Influencing Factors on the Visualisation of Archaeological Uncertainty

Abstract

This paper presents further work on a 3D visualisation system for the reconstruction of historical structures which takes into account archaeological uncertainty. The uncertainty associated with an archaeologist's interpretation is represented using possibility theory and visualised by shader-based information visualisation schemes. An increase or decrease in uncertainty is influenced by any related evidence recovered; we define this evidence as 'influencing factors'. Different types of archaeological evidence were identified after discussions with several archaeologists. To understand the individual importance of each influencing factor on an interpretation, we analysed data derived from formal questionnaires distributed to a selected group of archaeologists equally divided between Roman and non-Roman specialists. They were asked questions ranging from the wider perception of uncertainty to more specific ones on the identified types of archaeological evidence. We describe the stages involved in designing the questions, the process of gathering data and feedback from archaeologists, and the results themselves. Results suggest that specific evidence types are considered more favourably than others.