The Byzantine House: 3D Model of a House

At some point a fire (partly) destroyed these buildings. We know because layers of ash were found in all three buildings. These layers  enabled us to make a distinction between pre- and post-fire features. However, due to the fact that a lot of the architectural elements found, lie on top of each other it was sometimes difficult visualise this in the maps. In order to better see all the features and to be able to see the structures as it were when originally excavated in the 1930’s, a 3D version of the entire plan was made.

 

It became clear that the post-fire walls, for example, lie a lot higher than the walls we know are from the pre-fire period. Also, the Early-Byzantine pits and wells lie a lot lower.

Click to Enlarge

The interesting thing about the 3D model is that it confirms the dating of some of the features, while at the same time, poses new questions. For example, there is a wall in the north-eastern section, that is dated to an earlier period by the excavators, but it lies on the same height as a supposed post-fire wall. This proved the usefulness of this type of research as a way to analyse older data. And indeed, it was exactly the purpose of this small study to show the potential of visualising old excavation data in 3D.

 

The results will now help to form new research questions and provide a starting point for different investigations into specific details of the chronology, function and layout of the structures. In this way, we can keep improving our understanding of these structures.

 

For example, we can see that the people who rebuilt the ‘houses’, made deliberate choices when it comes to layout (more and smaller rooms), more storage space (there are more pithoi) and the possible function of rooms (the location of the pithoi shifts over time). In the end we have another piece of the puzzle, which will help us to better understand how people lived in the past.

NEXT

BACK

HOME