Georg Zotti

Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology · Virtual Archaeology

In this chapter, we give an overview of current computer software and processing methods that can be used to build accurate representations of sites of interest to archaeoastronomy. Recent developments promise excellent results in the near future.

The archaeological site at Hadrian's Villa (Tivoli, Italy) conventionally called the Antinoeion was used as a test- bed for studying the utility of simulation environments for archaeoastronomical research. The site consists of a sanctuary with three temples facing an open plaza which may, or may not, have had an obelisk in the center. Two reconstru...

A large fraction of archaeoastronomical surveys is concerned with the evaluation of azimuth orientations of artificial, or sometimes natural, structures to find a correlation with potential astronomical targets, like sunrise/sunset, or the interplay of light and shadow at particular dates like the solstices. Given the difficulties of observing such...

p>This paper describes developments in virtual archaeology that started in a research project about the possible astronomical entrance orientation of Neolithic circular ditch systems (German Kreisgrabenanlagen, KGA) of Lower Austria. Starting from data analysis in a Geographical Information System (GIS), we will cover a simple way of modelling, and...

For centuries, the rich nocturnal environment of the starry sky could be modelled only by analogue tools such as paper planispheres, atlases, globes and numerical tables. The immer-sive sky simulator of the twentieth century, the optomechanical planetarium, provided new ways for representing and teaching about the sky, but the high construction and...

Stellarium: Finally at Version 1.0! And Beyond

Investigating deserted medieval castles and villages in remote rural areas paired with a scarcity of meaningful written sources is a challenging task that can be significantly enhanced by the use of non-invasive archaeological prospection methods. Furthermore, the interpolation of stratigraphic relationships among maps by analysing paths and field...

Der AAÖ, eine Gemeinschaftsproduktion aus mehreren österreichischen Amateur-Astronomievereinen, bietet seit 2020 auf Österreich abgestimmte astronomische Vorausberechnungen (Ephemeriden) der Positionen für Sonne, Mond und Planeten in Tabellenform sowie in Übersichts-Jahresgraphiken. Auch Mondlibration, Jupitermonde, veränderliche Sterne und Finster...

THIS IS NOT A PREPRINT! It was never released as preprint before publication. If somebody knows how to replace/merge this wrongly classified "preprint" by/with the identical final paper please contact Georg Zotti. The final paper has the same DOI 10.1558/jsa.17822 Comments please go to the final paper. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350...

Der AAÖ, eine Gemeinschaftsproduktion mehrerer Amateur-Astronomievereine, bietet seit 2020 auf Österreich abgestimmte astronomische Vorausberechnungen (Ephemeriden) der Positionen für Sonne, Mond und Planeten in Tabellenform sowie in Übersichts-Jahresgraphiken. Auch Mondlibration, Jupitermonde, veränderliche Sterne und Finsternisse werden besproche...

Many cultures worldwide have left traces of sacred architecture and monuments which often show correlation to astronomical events like solstitial sunrises. Virtual archaeology can be used to explore such orientation patterns using digital reconstructions and positions of celestial objects computed from modern astronomical models. Most 3D editing sy...

The observatory of Ulugh Beg, erected in Samarqand in the 1420s, represents the culmination in the development of astronomical observatories in the Islamic world. After its rediscovery and excavation in the early twentieth century there have been several attempts to reconstruct its appearance and explain how it worked in detail, based on archaeolog...

Dieses Kapitel behandelt, aufbauend auf früheren Ausführungen [Zotti 2018], die Frage, unter welchen Rahmenbedingungen 3D-Modelle zur archäoastronomischen Untersuchung von Kulturdenkmälern und der sie umgebenden Landschaft mittels des Computerplanetariums [Stellarium (2019)] oder auch durch Simulation in einer Game Engine besser geeignet sind als d...

Over the past decade the free and open-source cross-platform desktop planetarium program Stellarium has gained not only most of the computational accuracy requirements for today’s amateur astronomers, but also unique capabilities for specialized applications in cultural astronomy research and astronomical outreach. A 3D rendering module can put vir...

The site of Linsmeau is located on a colluvial beach north of the Petite Gette River, at the foot of the Hesbaye plateau of middle Belgium. Here a series of 15 unusually deep-rooted post holes were uncovered. They all reach to and bore into the underlying sandstone bedrock, at a depth of up to 1.4 metres. Their position, spacing and diameter rule o...

In the last few years, the open-source desktop planetarium program Stellarium has become ever more popular for research and dissemination of results in Cultural Astronomy. In this time we (LBI ArchPro and TU Wien) have added significant capabilities for applications in Cultural Astronomy to the program, in particular a way to allow virtual 3D explo...

Das Planisphärische Astrolabium war das bekannte und universellste Beobachtungs- und Rechengerät der Gelehrten des Mittelalters. Die spätantike Erfindung wurde von frühislamischen Mathematikern und Astronomen weiterentwickelt und kam um 1000 n. Chr. über das maurische Spanien nach Europa, wo es bis zur Erfindung der Fernrohre ebenfalls das typische...

Seit einiger Zeit lassen sich 3D-Landschaften im Computerplanetarium Stellarium darstellen. Unsere neueste Entwicklung erweitert nun die Funktion, so daß auch die zeitliche Entwicklung einer archäologischen Landschaft mit den darauf befindlichen Bauwerken dargestellt werden kann.

Since 2010 the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project (SHLP) has undertaken extensive archaeological prospection across much of the landscape surrounding Stonehenge. These remote sensing and geophysical surveys have revealed a significant number of new sites and landscape features whilst providing new information on many previously known monuments. T...

The open-source desktop planetarium Stellarium has become very popular in astronomical education and outreach. Our recent changes aim for its applicability in historical and archaeoastronomical simulation contexts. Apart from visualizing the seemingly perpetual regular motions of the celestial bodies, it can be used to visualize and demonstrate his...

In recent years the open-source desktop planetarium Stellarium has gained high popularity for simulation in archaeoastronomy, and we have improved recent versions to also become accurate enough for such applications. A dedicated plugin which we introduced a few years ago can be used to visualize loadable scenes of 3D reconstructions of past or pres...

Dieses Kapitel gibt einen Überblick über einige Computerwerkzeuge für die kulturastronomische Forschung mit dem Schwerpunkt auf 3D-Simulation mit dem Computerplanetarium „Stellarium“. Nach einem Überblick über die gängigen Orientierungsschemata und einer Vorstellung von Stellarium werden die Möglichkeiten der Horizontdarstellung erläutert, und nach...

Communicating scientific topics in state of the art exhibitions frequently involves the creation of impressive visual installations. In the exhibition ‘STONEHENGE. A Hidden Landscape.’ in the MAMUZ museum for prehistory in Mistelbach, Lower Austria, LBI ArchPro presents recent research results from the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project. A central...

From the ground to the stars: Early Bronze Age postholes alignments in Linsmeau showing a possible astronomical intent (BEL) Frédéric Heller1, Silvia Motta², Adriano Gaspani³, Georg Zotti4 1 : Public Service of Wallonia, Namur frederic.heller@spw.wallonie.be 2,3 I.N.A.F. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera- Milano s...

Die Untersuchung der oft diskutierten Orientierung der Toranlagen in den jungsteinzeitlichen Kreisgrabenanlagen Niederösterreichs mittels Geländevermessung, Analyse im geographischen Informationssystem (GIS) und virtuellen Nachbauten und Entwicklung neuer Visualisierungsmethoden brachte kaum positive Ergebnisse. Mit wenigen Ausnahmen kann hingegen...

Communicating scientific topics in state of the art exhibitions frequently involves the creation of impressive visual installations. In the exhibition ‘STONEHENGE. A Hidden Landscape.’ in the MAMUZ museum for prehistory in Mistelbach, Lower Austria, LBI ArchPro presents recent research results from the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project. A central...

Communicating scientific topics in state of the art exhibitions frequently involves the creation of impressive visual installations. In the exhibition ‘STONEHENGE. A Hidden Landscape.’ in the MAMUZ museum for prehistory in Mistelbach, Lower Austria, LBI ArchPro presents recent research results from the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project. A central...

Landscape archaeology opened up new avenues for archaeologists to understand how the environment that societies inhabit determines their interactions with their surroundings, creating part of an interwoven relationship with the world. The land itself regulates subsistence and economic possibilities and its contours and rivers determine routes and t...

Many prehistorical and historical cultures have created buildings which were often orientated with respect to naturally given directions. The astronomical orientation of architecture is well-established and likewise well-popularized. However, research requires on-site surveys and computation, and usually relevant directions are only published as si...

The site of la Closière is located at the foot of the plateaus of the middle Belgium shift in height which marks the end of navigability of the Petite Gette River. This river could then, from here onwards, allow for commercial exchanges with the northern plains. Furthermore, La Closière, located on a colluvial beach, a mere 300 m from the river and...

The most discussed structures of the Middle and Late Neolithic period in Central Europe are the rondels or Kreisgrabenanlagen (in German). In the Lengyel culture of the Carpathian Basin, these earthworks seem to follow a common set of architectural rules. The often empty space inside the enclosures is generally surrounded by one or more circular di...

The investigation of the cause and guiding principles of the orientation of houses has been a neglected field in archaeological studies. If clear regularity can be observed in the location of houses and constructions, it is assumed to follow the prevailing winds in most cases. The position of a house is influenced by environmental and non-environme...

In the last years an ever-increasing number of virtual models has been developed for research and communication of archaeological knowledge and hypotheses about cultural heritage monuments. Nowadays whole archaeological landscapes with temples and other buildings can be digitally reconstructed in virtual space. A virtual walk through such a landsca...

Many cultures throughout history have erected sacred and profane buildings orientated according to astronomical principles. A new plugin for the open-source desktop planetarium Stellarium allows the demonstration and interactive exploration of such buildings.

Archaeoastronomical research often suffers from lack of data about the three-dimensional situation of prehistorical monuments in their respective landscapes. In our project, we have reconstructed, in virtual models, a series of similar Neolithic monuments with alleged astronomical orientation pattern in their respective landscape. Astronomical exte...

Melk Abbey, a marvel of European high baroque architecture, is one of the most frequently visited tourist attractions in Austria, attracting 450 000 visitors each year. The monastery's museum presents selected aspects of Benedictine life in Melk since the monastery's foundation in 1089. After the church, the library is the second-most important roo...

In the last decades, archaeologists in central Europe have found traces of enigmatic neolithic circular building structures buried in the soil. Recent studies indicate that the orientation of many of their doorways may have been chosen with an astronomical background in mind. This paper explains the use of virtual reconstructions of these buildings...

Since the 1980s, the entrances of a certain form of monumental Neolithic enclosure (Kreisgrabenanlage, KGA) have been discussed in relation to solstice or lunistice directions. In our current project we analyze astronomical orientations in more than 30 KGAs in Lower Austria, and combine virtual reconstructions based on previous magnetic surveys wit...

The oldest Middle European monuments (approx. 4850/4750 – 4550/4500 BC) were presented in the Lower Austrian County Exhibition at Heldenberg in 2005 (Daim & Neubauer, 2005). h e Middle Neolithic circular ditch systems, or Kreisgrabenanlagen (KGA), are known all over Middle Europe. h ese wooden monuments form a fi rst pan-European phenomenon, crossi...

The astrolabe, an analog computing device, used to be the iconic instrument of astronomers during the Middle Ages. It allowed a multitude of operations of practical astronomy which were otherwise cumbersome to perform in an epoch when mathematics had apparently almost been forgotten. Usually made from wood or sheet metal, a few hundred instruments,...

Combining series of exposures with different exposure times made with a digital SLR cam-era and a fish-eye lens allow to create high-resolution images that contain the full dynamic range of daylight, including the Sun, usable as scene background and for skylight illumina-tion computation purposes. These High Dy-namic Range (HDR) images can also be...

This article describes an accurate method to obtain the tone reproduction curve of display devices without using a measurement device. It is an improvement of an existing technique based on human observation, solving its problem of numerical instability and resulting in functions in log—log scale which correspond better to the nature of display dev...

It has long been known that ancient temples were frequently oriented along the cardinal directions or to certain points along the horizon where the Sun or the Moon rises or sets on special days of the year. In the last decades, archaeologists have found evidence of even older building structures buried in the soil, with doorways that also appear to...

This report represents the collected works of the authors on the modelling of skylight for computer graphics. The first part describes the physical processes of absorption and scattering and presents various atmospheric phenomena The second part presents several important papers of the last decades. —ed/GZ.

It has long been known that ancient temples were frequently oriented along the cardinal directions or to certain points along the horizon where Sun or Moon rise or set on special days of the year. In the last decades, archaeologists have found evidence of even older building structures buried in the soil, with doorways that also appear to have dist...

We discuss the validation of BTF data measurements by means used for BRDF measurements. First, we show how to apply the Helmholtz reciprocity and isotropy for a single data set. Second, we discuss a cross-validation for BRDF measurement data obtained from two different measurement setups, where the measurements are not calibrated or the level of ac...