Digital Solutions for Subterranean Heritage

Dear Colleagues,

Caves and rockshelters are one of archaeology’s most important resources due to their excellent artifact preservation, rich assemblages, and deep stratigraphic deposits. They can provide glimpses into past environments and lifeways often being employed as ritual spaces that remain important to extant communities today and are an essential feature of cultural heritage. Because these fragile sites are currently under threat by both natural and anthropogenic factors, cave specialists race to document and analyze these sites as rapidly as possible before they are compromised or destroyed. Digital techniques and workflows have transformed methodologies by increasing the speed, efficiency, and accuracy of recording and have become essential to cultural heritage management. The widespread adoption of drone-based and terrestrial photogrammetry and laser scanning at surface sites has spurred experimentation underground. Subterranean heritage is diverse in form and function and presents unique challenges in both dry and submerged portions of caves. This issue will explore digital approaches to recording and visualizing subterranean environments that witnessed human activity across time and space. Topics could include (but are not limited to): multi-modal and multi-scalar methodologies; UAV-based imaging in GPS-denied environments; underwater survey and mapping; SLAM-based laser scanning; specialized photographic and photogrammetric techniques; GIS applications; and novel ways to record and incorporate intangible phenomena, such as sound. The issue recognizes the complementary role that technology can play in the world of cave archaeology.

• Caves
• Rockshelters
• Archaeology
• Mapping
• Imaging
• Digital Heritage
• Cultural Heritage Management
• Digital Humanities, GIS, LiDAR, Drones
• Photogrammetry