176 THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST

2006 VOL. 59(3-4)

 

Figure 21. HDDS survey of the Royal Palm Circle Feature included use of RTK-GPS, Robotic total station, and long-range

three-dimensional scanner.

mapping of the Royal Palm Circle and the Metropolitan
development parcel bedrock greatly exceeded the cost of the
laser mapping. Conventional field mapping and documentation
on this project took much more time and resulted in much less
detail than did the laser scanning survey. While laser scanning
does not replace the need for detailed site and feature
recordation by conventional methods, it can be integrated with
more standard documentation techniques to produce stream-
lined, efficient, accurate and rich datasets, from which future
analysis will benefit. Cost alone is not necessarily an argument
to use laser scanning over conventional techniques, especially
when an integration of methods is ultimately most beneficial.
On the Royal Palm and Miami Circle projects it was this
synthesis of approaches that demonstrate intrinsic values of
each method. High Definition Documentation Survey combines
methodologies to include three-dimensional laser mapping, and
in these cases, proved to be a cost effective approach when
absolute deadlines and budget constraints were a project reality.
The virtual preservation through this type of complete docu-
mentation will allow continuing research and analysis without
the need to return to the field. This is an important consider-
ation when, as in the case of the Royal Palm Circle and Metro-
politan development project, features documented no longer are
available for research consideration.

Conclusion

Accidents sometimes happen in historic preservation, with
some sites and locations preserved and others, although similar,

lost. The constantly changing landscape of downtown Miami
exemplifies this situation and points out the need for archaeo-
logical methods that allow for rapid assessment of large-scale
areas and for analysis to include the landscape rather than a
site-by-site consideration. HDDS techniques are cost effective,
highly accurate, and are performed rapidly to meet the demands
of projects which require detailed spatial survey documentation
(Alessandri et al. 2005).

University of South Florida’s Alliance for Integrated Spatial
Technologies use of innovative and cutting edge digital
documentation at these two circular features, demonstrates
clearly how laser scanning and HDDS can provide an afford-
able and rapid means of survey and assessment of large scale
landscapes and features. These HDDS projects illustrate how
documentation time can be reduced and how dynamic three-
dimensional models can be used to address archaeological
research questions. Remote measurement, differentiation of
depth, contour and elevational modeling, cross-section detail
and analysis, and integration of previous documentation, offer
an almost limitless potential for these rich three-dimensional
datasets. HDDS techniques are poised as a method of documen-
tation and data integration that allows the complex, palimpsest
of landscapes to be considered and researched today and in the
future.

Notes

All photos and images by the authors, unless otherwise stated. For
more information about three-dimensional laser scanning, contact: The