Digital Technologies Applied to Antarctic Archaeology: An Overview

Abstract

Since 2009, the Laboratory of Antarctic Studies in Human Sciences (LEACH) at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil, has been dedicated to the research and mediation of Antarctic archaeology from the perspective of Public Archaeology. The international project ‘White Landscapes: Archaeology, Anthropology, History and Conservation of Human Occupation in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica’ , under development by the LEACH-UFMG team, aims to understand the human occupation strategies of the last continent throughout history. In this context, the main objective of this work is to present the digital approaches of LEACH-UFMG in three concomitant aspects: 1) applied to the archaeological field in Antarctica during excavations undertaken on-site (3D laser scanning of remains and landscapes, drone captures , and data logging on tablets); 2) applied to artefacts and collections analysed in the laboratory (3D printing, 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry); 3) applied to mediation with the archaeological and non-archaeological public (itinerant sensory exhibition that simulates the Antarctic environment, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and digital video game about the daily life of local sealers and whalers, as well as current archaeological expeditions in territories of Antarctica). Thus, with this work, we aim to demonstrate how we can streamline communication channels between archaeologists and non-archaeologists, encouraging the creation of multivocal narratives about the human occupation of Antarctica.