Dr Jay's Musings

        As promised, I have conducted my first test of a Matterport camera on on outdoor archaeological site.  We know it is good for tombs and the like but outdoors does pose some problems. I cannot wait to test it some more, but I did learn a few lessons.  Notes for use; 1) I shot the images at about 5:30am a perfect time.  By 6:30 the sun was starting to get strong and it was more difficult for the sensor to align the images. 2) I did it hasty so that means the halfa grass was thick, holes were hidden, and it was a bit treacherous.  When going about a formal non-test case, make sure you do the preliminary work of clearing obstacles and anything you don't want in the model.  Note my police escort appears in various places in the distance. 3) keep your points close, I think 1-2 m intervals. 4) Choose your elevation.  Because it is a large structure I set the tripod at a high level.  If you are more interested in t...

Sack of Jerusalem, in this part of Titus' triumphal procession on the Arch of Titus in Rome, the treasures of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem are  displayed to the Roman people.        When we tell the story of the present to the future, how will we do it?   If we go back far enough in the past we rely on the mute stones of archaeology to teach us how cities and civilizations met their doom. As the written word took hold, history was often fortunate enough to have a chronicler who could share the drama of the past through vivid descriptions of the ruin of cities, whether by the hand of God or Man. The quality and accuracy of such accounts vary depending on the level of knowledge and experience of the author and their political motivation. Consider Josephus' (Book 6) description of the sack of Jerusalem by the Roman forces of Titus in 70 A.D. as compared to the more glorious depiction on the Triumphant Arch of Titus. But when they went in numbers into th...