Karanis in 3D: Recording, Monitoring, Recontextualizing, and the Representation of Knowledge and Conjecture

Archaeologists tend to express space in two dimensions, drawing maps, plans, and elevations of landscapes or extant architecture. In the human experience, however, space is volume: height, light, color, structure, acoustics, protection, display, obstruction or emphasis of view lines, are all of the greatest importance in how people function in space. Recording and presenting three dimensions can provide important insights into architectural and structural details, and can also be used as a device to monitor changes in a building's condition. Reconstructing three dimensions enables us to present what we actually know or to include conjecture and offer alternative theories of what a building or landscape once looked like, and how it developed over time. Using the Greco-Roman site of Karanis as a case study, we also explore how a three-dimensional virtual reality reconstruction allows us to digitally re-unite objects that have been dispersed over museums worldwide and place them back in their virtually original context.