3D printing in archaeology
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This is a 3d print of a 1.8kg gold treasure before it was excavated:
We will probably see a lot of applications in archaeology for documentation purposes (Gaieus knows the effort of drawing by hand, or using a cool device like a pantograph, but this is a lot more cool).
The treasure was discovered when archaeologists sounded the course of a pipeline that is being built in northern Germany. They punched a whole block out of the ground (to rescue it from grave robbers), took it to their restoration lab and scanned it using computer tomography.
This image shows how the treasure was carefully freed from ground and dirt:
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Sweet application for 3D printing. The medical field is doing something similar where they 3D print internal organs and bones before performing life-threatening surgery.
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Indeed cool. It's important that they can see it (in 3D) even before the restorers start peeling the dirt off so that they do not make any harm.
Not exactly the same stuff but here is a picture of a Medieval Benedictine monastery near my place. It way mapped with a geo penetrating radar (GPR) and once we are curious to excavate certain parts of it, now we exactly know where to look:
[xxl-img:1b2f0547]https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/255561_364807510239966_1064081611_n.jpg[/xxl-img:1b2f0547]
(The small, white image shows an earlier excavation I also took part)
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@d12dozr said:
Sweet application for 3D printing. The medical field is doing something similar where they 3D print internal organs and bones before performing life-threatening surgery.
A few years ago they did a separation procedure on conjoined twins. Prior to the surgery they created 3D imagery of the babies. Then they printed 3D models of them so they could get a real idea of what they were getting into. After the surgery was completed our engineering group made additional 3D models of the torsos of the twins. These were sawn apart and mounted on nice wooden bases with glass boxes over the top. They were used to make gifts for the surgical team.
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I can see that being a treasured gift - also neat to show the kids when they get old enough to appreciate the work that went into saving their lives.
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