Qarn Bint Saud
Rock Art
Qarn Bint Saud is a rocky outcrop situated 15 km north of Al Ain, within the Bidaa Bint Saud archaeological site. The site was first noted in the 1960s and is thought to have been an historical stopping point along a long-established caravan route stretching from settlements in Al Ain to the northern emirates. It has significant historical findings, including carvings and zoomorphs (paintings of cattle and oryx) located within its caves, as well as upon on the face of the outcrop.
Qarn Bint Saud Cultural Landscape context
Terrestrial photogrammetry.
Photograph of the carving before & after color correction.
3-D model of the carving depicting cattle at Qarn Bint Saud.
The team members met to discuss the methodology for documentation. This included determining the desired outcomes for the case study and the survey techniques to be used. This case study also highlights the importance
of digital archiving, particularly for sites that are not easily accessible, such as
this one. This is desirable for such sites where public access is limited, but
where the documentation will help to increase the awareness and understanding of the historic
environment of the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Two levels of scale were recorded. Landscape to understand the context and site element depicting the rock art.
The goal of this case study was to develop high quality, metrically accurate visual models of the rock art at Qarn Bint Saud to examine and document the current condition of the elements in Level 3.
Photographs were taken with a
high-quality camera to produce a photographic portfolio for the site,
and for use in the photogrammetric applications. Careful consideration was given to the lighting and quality of the captured images, and a colour
correction palette was used to enhance photographs prior to the development of the photogrammetric models.
Colour correction was performed on the photographs of the rock art taken for the photogrammetric model. This was necessary in order to produce an accurate, high quality model.
Following colour correction, metrically accurate photogrammetric models were created using Agisoft Metashape photogrammetry software.
Orthophotos of the rock art were created. Orthophotos allow for an accurate and highly detailed representation of an element projected into a given plane, and as such are a useful tool for documentation of the historic environment.
Highly detailed and metrically accurate
3-D models of the rock art were developed. For greater accessibility,
these models were exported as 3-D PDF files which could be measured and manipulated in Adobe Acrobat.