The ArchaeoTech Podcast · The Archaeology Podcast Network

Completely modeling an excavation with Photogrammetry - Ep 194

·51 min·3 clips

The method uses extra photographs, a string grid, and Blender to turn each excavation level into a sliceable 3D model.

Chris Webster and Paul Zimmerman open with a quick check-in and some social media talk. Paul says being unemployed has given him time to tackle house projects, work through things that had been sitting in the background, and keep pushing on his Total Station software. The software is now up on GitHub. He is also trying to figure out how to spread the word after being off the internet for a long stretch. They mention being on Twitter again after getting fed up with it, and note that the upside has been less doomscrolling and more actual work. One of those small wins is a data exporter that already behaves well with QGIS. The remaining test is whether ArcGIS will treat it with the same kindness. That kind of practical workflow friction matters on this show. The conversation is comfortable living in the weeds where small tools have to prove themselves. After the opening banter, the episode shifts to a recent paper that uses photogrammetry in a very specific archaeological setting. The site is in Bulgaria. It is a tell site with a long sequence of occupation stretching from the Neolithic into the medieval period, with gaps and reuse along the way. That means a lot of complicated relationships between layers, and the hosts spend time on how that kind of complexity is documented and visualized. They also talk through the site name and the fact that the pronunciation is not exactly settled in conversation. That fuzziness feels appropriate. Archaeological places often arrive with multiple names, multiple histories, and a lot of local knowledge attached to them. The hosts keep returning to the reconstructed DTM and what it reveals about the mound. They treat the model as a practical tool rather than a miracle object. The real question is whether it helps people read dense stratigraphy more clearly. They connect that to broader field realities like documentation quality, workflow usefulness, and whether the output is actually worth the effort. The technology talk stays grounded in practical concerns rather than theory. The result is a discussion that treats photogrammetry as something you make useful in the field, not something you just admire in a demo. The hosts are interested in what works in practice, what still needs a human eye, and how to make complicated archaeology legible without pretending the underlying mess has disappeared.

As heard by us

A photogrammetry episode focused on excavation workflow and clearer site visualization.

Chris Webster and Paul Zimmerman start with social media, house projects, and the Total Station software Zimmerman has been building and posted on GitHub, then turn to a recent paper on photogrammetry and a site in Bulgaria with levels spanning the Neolithic through the medieval…

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Why you'd press play

If you want photogrammetry talked through like a field problem, not a sales pitch.

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