Investigating the Structural Validity of Virtual Reconstructions of Prehistoric Maltese Temples

dc.contributor.authorChalmers, A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorDebattista, K.en_US
dc.contributor.editorMark Mudge and Nick Ryan and Roberto Scopignoen_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-01-31T14:47:50Z
dc.date.available2014-01-31T14:47:50Z
dc.date.issued2005en_US
dc.description.abstractThe prehistoric temples found on the Maltese islands, dated from 3600 - 2500 BC, are unique examples of truly megalithic complexes. Although the temples can still be viewed today, they are unroofed. One of the major questions that still has to be answered is: Were the temples roofed, and if so with what? The key evidence for the presence of roofs is the hypogeum temple at Hal Saflieni, found in 1902, which appears to be an imitation of the above ground temples and the discovery, at Mgarr, of a contemporary miniature model in limestone with a roof. Since then, Ceschi in 1939 and more recently Piovanelli in 1988 have proposed that the temples were roofed with Globerigerina limestone slabs. Although convincingly illustrated, neither of these "reconstructions" has been tested for real stability and strength. In this paper we describe a detailed investigation of the reconstructions of Ceschi and Piovanelli. We use computer graphics and structural engineering techniques, based on the actual measured strength of Globerigerina limestone, to show whether in fact these reconstructions are indeed valid.en_US
dc.description.seriesinformationThe 6th International Symposium on Virtual Reality, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage VASTen_US
dc.identifier.isbn3-905673-28-2en_US
dc.identifier.issn1811-864Xen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.2312/VAST/VAST05/107-112en_US
dc.publisherThe Eurographics Associationen_US
dc.subjectCategories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism - Color, Shading, Shadowing, and Texturesen_US
dc.titleInvestigating the Structural Validity of Virtual Reconstructions of Prehistoric Maltese Templesen_US
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