Ten Years of Photogrammetry and LiDAR

Abstract

The realities of archaeological fieldwork have been revolutionized by new digital documentation methods. Among these are various new ways to produce photorealistic and/or accurate 3D measurements, namely photogrammetry and laser scanning. They have become well known technologies but the actual frequency of their use in day-today fieldwork has not been studied before. The ‘Quality instructions on archaeological fieldwork' (Arkeologisten kenttätöiden laatuohjeet) document, published by the Finnish Heritage Agency in 2013, states that all archaeological reports have to mention the technologies and methods used. Using a collection of some 3600 digitized reports from between 2013 and 2022 I show how widespread the use of these novel methods has actually been during the decade in Finland, and what are the implications of their use. What kind of actors are the most prevalent users? Have the methods been widely adopted, or are some more traditional methods still more popular?