Pecking at Basalt: Photogrammetric documentation of petroglyphs in the Black Desert, Jordan.

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IntroductionAlthough digital image collection and manipulation

for the non-destructive recording of rock art is a well-established part of rock art documentation (Rip 1983), recent technological developments have created new, cost-effective recording and analysis tools formerly unfeasiblefor most scholars (Chandler and Fryer 2005; Chandler et al. 2007; Sanz et al. 2010). As processing software, digital devices and high-volume storage media become increasingly compact, affordable, and reliable, the application of aspectrum of digital recording techniques will become the standard, replacing earlier potentially detrimental tools affecting rock art preservation, such as tracing and rubbing.However, the potential for using digital technology as an analytical tool beyond accurate recording is still in its infancy, particularly when applied to pecked and incised designs on exposed rock surfaces. In the following, we discuss a few examples of petroglyphs recorded at Wisad Pools, in the Black Desert of Jordan, an extensive site including hundreds of ancient structures concentrated around approximately nine natural pools where the rock art is found. An estimated 450 instances of pecked rock art are concentrated primarily around pools 5–8 (Figure 1). Most of this art is figural (c.77.6 %), primarily animals (predominantly horned animals such as ibex, kudu, and oryx), while a smaller number represent structures (c. 19.5 %) and a very small number are geometric (c. 2.9 %).

For rock art documentation, appropriate recording techniques can vary according to the medium, the degree of exposure and deterioration, and the level of threat from development projects, tourism, and vandalism. For petroglyphs, traditional recording techniques such as

Pecking at Basalt: Photogrammetric Documentation of Petroglyphs in the Black Desert, Jordan

Yorke M. Rowan and Austin “Chad” Hill

During the 2013 field season at Wisad Pools, part of the larger Eastern Badia Archaeological Project, approximately450 petroglyphs were recorded. The spatial distribution of different zoomorphic and anthropomorphic representations,and geometric motifs pecked into the basalt boulders, will be mapped on the landscape but, in order to do so, a recording and classification system for the petroglyphs is necessary. In this paper, we discuss the application of photogrammetricand photographic techniques that enable accurate three-dimensional recording of pecked rock art. These low-costtechniques provide important tools for understanding and interpreting exposed and weathered petroglyphs in remote regions.

photography and tracing are difficult, particularly for thosethat have been exposed to the elements for millennia. One of the problems of documenting petroglyphs is not only the accurate recording of each example, but the description and classification of what is being recorded. Given the vagariesof differentiating actual pecked areas from those whichare simply damaged or unmodified, traditional techniquessuch as tracing are prone to error and the subjectivity of the person tracing and note taking. Although 3D laser scanners are highly accurate, the high cost of these devices is out of reach for many projects; considerations of portability, reflectance, power and ease of use also limit the applicabilityof this technique (El-Hakim et al. 2005; Fryer et al. 2005; Hurst et al. 2009). Other techniques are also challenging in these field situations. Reflectance Transformation Imaging(RTI), for instance, ideal for some purposes, is cumbersome and difficult in the bright desert light.

Petroglyphs have been documented in the eastern badia (Betts 1987; 1998a; Betts and Helms 1986; Rollefson et al. 2008), and other desert areas of Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula (e.g., Anati 1968; 1972; 1974; Corbett 2012; Harding 1953; Jobling 1986; Nayeem 2000). Despite the limited number of ways in which ancient people could create designs and figurative representations on an exposedrock face, there is variety among petroglyphic styles. In the badia, for example, Betts recorded rock carvings on basalt in the vicinity of Dhuweila (Betts 1987; 1998a). In contrast to the Wisad Pools petroglyphs, those at Dhuweila were created by scratching an outline, sometimes with light pecking, for animals’ bodies. Like at Wisad Pools, however, most are zoomorphic, primarily quadrupeds, although those at Dhuweila often exhibit short curving horns. This scratching

210 Settlement, Survey, and Stone

technique is unlike that encountered at Wisad Pools, but both styles appear dissimilar to those recorded much further south in Wadi Hafir (Corbett 2009; 2011).

Whatever the technique, petroglyphs are notoriously difficult to record, particularly when weathered or whenpresented as part of a dense palimpsest. Where singular or a few examples occur, recording is fairly straightforward, if difficult. But where larger numbers of pecked and incised

rock art occur, methodical recording can be difficult and isrelatively uncommon. There are certainly notable exceptions,such as those recorded by Borzatti von Löwenstern and Masseti (1991; 1995), and Corbett’s (2009, 2011, 2012) exemplary research in the Wadi Hafir of the Hisma Desert ofsouthern Jordan (Wadi Ramm). The advent of GIS and GPScertainly augments accurate data recording, but location is only one part of the challenge. An accurate description and

Figure 1. Orthophotograph showing area of rock art around pools 4–8

Rowan & Hill: Pecking at Basalt: Photogrammetric Documentation of Petroglyphs in the Black Desert, Jordan 211

representation remain dependent on the observer, lighting conditions, and accessibility. Although sophisticated techniques are increasingly available to scholars, not all are equally suitable to adverse remote conditions.

At Wisad Pools, with hundreds of petroglyphs and limited field time, our goal was to record accurately the typeof petroglyph and the contextual associations. As the survey progressed, we detected examples where the petroglyphs appeared to incorporate natural features of the rock surface into the pecked representation. Our study attempted to include this aspect as part of the recording process, something that traditional photography or tracing would have difficulty representing.

While photogrammetry has been used for rock art documentation for years (Rivett 1979; Wainwright 1990), the recent availability of affordable, accurate, and high-quality photogrammetric recordings using handheld cameras has made the application of photogrammetric techniques in large-scale recording projects such as at Wisad Pools much more accessible. At sites like this, where the petroglyphs are dispersed and weathered, photogrammetry can aid in identifying and distinguishing surface alteration in order to enhance the interpretation of each petroglyph, or fragment. Additionally, photogrammetry can be useful for understanding the relationships between the natural rock surface topography and the anthropogenic shapes inscribed on them. We suggest that while 3D laser scanners may be available to provide the most complete and accurate representation of highly irregular surfaces, careful photography combined with sophisticated photogrammetry software allows sufficient levels of detail to be recorded in3D models of rock surfaces (with sub-millimeter resolution) that it is not only useful for recording, but enhances our ability to interpret the rock surface modifications.

The Region: Wisad Pools and the badiaLocated approximately 107 km east of Azraq and 17 km

north of the Saudi Arabian border, Wisad Pools is in the Black Desert in Jordan. The Black Desert is characterizedby Miocene basalt cover overlying limestone formations (Rabba’ 2005). In the immediate area of Wisad Pools, low hills and hard packed silts channel surface runoff tonumerous mudflats (qe’an) in the area. Despite knowledge of the site by local Bedouin and hunters, the concentration of archaeological remains was unknown until recognized by Gary Rollefson and Alex Wasse during survey in the area (Wasse and Rollefson 2005). Small-scale surveying and mapping began in 2008 (Rollefson et al. in press) and continues to the present.

In the ‘core’ area of Wisad Pools, hundreds of collapsed structures are concentrated across an area of about 1.5 by 1.0 km, with the density decreasing as distance from the pools increases. Made exclusively of basalt slabs, the definition and

form of the structures are extremely difficult or impossibleto identify under the collapsed rubble. Presently both the function and date are unclear but future excavation and study may assist in answering these questions. The surface findsprovide little guidance, although late prehistoric periods are indicated by the occasional flint scatters of debitage and rarefragments of tabular scrapers, the later dating to the Late Neolithic, Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age (Rollefson et al. 2011b). In a few areas, such as the ‘Neolithic Hill’ (Figure 1), clusters of Late Neolithic chipped stone artifacts are found mixed with concentrations of Epipalaeolithic cores, tools, and debitage. This hill overlooks the prominent basaltboulders where the rock art is most densely concentrated around the pools.

If dating the structures is problematic, determining function is no less complex. Our initial inspections, survey, and documentation led us to believe that many of the collapsed lower mounds were mortuary in function, as were the multi-chambered tumuli scattered across the landscape. In a few places, long chains of smaller chambers or piles (c. 1.0 × 2.0 × 1.0 m) form ‘tails’ that are apparently connected to a larger tomb. Similar ‘tomb tails’ are known from Wadi al-Qattafi, particularly Maitland’s Mesa (Rowan et al. in press; Rowan et al. 2011), as well as further afield to the south onthe Arabian Peninsula (e.g., Braemer et al. 2001; Steimer-Herbet 2004). Other structures, such as building complexes and enclosures, include interior features and exterior paths outlined with basalt boulders, but the relatively few surface finds are not clearly associated with these features.

Since these initial visits and surveys, two structures were excavated. Neither produced evidence for mortuary use and both were interpreted as Neolithic dwellings with associated architectural features. The first structure, W-66,was a building complex with several phases of occupation inside a single, circular to oval room with patches of gypsum plaster flooring, a plastered alcove, a standing central pillarand evidence for a corbelled roof (Rollefson et al. 2011a, Figures 3–7). Late Neolithic arrowhead forms (Haparsa and transverse), a single Yarmoukian sherd, and a single radiocarbon sample date the structure to the Late (Pottery) Neolithic. The other structure (W-80) approximately 100 msouth-southeast of W-66 was also a Neolithic structure. Although only the southern half was excavated during 2013, nearly 300 arrowheads (Haparsa, triangular and rectangular transverse), beads, drills, and large pestles were recovered. Like W-66, transverse types dominate the arrowhead assemblage, including stemmed, triangular and trapezoidal forms; Haparsa, Nizzanim and Herzliya types were less common (Rollefson et al. 2013b, 15–16, Fig. 11).

Use of these structures at Wisad Pools as dwellings rather than for interment suggests that the site witnessed extended periods of seasonal use, possibly over many years (Rowan et al. in press). As a consequence, we revised our initial


assumptions regarding their function and date. Rather than a large necropolis, this may represent a settlement, and one dated, at least in part, to the Neolithic. Obviously we cannot extrapolate from these two excavated buildings that all the structures are domestic, or that all residential buildings date to the Neolithic, but this provides one piece of strong evidence for a period of use. If many of these structures are Neolithic, the modern barren desert landscape may in fact have developed well after the Neolithic (Rollefson et al. in press).

At least some of the petroglyphs at the site may date to the Neolithic, and given the presence of hunting equipment, proximity to the water where the animals would gather, and the new interpretation of a Neolithic domestic landscape, this seems a reasonable assumption. At the same time, the presence of Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) lithic concentrations on Neolithic Hill (Figure 1), a useful promontory overlooking the pools, could extend considerably the potential window for creation of the rock art. Additionally, we know that camel petroglyphs (of which there are 33) cannot date so early, and a noticeable distinction in pecking techniques used to create these underscores their differencerelative to the rest of the group. The general range of datablematerial found on the surface is prehistoric, ranging from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Late Neolithic (and possibly the Chalcolithic); coupled with the Late Neolithic dates of the excavated structures, it is probable that the majority of petroglyphs date to the later prehistoric periods.

MethodologyOne aspect of the larger Wisad Pools project is the survey

and mapping of the hundreds of extant structures, and rock art depictions. Our spatial analysis of the petroglyphs is still underway, but in the following sections we offer preliminaryinsights on methodology based on our initial application of photogrammetry and a comparison to more traditional photographic methods. In 2013, hundreds of pecked rock examples were recorded as part of the joint Whitman College/University of Chicago project at the site. Over the course of the field season, approximately 450 examples ofrock art were recorded. The majority of these examples arelocated on the slopes surrounding pools 4–8, particularly along the sharp bend where the vertical faces of basalt boulders are oriented toward the pools (see Figure 1).

Two researchers worked together combing the areas around the pools where the petroglyphs are concentrated. One person took notes, combining observations on each individual glyph, while the other used a Canon GPS-enabled camera to record photographs of each glyph. The individualshot numbers were recorded in the notebook and used as the primary key for the feature database.

Three types of data were recorded for all identifiedpetroglyphs. Each glyph had a spatial coordinate recorded using either GPS or a total station. Each had an entry in

a field-generated database for basic figurative elements,including type, subtype, orientation, method of carving, nearby or associated figures, and important notes orfeatures. Finally, each piece was photographed at least once, with larger and more complex features being photographed several times.

Additionally, several representative pieces were recorded in a variety of ways in order to be as broadly inclusive of recording methodology as possible. Several individual and sets of petroglyphs were recorded using high resolution 3D photogrammetry. For these, local ground control points were positioned and recorded using a total station. Thenoverlappingsets of photographs were taken of the entire boulder on which these petroglyphs are found. These photo sets were thenused to construct geo-referenced 3D models using Agisoft Photoscan Pro after the field season. The resulting models canbe exported as two different types of data: orthophotographsand digital elevation models. Orthophotographs are composite images built from all of the photographs in each photoset, which are georeferenced to the real world and undistorted. Unlike regular photographs which suffer from a variety ofdistortions, it is possible to extract real world measurements from these images. Digital elevation models are a grid of data with each pixel representing the elevation of the ground at that point. These data are then imported into ArcGIS, andused to maximize the visibility of anthropogenic features and highlight important natural topographic features that may have influenced petroglyph design.

Lastly, since it is often very difficult to photograph thesefeatures well, we utilized a variety of photographic tools in the field to record individual petroglyphs. While all featureswere photographed at least once, usually in strong and inappropriate mid-day sun, some features were recorded at night using raking light, some were recorded in the Near Infrared, and some were recorded in shaded conditions. In order to extract more definite boundary edges, manyof the daylight photographs are being manipulated using decorrelation stretch techniques (Le Quellec et al. 2013). Decorrellation stretch works best on petrographs, but in some cases it is able to highlight differences between peckedand unpecked areas in petroglyphs.

DiscussionPhotogrammetry of small boulders and petroglyphs

can be performed almost as quickly as basic photography. The class-leading Photoscan Pro software suite is capableof building non-georeferenced, but still high resolution, 3D models with only a set of photographs from nearly any digital camera. While high quality cameras (dslrs) and good (macro) lenses can make some difference, it is still possibleto build spectacular 3D models using small point-and-shoot cameras. For our purposes, most of the petroglyphs were recorded using Canon s100 cameras. These are higher-end


Canon point-and-shoot cameras that provide fully manual controls, onboard GPS-geotagging, and a fairly large aperture. However, unless 3D models are geo-referenced they cannot be used to take measurements, analyze shape, or examine topography in ArcGIS. For that, the photo sets used to build 3D models must contain points with known spatial coordinates. In this case it takes slightly longer to record each 3D model, since ground control points must be placed and then recorded with a total station. Even so, this can proceed faster than 3D scanning and we were able to record over a dozen models as part of our time-limited recording process.

While 3D modeling of petroglyphs remains a fairly new process, the use of digital elevation models to identify archaeological features has advanced much further in the realm of remote sensing using lidar data. Researchers analyzing lidar data have developed a range of visualization techniques to identify topographical features (Hesse 2010); Kokalj et al. 2011). Many of these can be appropriately applied to photogrammetric DEMs, even of small-scale features, to highlight topographic variation and potentially anthropogenic features. Thus, 3D models of rock art canprovide an excellent tool for examining the relationship between the shape of a rock and the art depicted on it. Throughout the fieldwork process, we frequently notedexamples of petroglyphs where the shape of the object being depicted was heavily influenced by the shape of the rock itwas drawn on. Constructing accurate GIS-based 3D models of the petroglyphs enables us to document that relationship in a way that is not possible through photography alone.

Figure 2 shows three views of the same “kite” petroglyph. Kites are long stone walls, extending hundreds or thousands of meters, converging to a roughly circular enclosure. Found across the badia, desert kites functioned as game traps; the earliest examples date to the Neolithic period (Helms and Betts 1987; Betts 1998b). Many of the petroglyphs at Wisad Pools appear to represent these structures. All three of these images (Figure 2: a, b, and c) are based on a 3D model, built using Photoscan Pro, from 23 individual photographs of the petroglyph. The 3D model was georeferenced using totalstation data, and then exported to ArcGIS for analysis. The first

image (a) shows the result of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of 16 hillshade models of the rock (Devereux et al. 2008; Challis et al. 2011; Kokalj et al. 2011). This visualizationcreates a false color image from the three main components in a PCA of a series of 16 hillshade models. The second image(b) shows the slope of the rock. A slope value is calculated for each cell in the digital elevation model. The amount ofslope in each cell is calculated as the rate of change between the height value in that cell compared to the height value of the neighboring cells. In this image lighter values are steeper slopes and darker values are flatter slopes. The third image(c) is a composite orthophoto giving an undistorted image of the rock as it looks in shaded daylight sun. In images (a) and (b) the pecked pattern of the kite making up this petroglyph has been highlighted in brown. What is clear from the DEM visualizations (a and b) is that the lines of the main enclosure of the kite frequently follow major shape breaks in the rock. Similarly, individual cells along the outside of the enclosure frequently follow major topographic features, such as shallow depressions or steep breaks. None of this relationship would be apparent from a photographic image alone (c).

In some cases, recording these petroglyphs with traditional photographic tools could replicate some of the functionality of 3D modeling. A traditional tool used to highlight subtle topography of small objects is “raking light”. A strong light source is cast on an object at a low angle to draw out subtle relief by casting long shadows. Raking light can be used to document some of the features at Wisad Pools. However, 3D modeling is a more robust tool, in that it can be recorded more efficiently in the field and then post-processed in a variety of ways. Figure 3 shows four views of the same “geometric” petroglyph at Wisad Pools. The first view (a)shows a single image, taken at night, using a raking light. In this case a remote flash was fired from above and just behindthe main face of the petroglyph. This visualization of therock art carving does highlight the detail in the geometric shape that has been pecked into this face of the rock to a degree that is not visible in a daylight photograph of the same feature (d). However, the direction and angle of the lighting can potentially mask some important features even while it reveals others. The other two images of this rock

Figure 2. Comparison of kite pecked on rock. (a) PCA of 16 hillshades; (b) slope of digital elevation model; (c) orthophoto of petroglyph taken at mid-day in shade


Figure 3. Geometric petroglyph. (a) photograph of petroglyph, at night, with raking light; (b) PCA of 16 hillshade models of digital elevation model of petroglyph; (c) slope of digital elevation model of petroglyph, (d) composite orthophoto of petroglyph, taken at mid-day in shade.

Figure 4. Details of geometric petroglyph. (a) slope map of digital elevation model; (b) orthophoto; (c) hillshaded model of digital elevation model; (d) PCA of 16 hillshaded models


(b) and (c) show two visualizations of the same carving using a 3D model built from 28 photographs of the rock. In one view (b) the shape of the carving is depicted in false color from a principal component analysis (PCA) of 16 different shaded models of the rock. This incorporates themost important differences from many different possiblelocations for a light source, including angles that would replicate the single photograph in (a). In (c), the direction of light on the rock is irrelevant, as the shape is being picked out by local changes in slope rather than in the direction of light. Constructing a photogrammetric model is a more robust way of highlighting local topography than traditional photographic methods as it can be done in a variety of lighting conditions, does not require special flash tools, andcan provide more ability to visualize shape. Finally, because the 3D model is built from many overlapping photographs, which can include close up, high-resolution detail shots, the resulting visualization can be extremely high resolution as well. Figure 4 shows details from the same rock as in Figure 3 using several visualization tools. Even at a scale of several centimeters, details are visible.

With such a large area to investigate, and so many individual petroglyphs to record in such a short time, we were not able to do low-light, shaded-light, infrared-light, or photogrammetric photography for each identified feature.Most petroglyphs were recorded using visible light only, in harsh mid-day sun. It was frequently challenging to take the pictures in this environment in such a way as to make them useable as documentation later. However, some post-processing tools do allow the visualization of pecked features even from images taken in these environments. Dstretch, a plugin for ImageJ software developed by Mark Harman (www.dstretch.com), uses decorellation stretch techniques to bring out subtle differences in hues in rockart photographs. Dstretch works best on pictographs (Mark and Billo 2009), but it can work with images of petroglyphs. During post-processing of the rock art photos from Wisad Pools, Dstretch was used to investigate images that were

particularly difficult to discern. Figure 5 shows one suchimage. The image on the left (a) is a photograph, in broaddaylight, of a camel carved into the vertical face of a boulder at Wisad. Although the figure could be clearly identified inthe field, it was almost impossible to get a single photographof it that shows the pecked shape. The image on the right(b) in Figure 5 shows the same image after being mapped to the YBK colorspace in Dstretch. In this version, the hump, neck, head and legs of the camel become clearly visible.

Summary The rock art at Wisad Pools provides important insights

into the use and function of the site. The placement of thepetroglyphs relative to the nearby pools likely reflects thesignificance of the pools as an economic resource. Moreover,the dense concentration of petroglyphs indicates that people had time available to peck these figures as suggested byrecent excavations that highlight longer seasonal occupation than anticipated. Accurately documenting the extent and typologies of petroglyphs at the site is thus an important part of the larger program to understand not just when the site was occupied, but how it functioned in prehistoric economic and pastoral systems. The use of photography andphotogrammetry as part of the data collection process allows us to fully integrate the petrography study into the wider scope of the research.

Photogrammetry is a powerful tool that can easily be brought to bear on rock art data collection and analysis. While other tools can provide more detail (laser scanning) or pull different data (photo recording and processingtechniques), photogrammetry is very easy to apply, low cost, and robust. It should be a standard process for documenting rock art. Rock art at Wisad probably reflects a variety ofdecision-making processes in choosing animals to depict, techniques to use, and placement of imagery, but the shape of the underlying stone clearly played an important role (whether artistic or functional). Documenting this relationship would not be possible without 3D modeling.

Figure 5. Camel petroglyph. (a) image taken in direct mid-day sun; (b) same image processed with Dstretch using decorrelation stretch techniques to exaggerate differences in hue


AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank the Department of Antiquities

of Jordan for their support and permission to conduct research at Wisad Pools. Barbara Porter and the staff of theAmerican Center of Oriental Research were instrumental in the success of the season, and we appreciate their flexibilityand logistical support. We extend our deep appreciation to Nathaniel Bennett for his painstaking efforts to discern our

scrawled notes and washed-out photographs, and to Morag Kersel for her comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks also to Wael Abu-Azizeh for his photographs, fromwhich Figure 1 was constructed. Whitman College and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago supported this research, for which we are very grateful. This article hasbeen made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (to YMR).

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Pecking at Basalt: Photogrammetric documentation of petroglyphs in the Black Desert, Jordan.

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Transcript of Pecking at Basalt: Photogrammetric documentation of petroglyphs in the Black Desert, Jordan.