LASER SCANNER RELIEFS OF SELECTED ARCHEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES IN THE SUBMERGED BAIAE (NAPLES)

Abstract. In 2011 the ISCR (Rome), in the frame of the Project Restoring Underwater directed by Barbara Davidde Petriaggi, started to test Naumacos Laser Scann 1, designed by Gabriele Gomez de Ayala, in order to document the restoration of a room paved with opus sectile probably part of the Bath of Punta Epitaffio (Underwater Park of Baiae – Marine Protected Area, Naples). The experimentation conducted in Baiae by ISCR has shown the effectiveness of the Laser Scanner; this method also allowed to considerably reduce times and costs of underwater surveying. Moreover, the 3D relief obtained, has the characteristic of being geometrically (accuracy is sub-millimetric) and chromatically faithful to the reconstructed structure, as well as being exportable in various forms and usable in several contexts. From 2011 to 2013 the evolution of the instrument Naumacos Laser Scanner 3 was developed and tested in the restoration work of the Villa con ingresso a protiro, where three structures were documented in 3D (a paved with black and white mosaic decorated with hexagons and peltae, a very fragmentary black and white mosaic and a stone artefact. This paper shows the results of this documentation campaign and it underlines the prominent role in documentation and in museum display of Underwater Cultural Heritage played by the three-dimensional laser scanning survey. This technique also contributes to the increase of the value of scientific dissemination.