The 81st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (2012)
‘From Cemetery to Clinic’: 3D Digitised pathological data from archaeological leprous skeletons
JO BUCKBERRY1, ANDREW HOLLAND1, CHRIS GAFFNEY1, RACHEL HOLGATE1, KEITH MANCHESTER1, ALAN OGDEN1, TOM SPARROW1, REBECCA STORM1, HASSAN UGAIL2, CHRIS WATKINS2 and ANDREW WILSON1.1Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, UK, 2Centre for Visual Computing, University of Bradford, UK
Saturday
All day,
Plaza Level
The ‘From Cemetery to Clinic’ project produced 3D laser scans of skeletons with leprosy from the medieval Leprosarium of St. James and St. Mary Magdalene, Chichester, UK. The collection is one of the largest published cemeteries with skeletal manifestations of leprosy. In addition, site plans, excavation data and radiographs were digitised and incorporated into an interactive website. The website also presents descriptions of the clinical manifestations of leprosy, alongside a valuable collection of clinical radiographs of leprous individuals.
The project aimed to ensure that fragile pathological remains can be accessed widely by students, the public and other diverse groups whilst having a low impact on the remains themselves. In addition the project aimed to provide globally accessible reference material for clinicians to aid their diagnoses of leprous changes in patients.
This poster presents the methods used to produce high-resolution 3D digital models of the skeletal remains using a FARO Quantum arm 3D laser scanner and will examine the benefits and methodological challenges of combining the high resolution models with high-pixel count digital photography to accurately colour and texture a significant proportion of the models.
This project was funded by JISC under the rapid digitisation scheme.