On first year anniversary of the week in which King Richard III was reinterred, Leicester archaeologists use sophisticated photogrammetry software to create fully rotatable computer model which shows the king’s remains in-situ.
Archaeologists who discovered and helped to identify the mortal remains of King Richard III have created a 3D interactive representation of the grave and the skeleton of the king under the car park.
The team from University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) has created a fully rotatable computer model which shows the king’s remains in-situ as they were found during the 2012 archaeological excavation.
Using photographs taken during the project, sophisticated photogrammetry software has been used to create an accurate representation of the grave and the skeleton.
The interactive model, which can be explored via the 3D sharing platform Sketchfab, graphically reveals in a new and immersive way the minimal reverence with which the king was buried.
Mathew Morris, Site Supervisor for University of Leicester Archaeological Services who first discovered the remains of King Richard III on the first day of the dig under the Leicester car par, said: “Photographs and drawings of the grave, whilst dramatic, are only two-dimensional and do not always best show nuances in spatial relationships that a three-dimensional model can.
“Photogrammetry provides a fantastic analytical tool that allows us to examine the grave from angles that would have been physically difficult or impossible to achieve during the excavation, and gives us the ability to continue to examine the king’s grave long after the excavation has finished.”
Archaeologists discovered that the poorly dug grave was not only too short for the king, but was messily dug with sloping sides and an uneven base. This made it awkward for the burial party to lay the body out neatly in the grave. Instead, it was left slightly slumped on one side with the head propped up because it would not fit properly – physical evidence which fits with historical accounts which say that Richard III was buried without pomp or solemn funeral.
