Researchers will also use virtual reality to study other archaeological sites in the jar Plain, many of which are located in unreinforced American bombs left over from the Vietnam War, making excavation too dangerous.
The virtual reality project combines aerial video and geophysical data taken by drones, as well as archaeological excavation records of "1 site" in Giles Plain near Fengshawan town in central Laos. The researchers said that the research aims to create a unique landscape and a virtual record of hundreds of stone carving pots, some of which are as high as 1 1 foot (3 meters) and weigh many tons. [Photo: Explore the mysterious jar plain website]
These images and data have been integrated into the 3D video and data simulation of a room-sized 360-degree virtual reality facility at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. The facility, named Cave2, was developed for advanced "immersive visualization" applications in the fields of medicine, science and engineering.
Louis Xie Wan, an archaeologist at Monash University, is the co-leader of the project. He said that the main purpose of the virtual landscape is to preserve the visual and scientific records of a major archaeological investigation conducted by Lao and Australian scientists in the Giles Plain, which lasted for five years. This work began with the excavation of site 1 in February, 1965.
Xie Wan said that the virtual landscape will also be used to explore other pot sites in rugged and forested areas. Among the 270 million cluster bombs dropped by American warplanes in Laos during the Vietnam War, traditional archaeology in many areas is too dangerous. Up to now, only 7 of the more than 85 known pot sites in Laos have been cleared, and it is estimated that 80 million unexploded bombs are scattered all over the country. According to the Laos agency that supervised the clean-up,
Cave2 simulation also records a timeline, which can be moved forward or backward, and shows the mining situation at any time. In the next few years, with the excavation and discovery of the site 1 and other jar sites in the Jars Plain, this information will be updated. (Jars Plain Archaeological Project /MIVP Cave2) "Of course, we can't put shovels directly on the ground," Shewan told Life Science, [but] we can drive drones through these places, put all the information and images into Cave2 and compare them. For example, is there a consistent position between cans or between different types of tombstones? Led by archaeologists Shewan and Dougald O'Reilly of the Australian National University (ANU), the archaeological excavation of Site 20 16 1 confirmed for the first time that these giant stone pots were related to ancient burial customs. They found dozens of human remains in public and private graves around some of the largest clay pots.
Researchers believe that the stone carving jar at the 1 site dates back about 2500 years. They were used by iron age civilizations to expose their dead relatives to harsh environment for a period of time, and then clean and bury their bones. [25 Most Mysterious Archaeological Discoveries on Earth]
Xie Wan said that the virtual landscape of Cave 2 will be updated with new data and the results of further excavation of Jars Plain site, so researchers can start from Melbourne, more than 4,800 miles (7,700 kilometers) away.
We can continue long after we leave the scene. She said, "Through search, we can dig again with all the team members and find what we missed." It's also good for teaching, and you can rebuild the excavation ... This is real virtual reality archaeology, because we have the time sequence of excavation, so you can speed up and see the trench moving down in steps of 10 cm [4 inches].
The images and archaeological data recorded in the Mystery Maker's Cave 2 simulation will also be used as digital academic records about the jar Plain to support its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Xie Wan said that this is a continuous process. (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-designates sites that meet certain criteria representing natural, historical or cultural significance as world heritage sites. )
Laos * * * hopes that the world heritage status of this area will be * * * tourism, and further scientific research on jar Plain and other archaeological sites will be promoted.
At present, the virtual plain of the jar can only be seen in the Cave2 facility in Melbourne, but Xie Wan hopes that the 360-degree aerial image of the site can be provided to the public or integrated into the museum exhibition.
She said that the ongoing laboratory research includes the efforts of Richard Armstrong, a geochemist of Australian National University, to determine the geographical origin and exact age of the site. In some jars of 1 site, by analyzing the radioactive decay process of uranium into lead in zircon, a trace mineral in mining rocks,
Shewan's own bone chemistry research will focus on the strontium isotopes of human teeth in the tomb of site 1. These isotopes can provide clues to the identity of mysterious can makers, and they know almost nothing except their unusual burial methods.
"We will be able to calculate where these people live and where they get food according to the geological characteristics, which will be a very useful part of information, because at present, we don't have any place to live, so we know nothing about these people," Xie Wan said.
This is an original article about life science.