3D scanning, study and reconstruction of the "Tavolette Enigmatiche" (Brotlaibidole)

The paper presents the recent activity carried out by the Laboratory in the study and preservation of the Cultural Heritage: the 3D investigation of the "Tavolette Enigmatiche", small baked-clay objects of prevalently ovoid shape of the 2100-1400 B.C. period, engraved with symbols and drills whose meaning is still unknown. Their presence in Italy and in many countries in the northeast Europe represents an ‘enigma’ for the specialists. Within an international project, we carried out an extensive measurement campaign in Europe, and produced and collected 3D models for their study. To carry out the measurement, we used the Vivid 910 sensor (Konica Minolta Inc.), that well suit to the resolutions required in this application, and is rugged, portable, and fast in the setup and the acquisition processes. So far, 30 specimens have been acquired, modeled and organized in a database. The availability of these models is of outmost importance to carry out a comparative analysis among the objects on a quantitative, objective basis. We present the results of our work, and the algorithms dedicated at automatically retrieving and correlating similar symbols among different findings.