Digital technologies for a comprehensive archaeology: the virtual recreation of the domus del Bailio of Colonia Patricia Corduba

Abstract:

In recent decades, digital and 3D documentation of archaeological heritage has become an essential method to produce historical insights, both in the scientific field and for dissemination. However, its implementation for the study of large spaces is conditioned by the conservation of accessible and comprehensible structures from an archaeo-architectural point of view. As a result, this approach has primarily been applied to structures preserved outdoors or in rural settings such as villae.

In this sense, this article presents a comprehensive archaeo-architectural reading; it examines the ornamental programs of the Roman house in Ramírez de las Casas Deza street in Córdoba, known as the Bailío house, currently preserved under the Hospes Palacio del Bailío hotel (Figs. 1 and 2). The objective is to define the different phases the house has gone through, from both an archaeological and a visual perspective. This domus is one of the most notable examples of private Roman architecture in the city, which follows the morphology of a peristyle house; it preserves part of the ambulacrum and two rooms opening to it, of which the triclinium stands out. However, the treatment of its remains has been fragmentary and inconsistent, as since its discovery in 1948 it has only been dealt with in a few incomplete works (Santos Gener, 1955; Carrillo Díaz-Pinés, 1999). The results of the most recent archaeological intervention in 2006 have not culminated in a publication dealing in depth with the dwelling and providing a clear vision of its chronology, morphology, and construction phases.

These questions inspired a work project which has been developed in order to reinterpret the preserved archaeological remains, specifying the precise association of the structures and ornamental programs with the phases in which the house was used. Based on its re-reading, digital documentation has been carried out so as to visually materialize the research results. From the outset, the project has pursued two fundamental objectives: to increase of scientific knowledge and to transfer knowledge to society. Thus, and in line with the Seville Principles, the existing remains have been documented using photogrammetry (Fig. 4), applying the analysis and planimetric interpretation thanks to Adobe Illustrator and inserting the reconstructive hypothesis in a Geographic Information System (GIS) map of the Roman city. In addition, the application of various tools for the analysis and restitution of the ornamental programs, such as Dstretch and Adobe Illustrator, have been included, providing a scientifically contrasted image of the decoration within the studied spaces (Fig. 6). Based on the information generated, the authors carried out the house volumetric reconstruction, using 3D modelling in Blender; the textures were processed and integrated using Procreate and Materialize. This phase has culminated in the house recreation by means of different models that reflect its transformation over time, visible through rendered infographics (Fig. 9 and 11). The result has been made accessible through a QR code that will be included in the site itself.

In this way, the archaeo-architectural review presents how the house was used from the first half of the 1^st century AD to the end of the 2^nd century −beginning of the 3^rd century AD, clearly associating the ornamental programs with the different internal remodeling phases of the house. This is a pioneering work in the holistic analysis that includes a study of the pavements, decorative programs, architecture, and urban planning in Roman Cordoba, offering us a new vision of the house at a chronological and constructive level, being the first case applied to the city. This provides a resource of great dissemination value to understand Cordoba's archaeological heritage by its inhabitants and visitors.

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