{"id":2083,"date":"2016-08-24T01:02:32","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T00:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archaeovision.eu\/?p=2083"},"modified":"2016-08-24T20:32:56","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T19:32:56","slug":"emery-down-rti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archaeovision.eu\/en\/projects\/emery-down-rti\/","title":{"rendered":"Emery Down RTI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under the\u00a0New Forest National Park Authority’s landscape scheme,\u00a0Our Past, Our Future<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0which is supported by Heritage Lottery funding, Archaeovision took part in one of the first community days for their Rediscovering and Conserving Our Archaeological Heritage project<\/a>. Under their landscape scheme,\u00a021 projects will be delivered across four themes of work, which aim to better equip the New Forest to thrive through change and modern-day pressures. These themes are to restore lost landscapes; to developing forest skills; to discovering forest heritage and inspire a new generation; and to monitor and evaluate. Archaeovision will be used throughout this 5 year project providing work \u00a0to uncover and conserve hidden, unknown and decaying heritage sites and archaeological features throughout the New Forest.<\/p>\n

As part of the the Rediscovering Heritage project, community archaeology will play an important role and\u00a0a programme of work, including surveys to locate new and existing sites and historic structures will be developed upon. One of the first stages of this programme was the introduction of heritage recording within a graveyard at Emery Down.<\/p>\n

Monuments mark the final resting place of people whatever their origins and status. Their materials, design, craftsmanship and inscriptions provide\u00a0a rich and irreplaceable repository of information that connects us with previous generations and their history. They continue to be objects of respect, but many monuments can also be neglected.\u00a0Christ Church graveyard has now been been accurately mapped out, but the monument details still need to be recorded. This recording process began last weekend<\/a>\u00a0and will be continued by volunteers over the next few months. Many of the monuments contain legible writing, but some, through neglect and general deterioration have become\u00a0illegible and their historical importance are lost.<\/p>\n

Archaeovision were able to assist in this recording process by introducing Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI)\u00a0to the volunteers who attended. Having been one of the first to introduce the method to cultural heritage and archaeology, James provided an overview of RTI and captured a number of different gravestones. The work produced highlighted how valuable RTI is within the documentation process, and the inscriptions that were once illegible have now been legible, providing a greater resource within the overal documentation process. The results of the RTIs captured at Emery Down can be seen below. James will be involved in three more community days at Burley (17th Sept), Minstead (24th Sept) and Copythorne (1st Oct). If you are interested in learning more, or simple want to take part in the volunteer work then please email archaeology@newforestnpa.gov.uk<\/a>\u00a0for more details.<\/p>\n

The results of the RTI survey, as well as the volunteer documentation project will\u00a0provide a snapshot of the graveyard today, and will help define a management plan for the graveyard into the future, whilst identifying monuments that require conservation.\u00a0All the data captured will be made publicly available, allowing residents or visitors to trace family members and their resting places, and local history groups to undertake research to discover more about the area’s past.<\/p>\n

The following RTI examples, provide a before and after snapshot of the results collected and the text has been digitised for those who may find it hard to identify all of the features.<\/p>\n\n\t\t