Digitising the Past: Digital tools to support rock art research and dissemination

Abstract

As digital applications in cultural heritage and rock art research continue to grow, resources from the Svenskt Hällristningsforskningsarkiv (SHFA) support such work by providing access to valuable data and tools. The SHFA archive includes data from the 17th century onwards and continually digitises the most recent documentation work. In collaboration with the Gothenburg Research Infrastructure for Digital Humanities we have created a platform to share this data with researchers and the public. The SHFA also provides tools and additional resources to visualise and enhance 3D data with Topography Visualisation Toolbox (TVT, https://tvt.dh.gu.se/). This empowers amateurs and professionals working with 3D recordings to improve their results. These visualisations can be used in deep learning workflows which drives the development of AI approaches in archaeology. In this paper, we provide an overview of SHFA’s resources, their use in and beyond rock art research, their role in data dissemination, and future developments.