Ontario researcher Scott Coleman has taken a groundbreaking new approach to studying ancient coins using 3D imagery. At the University of Calgary’s Nickle Galleries, Coleman worked throughout the pandemic alongside collections specialist Marina Fischer and technology specialist Jed Baker to experiment with photogrammetry, which is used in mapping, archaeology and 3D modelling. Mirroring this technology, Coleman created 3D images of rare coins he now hopes will be more accessible for researchers and the general public. “With museums and galleries closed, it meant many artifacts were inaccessible to the public,” Coleman told the university’s UCalgary News about his pandemic project, which began in 2020 after COVID-19 forced him to postpone fieldwork in Greece. “I started looking at how museums represent coins, and I focused within Greece given that was the region I was preparing to study for my practicum.” Continue reading →
Scott Coleman performs fieldwork in 2016 at Çadır Höyük, an artificial mound in central Turkey containing the remains of some 6,000 years of human settlement. Photo by Scott Coleman.
