Photography: Artefact

Artefact photography is often overlooked in recording an archaeological site, as on a large site cataloging and photographing lots of finds can be time consuming and expensive (Fleming, 2006).

However when done correctly, artefact photography can be a valuable addition to the archived site report alongside artifact drawings, descriptions and all the other information associated not only with the artefact, but with the site.

What makes an archaeological artefact photo?

An artifact photograph should follow 5 key rules:

1. There should be an appropriate scale for the size of the artifact. Often for artefacts the scales also have colour bars on them, this is so the colours can be balanced if the camera has severely obscured the colour of the artefact, this is particularly important if it painted or glazed.
2. The background should be plain, for publication this often black or white, but for finds specialists this can often be orange or green, as these colours limit distortion in the photograph.
3. The lighting should be clear so that it doesn’t distort the photograph, but should bring out any markings or designs on the artefact.
4. The photo should be taken directly above the artefact to limit distortion, ideally in a camera stand to eliminate shaking and movement.
5. The artefact should be in focus, this means the image should be clear and not blurred.

 

For Site Photography Click the image below:

Bibliography

Chadha, A., 2002. Visions of discipline: Sir Mortimer Wheeler and the archaeological method in India (1944-1948). Journal of Social Archaeology, 2, pp.378–401.

Fisher, L J., 2006 Artefact Recording. British Archaeological Job Resource http://www.bajr.org/BAJRGuides/26.%20Artefact%20Photography%20in%20Archaeology/26ArtefactPhotographyforArchaeologists.pdf

Morgan, C., 2016. Analog to Digital: Transitions in Theory and Practice in Archaeological Photography at Çatalhöyük. Internet Archaeology, (42). Available at: http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue42/7/index.html.

Shanks, M., 1997. Photography and Archaeology. In B. L. Molyneaux, ed. The Cultural Life of Images: Visual Representation in Archaeology. London: Routledge, pp. 73–107.