Who we are

The Lost Towns Project is a team of professional archaeologists and historians, working closely with the government of Anne Arundel County, Maryland to discover and explore the County's rich heritage. The team is committed to sharing the discovery process of this incredible heritage with the public through hands-on experiences, publications, lectures, and exhibits. In this blog, we will share some of our exciting discoveries, updates, and events. Check out our website at www.losttownsproject.org for much more, or to learn how to become a volunteer or intern! No experience is required to assist us in field investigations, laboratory studies, archival research, and interpretive programs. Join us to rediscover the History in your own backyards!

Monday, January 31, 2011

Digitizing Maps into AutoCAD

Hi All,

I thought I'd post a quick blog to tell you about the AutoCAD maps I've been working on for the Pig Point site report. AutoCAD is a computerized drafting program that many archaeologists use to digitize field drawings in order to see a more holistic view of a site. I first scan the field maps into AutoCAD and then digitally sketch over the field drawings.  Then, I'll add a few finishing touches and I've come up with a site or feature map that is ready for presentations or reports.

Here's an example from the Java site.  The first image is a field map showing a small portion of the exposed 17th and 18th century Sparrow's Rest site.  Below that you can see the digitized AutoCAD map that combines ALL of the smaller field maps into one larger image.  It's much more clear and ready for presenting!  I'll let you know when I have some cool Pig Point maps ready, it should be soon.

-Steph


This is an original field drawing from Sparrow's Rest, showing only the central portion of the excavated site.
Here's the AutoCAD map of the 2008 excavations. You can see the red brick hearth on the left, the five large yellow post holes that form the footprint of the 17th/18th century building, and all the other features. The above field map is digitized in the east-central area of this map.

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