressions during the 8-4th millennium BC. Through its innovative methodology, TEMPA-3D will analyse and contextualise 60 engraved sand- and soapstone artefacts.

Through a three-stage process it will develop a fluent workflow augmenting the information that can be obtained about the engravings:1) Artefacts’ individual biographies will be analysed by means of recent advancements in photogrammetric submillimetre 3D modelling, developed and patented by the PF.2) A dataset that links specific engraving features to particular techniques will be obtained through actualistic experiments. 10 experimentally made replicas will be produced and 3D modelled.3) To interpret the techniques that were employed by the prehistoric crafters, archaeological and experimental 3D datasets will be compared.

The outcome of this multi-analytic study will be an open access high-resolution digital 3D catalogue and a visual referential database, for the benefit of the archaeological community and future research