Explore the multi-period archaeology of the landscapes along Hadrian's Wall from the comfort of your armchair with new state of the art 3D models created with enhanced, multi-directional hill-shaded lidar.
Airborne lidar (light detection and ranging) measures the height of the ground surface and other features in large areas of landscape with a very high resolution and accuracy. Such information was previously unavailable, except through labour-intensive field survey or photogrammetry.
It provides highly detailed and accurate models of the land surface at metre and sub-metre resolution. This provides archaeologists with the capability to recognise and record otherwise hard to detect features.
More details are given on the Historic England website.
Lidar (1m DSM © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2022. All rights reserved).
Enhancement of the lidar images was carried out using tools made available in the QGIS plugin, Relief Visualization Toolbox.
Kokalj, Žiga & Hesse, Ralf. (2017). Airborne laser scanning raster data visualization: A Guide to Good Practice.
3D models were made using the QGIS2threejs plugin.
I prefer the DSM version rather than DTM as I feel trees and buildings enhance the landscape if I don't particularly want to see features hidden below trees.
If you know where to look, you can even find the old sycamore tree still standing below the Wall in the 2022 imagery, in so-called Sycamore Gap to the north of The Sill and Twice Brewed.
If you want, look for the elements of Hadrian's Wall, the wall itself, the north wall ditch, the parallel ditches and mounds of the vallum, the milecastles and forts, and the many Roman temporary camps. However, much remains of earlier archaeology if you look hard: Bronze and Iron Age settlements and field systems along with native settlements of the Roman period. You will also find Medieval and Post-Medieval shielings, farmsteads and deserted villages draped with an extensive amount of rig and furrow ploughing. A good tool for comparison or feature identification is:Historic England's Aerial Archaeology Mapping Explorer.
On their map, locate yourself on the Wall with a search for a placename or an OS grid reference, Try NY 75249 66884. It will take you straight to the Sill, in the heart of Hadrian's Wall Country (with no car parking charges).
The models below can be viewed from the blog in their tiny windows, but for a more immersive experience open as full screen (click control at bottom right). You should be able to use the mouse (or fingers on a touch screen) to pan and zoom about.
If you want more 3D (and who wouldn't?) go to sketchfab or specifically the collection of North of the Wall Tynedale Archaeology Group: NOWTAG. All our models are free but you don't need to download them anyway to view.
Airborne lidar (light detection and ranging) measures the height of the ground surface and other features in large areas of landscape with a very high resolution and accuracy. Such information was previously unavailable, except through labour-intensive field survey or photogrammetry.
It provides highly detailed and accurate models of the land surface at metre and sub-metre resolution. This provides archaeologists with the capability to recognise and record otherwise hard to detect features.
More details are given on the Historic England website.
Lidar (1m DSM © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2022. All rights reserved).
Enhancement of the lidar images was carried out using tools made available in the QGIS plugin, Relief Visualization Toolbox.
Kokalj, Žiga & Hesse, Ralf. (2017). Airborne laser scanning raster data visualization: A Guide to Good Practice.
3D models were made using the QGIS2threejs plugin.
I prefer the DSM version rather than DTM as I feel trees and buildings enhance the landscape if I don't particularly want to see features hidden below trees.
If you know where to look, you can even find the old sycamore tree still standing below the Wall in the 2022 imagery, in so-called Sycamore Gap to the north of The Sill and Twice Brewed.
If you want, look for the elements of Hadrian's Wall, the wall itself, the north wall ditch, the parallel ditches and mounds of the vallum, the milecastles and forts, and the many Roman temporary camps. However, much remains of earlier archaeology if you look hard: Bronze and Iron Age settlements and field systems along with native settlements of the Roman period. You will also find Medieval and Post-Medieval shielings, farmsteads and deserted villages draped with an extensive amount of rig and furrow ploughing. A good tool for comparison or feature identification is:Historic England's Aerial Archaeology Mapping Explorer.
On their map, locate yourself on the Wall with a search for a placename or an OS grid reference, Try NY 75249 66884. It will take you straight to the Sill, in the heart of Hadrian's Wall Country (with no car parking charges).
The models below can be viewed from the blog in their tiny windows, but for a more immersive experience open as full screen (click control at bottom right). You should be able to use the mouse (or fingers on a touch screen) to pan and zoom about.
If you want more 3D (and who wouldn't?) go to sketchfab or specifically the collection of North of the Wall Tynedale Archaeology Group: NOWTAG. All our models are free but you don't need to download them anyway to view.
Some Roman Forts (in more detail)
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