Observering Digitally - The use of Image-Based 3D Modelling Techniques for the documentation and study of Rune Stones

Abstract: This thesis aims to test and evaluate the use of image-based 3D modelling techniques on rune stones. To test the method a well-documented rune stone was chosen, Hyby stone 1. The stone has been dated to the Viking Age and contains 37 runes, whereof 29 are still visible, two crosses and a stag. These carvings have been detected by other scholars with the use of non-digital methods. In order to evaluate the efficiency of this method it was compared with Danmarks Runeindskrifter from 1941-42, which is the standard source for Danish rune stones. The authors used electric light and cameras to document the stone. The thesis combines the commercial software Agisoft Photoscan and the open source software Meshlab. The former was used to create the model with Structure from Motion (SfM) and multi-view reconstruction and the latter for analysing the geometry by applying different types of shaders and then draw the visible carvings. The chosen shaders were two kinds of radiance scaling called lambertian radiance scaling and grey descriptor. By using this method it was possible to reach almost the same result as Danmarks Runeindskrifter. The method has proved its efficiency and allows for the definition of a workflow which provides a low cost efficient addition for the means of studying rune stones.