Unpublished oral presentations by Learning Sites personnel can be found here.
Barcelo, Juan A., Maurizio Forte, & Donald H. Sanders, eds.
2000 Virtual Reality in Archaeology. Oxford: ArcheoPress (British Archaeological Reports, International Series #843; book and CD-ROM).
[in-depth review of the current state of Virtual Archaeology--the theories, the goals, the methods, and the projects; from special sessions on the subject at the Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology conference in Barcelona, Spain, 1998]
for other works by Forte, see also:
Forte2010 "Virtual Archaeologists Recreate Parts of Ancient Worlds,"
Science 327.5962:140-41. January 8 (online at:
sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/327/5962/140).
[review of virtual archaeology with several examples of project initiated by companies or universities in the US and featuring Learning Sites and the Northwest Palace project.]
2006 "Digital Digs,"
Nature 440.7088:1106-07. April 27.
[review of the current state of virtual archaeology, with examples and discussion by leading practitioners around the world, including Donald H. Sanders, president of Learning Sites, with images from our work and the allied Institute for the Visualization of History, Inc.]
Calliope Magazine
2004 "The Assyrians" 15.1.September.
[special issue of this award-winning children's periodical devoted entirely to exploring the
ancient Assyrians--who were they, how did they live, how did they bury their royalty, what role did women play in Assyrian life, how to play Assyrian games, and what was the legacy of their great empire; copiously illustrated with photographs and renderings supplied by Learning Sites, from a variety of our Assyrian projects]
Cornwell, Lisa
2007 "Virtual Heritage Allows Time Travel," story released by the Associated Press to newspapers nationally in the United States on May 26 and 27, 2007.
[review of the increasing integration of virtual reality re-creations into museums, schools, and other venues; includes mention of successful installations and projects by Learning Sites]
Coté,François
2004 "Patrimoine et nouvelles technologies: quelques repères,"
Continuité: le magazine du patrimoine au Québec 99:21-23. Winter 2003-2004.
[article on new visualization and display technologies for cultural heritage that includes Learning Sites material as an example]
Craig, Alan B., William R. Sherman, & Jeffrey D. Will
2009
Developing Virtual Reality Applications: Foundations of Effective Design. Burlington MA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
[general history and description of the uses to which virtual reality has and could be put, including reviews of hardware and software; includes as a specific case study, the Learning Sites fortress of Buhen future-looking educational immersive virtual environment, and allied Learning Sites projects]
Dabney, Mary K., James C. Wright, & Donald H. Sanders
1999 "Virtual Reality and the Future of Publishing Archaeological Excavations: the
multimedia publication of the prehistoric settlements on Tsoungiza at Ancient Nemea," pp.125-132 in David Bearman and Jennifer Trant, eds.,
Cultural Heritage Informatics: selected papers from ICHIM99. Pittsburgh: Archives & Museum Informatics.
[discussion of Learning Sites innovative electronic excavation report which will publish the complete results of the Bryn Mawr College work at Tsoungiza, including all photographs, drawings, notebook pages, analyses, and database records accessed through virtual reality as the visual index and a Java-based search engine for the database
and its links to the virtual re-creations of the trenches and reconstructions of buildings and artifacts]
Davis, Ben
1997 "The Future of the Past,"
Scientific American August.
Donovan, Patricia
2002 "Digital Archaeology,"
UBtoday winter issue, pp.18-21.
[an example of the new field of digitial archaeology; a review of Learning Sites collaboration with the University at Buffalo Department of Classics, the Virtual Reality Laboratory in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the UB Center for Computational Research, and the New York State Center for Engineering Design and Industrial Innovation to re-create the ancient Assyrian palace of King Ashur-nasir-pal II at Nimrud using advanced computer graphics techniques]
2001 "Palace Unearthed with Digital Tools,"
University at Buffalo Reporter 33.3:4 Sept. also online at: "Using Digital Tools, Buffalo Archaeologists and Engineers Change the Face of Archaeological Reconstruction," State University of New York at Buffalo,
UB NewsDirect, online Newspaper, May 29. online at:
buffalo.edu/news/fast-execute.cgi/article-page.html?article=52160009
[review of Learning Sites collaboration with the University at Buffalo Department of Classics, the Virtual Reality Laboratory in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the UB Center for Computational Research, and the New York State Center for Engineering Design and Industrial Innovation to create new educational and research tools using virtual reconstructions of ancient monuments; the new tools will have intelligent agents acting as virtual tour guides and be available on very high-end systems and also on small portable units; examples from
the Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II, Nimrud]
Dossiers d'Archéologie
2022 "Pharaon des Deux Terres: exposition au Louvre," #42.
[A special issue with articles about the kings of Napata, featuring several renders from Learning Sites' models digitally reconstructing the sites of Jebel Barkal and Nuri]
Etherington, Rose
2013 "Brain Scanners,"
PrintShift: how 3D printing is changing everything (a print-on-demand publication by Dezeen with Blurb) 1.1:50-51. also at
dezeen.com/printshift
[a new publication extolling the benefits and innovations brought about by 3D printing; the article discusses the new uses of the technology by museums, with particular mention of the Learning Sites project with the Semitic Museum, Harvard, to re-create a pair of terracotta lions from Nuzi using our pioneering photomodeling software with CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) carving machines]
Fernie, Kate & Julian D. Richards, eds.
2003
Creating and Using Virtual Reality: a
guide for the arts and humanities, Oxford: Oxbow Books.
[a guide to good practice published by the Arts and Humanities Data Service, London, that
includes as its case studies two virtual ancient worlds created by Learning Sites]
Ferrari, Gloria
2002 "The Ancient Temple on the Acropolis at Athens,"
American Journal of Archaeology 106.1:11-35.
[a new analysis of the evidence leads to the conclusion that the Archaic temple of Athena, set afire by the Persian sack of Athens, was neither destroyed in the assault nor taken down at a later date, but remained standing into the Roman period, and possibly well beyond; with several images from Learning Sites' virtual reality re-creation of part of the Acropolis with a hypothetical digital reconstruction of the Archaic temple in ruins.]
Fine, Steven; Peter J. Schertz & Donald H. Sanders
2017 "True Colors: digital reconstruction restores original brilliance to the Arch of Titus,"
Biblical Archaeology Review 43.3:28-35, 60-61.
[Learning Sites work with the Institute for the Visualization of History and scholars from Yeshiva University and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to colorize the Spoils Panel on the Arch of Titus, Rome.]
Flaherty, Joseph
2012 "Harvard's 3D-Printing Archaeologists Fix Ancient Artifacts,"
Wired.com, Dec. 10. online at:
wired.com/design/2012/12/harvard-3d-printing-archaelogy/
[how Learning Sites photomodeling procedures coupled with a CNC routing machine have assisted Harvard's Semitic Museum better understand their fragmented ceramic lion statue from Nuzi]
Forte, Maurizio
1999
Guide: professione, archeologo, trend, Milan: Mondadori.
[detailed guide to the most current methods and techniques of the archaeological profession for fieldwork, analysis, and publication using new computer and multimedia technologies; with numerous examples from Learning Sites regarding our use of the Internet, virtual reality, and interactive educational materials]
1997 "Viaggio nel Tempo,"
Virtual: il mensile dell'era digitale 38:64-68 January.
[review of how new 3D visualizations are becoming crucial for the study of ancient history; with examples of current projects, including Learning Sites]
Gansell, Amy Rebecca
2018 "Dressing the Neo-Assyrian Queen in Identity and Ideology: elements and ensembles from the royal tombs at Nimrud,"
American Journal of Archaeology 122.1:65-100.
[review of the 9th-8th century royal tombs at Nimrud to interpret for the first time the dress and jewelry ensembles of the buried figures and suggest, based on Learning Sites 3D models, an Assyrian queen fully clothed; a rendering from our model was chosen for the cover of the journal]
Gay, Eben
1996 "Better Than the Real Thing?"
CyberEdge Journal, May/June 6.31:1, 4-6.
[review of the Buhen Project, the beginnings of Learning Sites, and the advantages of using of virtual reality for cultural heritage projects]
1996 "The Fortress of Buhen and the Learning Sites Project,"
VR News 5.1:26 Jan/Feb.
[brief history of Learning Sites and description of early projects; synopsis of paper presented at Virtual Heritage'95 Conference, Bath, England]
Grady, Sean M.
1998
Virtual Reality: Computers Mimic the Physical World. New York: Facts on File.
[discussion of the field and applications of virtual reality, including Learning Sites educational initiatives]
Hageneuer, Sebastian
2021
Von Layard bis Lara Croft: Eurozentrische Denkweisen in den Bildmedien der Archäologie Westasiens. PhD Dissertation at the Fachbereich der Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Freie Universität Berlin. Online
for download.
[includes Learning Sites 3D model and VR world of the Northwest Palace, Nimrud, as an example of best practices, with illustrations]
Herrmann-Keeling, Scott
1999 "Pyramid Report: Reliving the Past,"
CAD Systems, April 17.3:18.
[review of how CAD technology, normally used for contemporary architecture, is being used by Learning Sites for accurately studying the past; with discussion of and illustrations from our work on Gebel Barkal and the Nothwest Palace at Nimrud]
Indian Architect & Builder magazine
1999 12:152 and CD.
[the CD accompanying this issue highlights the work of Learning Sites, including many of our
recent projects with interactive virtual reality demos, high-resolution renderings, and text describing our goals and methods]
Jacobson, Jeffrey & Donald H. Sanders
2013 "The Vari House: digital puppeteering for history education,"
Journal of Immersive Education, v.1.
[The Vari House virtual world is a reconstruction of an ancient Greek farmhouse excavated fifty years ago in southern Greece. Implemented in Unity3D, the virtual world features a digital puppet, an avatar representing the teenage son of the farming family that lives there. We project Vari House onto a large screen, so that the house and puppet are life-sized to enhance audience engagement. Under the control of a teacher or puppeteer, the avatar communicates through voice and gesture, moving freely through the virtual space. He discusses the house itself and daily life, but any relevant topic is accessible. For depth of conversation, a human puppeteer is superior to any artificial intelligence. This version of Vari House works well for museum audiences of all ages and fits the ancient history curriculum mandated in most states for middle school.]
Kalbag, Asha
1999
Computer Graphics & Animation. London: Usborne Publishing.
[introduction to the field of computer graphics, from how to create them to how they are used in
medicine, movies, and cultural heritage preservation; images from Learning Sites projects as examples of virtual reality used for reconstructions of historical sites for education]
Kim, Youngseok; Thenkurussi Kesavadas & Samuel M. Paley
2006 "The Virtual Site Museum: a multipurpose, authoritative, and functional virtual heritage resource,"
PRESENCE (Special Issue on Virtual Heritage), online at MIT Press (
mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/pres.15.3.245?journalCode=pres#.WC98KH3MpjE).
[The Virtual Site Museum is an interactive virtual reality interface for various purposes including
archaeological research, education, and public demonstration. Its virtual environment contains precise, authoritative and integrated archaeological and historical files culled from published and unpublished excavation records and the various art museums, which preserve artifacts from the real archaeological site. Running in real-time, it provides full-body immersion, 3D ancient figure animation, and virtual artifacts interface and corresponding user-oriented interactions in a functional virtual environment. The first of the sites to be documented in the Virtual Site Museum is the Northwest Palace of King Ashurnasirpal II (883~859 BC), located in northeastern Iraq, an Assyrian world heritage archaeological site, whose original virtual reality model was developed by Learning Sites and adapted from previously generated PC versions into immersive UNIX
platforms. The authors also explain their experiences and achievements in archaeological research and classroom accessibility.]
Kim, Youngseok, T. Kesavadas, Samuel M. Paley, & Donald H. Sanders
2001 "Real-time Animation of King Ashur-nasir-pal II (883-859 BC) in the Virtual Recreated Northwest Palace," pp.128-136 in Hal Thwaites and Lon Addison, eds.,
Enhanced Realities: augmented and unplugged -- Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia, 25-27 October, 2001, Los Alamitos, California: IEEE Computer Society.
[digital modeling of an historically accurate ancient character and the simulation of 3D
human--avatar--and cloth movement in a real-time, complex virtual re-creation of the Northwest Palace of Nimrud, Assyria]
Kornfeld, Geoffrey & Donald H. Sanders
1999 "Layers upon Layers: using Adobe
® Photoshop
® to create period plans,"
CSA Newsletter 12.2:6-11.
[description and example of how Learning Sites creates interactive site or trench period or
phase plans combining traditional hand-drawn plans with orthographically corrected site photographs and Javascript programming]
Lagunilla, Palma
2003 "Arqueologia Virtual: mundos resucitados,"
Muy Especial 60:90-95, winter.
[review of some current projects in virtual archaeology, including those by Learning Sites, and
brief overview of the process of creating a virtual reconstruction]
Levine, Oren
1995 "History Repeats Itself,"
Zombit
14:21, December (in Hebrew).
[synopsis of demonstrations at the Virtual Museum Gallery booth at Virtual Reality World '95 exhibition, Boston, Massachusetts, which included Learning Sites' Gebel Barkal and Nemrud Dagi virtual worlds]
Littman, Marlyn Kemper
1996 "Enhancing Instruction through Virtual Reality,"
Technology and Education: catalyst for educational change 1:31-33, papers from the 13th International conference on Technology and Education, ICTE: Grand Prairie, Texas.
[virtual reality examples, definition, applications, and challenges for the classroom]
Lubell, Sam
2002 "Virtually Rebuilt, a Ruin Yields Secrets,"
New York Times,
Circuits section, May 2, p.G6 (vol. 151, #52, 106).
[discussion about how virtual reality computer technologies are providing new insight into ancient sites and challenging traditional beliefs; featuring images from and comments about Learning Sites' Northwest Palace, Nimrud, project]
Madov, Natasha
2002 "Como era há 2000 anos,"
Veja 1751:67-68, May 15.
[review of the benefits of virtual archaeology, generating new insight into the past not possible with traditional visualization methods; featuring the Learning Sites' Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II, Nimrud, project as an example]
Mahoney, Diana Phillips
1998 "Time Travels,"
Computer Graphics World, April, pp.81-82.
[review of Learning Sites methods and techniques, with images and descriptions from the Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II, Nimrud, project]
for other
Computer Graphics World articles about Learning Sites, see also:
Moltenbrey1998 "Learning Sites Provides Virtual Visits to Lost Worlds,"
Berkshire Trade & Commerce Monthly 1.10:10-11.
[illustrated review of Learning Sites projects, goals, and objectives]
May, John
1997 "The Future of History: virtual archaeology,"
The Daily Telegraph, October 14, pp.8-9.
[examples of projects, including Learning Sites, using virtual reality to help archaeologists understand the past and how such digital technologies can change the discipline]
Micale, Maria Gabriella
2008 "Making archaeology, imagining architecture: Patterns of production and diffusion of two and three dimensional architectural drawings in Near Eastern archaeology," in Magistrat der Stadt Wien, MA 7 - Kultur, Referat Stadtarchäologie, ed.,
Workshop 12 – Archäologie und Computer 2007: Kulturelles Erbe und Neue Technologien, 5 - 7. November 2007.
[do drawings make ancient architecture monumental; does the very nature of visualizing architecture change its meaning; what is the relationship between some prominent re-creations of ancient Mesopotamian structures and their archaeological evidence; how is virtual reality changing these discussions; with mention of the Learning Sites Northwest Palace project]
2007 "From drawing to vision: the use of Mesopotamian architecture through the construction of its image," in Magistrat der Stadt Wien, MA 7 - Kultur, Referat Stadtarchäologie, ed.,
Workshop 11 – Archäologie und Computer 2006: Kulturelles Erbe und Neue Technologien, 18. - 20. Oktober 2006.
[discussion of the different types of visualizations used in archaeology, from the earliest pencil drawings through virtual reality, citing the Learning Sites Northwest Palace project as the exemplar for interactive 3D modeling]
Mitchell, John E.
2005 "Firm Brings Back Lost Cities of Ancient History in all their Glory,"
North Adams Transcript, November 19, pp.A1, A8.
[brief encapsulation of the work Learning Sites has been doing in the field of virtual archaeology over the past decade, with examples of recent projects]
Moltenbrey, Karen
2001 "Preserving the Past,"
Computer Graphics World, 24.9:24-30, September.
[review of virtual cultural heritage, the new discipline focusing on using digital technologies,
especially virtual reality, to help preserve the past; Learning Sites projects and goals are discussed among some of the leading proponents of the discipline; includes images from two of our recent projects]
for other
Computer Graphics World articles about Learning Sites, see also:
Mahoney.
1999 "Digital Digs,"
Innovating 7.4:29-36.
[interview with Donald H. Sanders, founder of Learning Sites, Inc., about the history of the
company and the future of virtual archaeology; published in the quarterly journal of the Innovation Group of The Rensselaerville Institute]
Niccolucci, Franco, editor2002
Virtual Archaeology; proceedings of the VAST Euroconference, Arezzo, 24-25 November, 2000. Oxford: ArcheoPress (British Archaeological Reports, International
Series #1075).
[proceedings of an international conference on virtual archaeology held in Arezzo, Italy, covering topics related to the use of interactive 3D computer models, databases, GIS applications, and other virtual-reality-based visualizations to the study of the past; Donald H. Sanders was an invited speaker]
Novitski, B. J.
1998
Rendering Real and Imagined Buildings: the art of computer modeling, from the Palace of Kublai Khan to Le Corbusier's Villas, Gloucester MA: Rockport Publishers.
[exploring the rise of computer graphics visualizations to study and teach about buildings that
have no intention of being built or that no longer exist; examples from architecture and archaeology, including a highly illustrated chapter on Learning Sites Vari House and discussion of Learning Sites Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II project]
Paley, Samuel M.
2008 "Creating a Virtual Reality Model of the North-West Palace," pp.195-208 in J. E. Curtis, H. McCall, D. Collon, and L. al-Gailani Werr, eds.,
New Light on Nimrud: proceedings of the Nimrud conference 11th-13th March 2002. London: The British Institute for the Study of Iraq in association with the British Museum.
[history and benefits of using interactive 3D computer modeling to study the complex architecture and globally dispersed wall reliefs from the Northwest Palace, Nimrud, Iraq (ancient Assyria); and especially the long association of Learning Sites with this project]
Paley, Samuel M. & Donald H. Sanders
2010 "The Northwest Palace in the Digital Age," pp.215-36 in Ada Cohen and Steven E. Kangas, eds.,
Assyrian Reliefs from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II: a cultural biography, Hanover, NH: Hood Museum of Art: & Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England.
[review of the current state of the virtual reality model of the Northwest Palace and issues surrounding the use of digital media to study the past; also discussions of the various evidence and assumptions behind the computer model; in a publication of papers from a symposium celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Hood Museum of Art's acquisition of reliefs from this palace]
2004 "The citadel of Nimrud, Iraq: a virtual reality interactive model as a resource for
world heritage preservation," pp.541-43 and CD-ROM in Magistrat der Stadt Wien - Referat Kulturelles Erbe - Stadtarchæologie Wien, eds.,
Enter the Past: the e-way into the four dimensions of cultural heritage, CAA2003, proceedings from the 31st conference, Vienna, Austria, April 2003, Oxford: ArcheoPress (British Archaeological Reports, International Series #1227).
[text abstract and fully interactive CD-ROM discussion about the Learning Sites project to build a comprehensive VR-based research resource incorporating all the excavation evidence from the citadel at Nimrud that will be available to students, scholars, and other interested groups through a PC version and a high-end immersive version
for distance learning across Internet2; the digital documentation and virtual reality model can then be used as a benchmark from which to gauge long-term preservation at this World Heritage site]
Pearce, Celia
1997
The Interactive Book: a guide to the interactive revolution. Indianapolis: Macmillan Technical Publishing.
[a nonlinear review and explanation of the cultural, social, and psychological implications of new media; many examples, including a description of Learning Sites and images from our Gebel Barkal virtual world]
Piotrowska, Anna
2006 "Przespaceruj sie po palacu faraonów,"
Dziennik #17:May 9, p.27.
[short review of virtual heritage projects, goals, and techniques, with sample images and discussion of Learning Sites' projects, especially the Northwest Palace, Nimrud]
Powell, Alvin
2012 "An Ancient Statue, Re-Created,"
Harvard Gazette, Dec. 4, and online at:
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/12/an-ancient-statue-re-created/
[description of innovative techniques developed by Learning Sites to allow museums, for example, to generate high-resolution 3D computer models of their objects for further research or online display without the need for expensive laser scanners, special lighting, special cameras, or removing the objects from their galleries; the article discusses one application of our methods to fragments of a lion sculpture from the site of Nuzi, in Iraq]
Read, Brock
2001 "Archaeology Project Will Recreate an Ancient Assyrian Palace Electronically,"
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Information Technology section, Sept. 12.
[a review of Learning Sites' work with the University at Buffalo to create an interactive digital re-creation and publication of the Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II at Nimrud, Assyria]
Reade, Julian E. & Donald H. Sanders
2018 "In Pursuit of the "Missing" Central Palace of Tiglathpileser III at Nimrud," pp.239-67 in Friedhelm Pedde & Nathanael Shelley, eds.
Assyromania and More. In Memoriam for Samuel M. Paley, Marru 4. Münster: Zaphon Verlag. View details online at:
https://www.zaphon.de/epages/83179382.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectPath=%2FShops%2F83179382%2FProducts%2F%22ISBN%20978-3-96327-038-3%22
[a review of the evidence for and Learning Sites digital reconstruction of the large, but heretofore undiscovered, palace of the Assyrian king Tiglathpileser III on the citadel mound at Nimrud]
Roehl, Bernie
1997 "Virtual Archaeology: bringing new life to ancient worlds,"
Innovation3 40:28-35.
[archaeological analysis, publication, and education using cutting-edge 3D computer graphics; the top virtual ancient worlds are reviewed, including Learning Sites' Vari House educational package]
Sanders, Donald H.
2023
From Photography to 3D Models and Beyond: Visualizations in Archaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress. View details online at:
https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781803276182
[this book explores the history of visual technology and archaeology and outlines how the introduction of interactive 3D computer modelling to the discipline parallels very closely the earlier integration of photography into archaeological fieldwork. The incredible potential of interactive 3D computer graphics to provide new insight into cultural change, ancient settlement development, building function, and behavior make virtual heritage a must-use approach, but one that has not been fully grasped. This volume brings together for the first time several key aspects of the history of archaeology: how and where photographs became an indispensable part of excavations; when and for what purposes virtual reality began a similar journey into the field team’s arsenal of documentation, publication, and visualization tools; how the common trajectory of both technologies provides clues for why virtual reality has not yet become as commonplace as photography for archaeological research, teaching, and data dissemination; and how new methods and technologies are poised to revolutionize our understanding of the past.]
2018 "Neural Networks, AI, Phone-based VR, Machine Learning, Computer Vision and the CUNAT Automated Translation App -- not your father's archaeological toolkit," pp.333-37 in Alonzo C. Addison & Harold Thwaites, eds.,
Proceedings of the 2018 3rd Digital Heritage International Congress
(DigitalHERITAGE) held jointly with the 2018 24th International Conference on Virtual Systems & Multimedia (VSMM 2018). IEEE. Available
online only.
[presentation outlining the innovative and nontraditional tools brought to bear on developing a smartphone app that could automatically translate ancient cuneiform inscriptions; the app is being developed by Learning Sites as a method to allow anyone, anywhere, any time to unlock the historical secrets of tens of thousands of untranslated texts in museums and found each year in excavations]
2016 "The Present and Future of Virtual Heritage," pp.141-55 in M. G. Micale & D. Nadali, eds.
How Do We Want the Past to Be? On Methods and Instruments of Visualizing Ancient Reality. Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press. See online notice at:
https://www.gorgiaspress.com/bookshop/p-60126-how-do-we-want-the-past-to-be-bredited-by-maria-gabriella-micale-davide-nadalibrregenerating-practices-in-archaeology-and-heritage-1.aspx
[discussion about the benefits of a virtual heritage approach to archaeology, with examples of recent virtual heritage projects that led to new and sometimes unexpected insight into the past, and discussion about new technologies that could have an impact on archaeological fieldwork, with an example based on the free and open-source REVEAL all digital excavation documentation and recording software package]
2015 "Advances in Virtual Heritage: conditions and caveats," pp.643-46 in Gabriele Guidi, Roberto Scopigno, Juan Carlos Torres, Holger Graf, Fabio Remondino, Pere Brunet, Juan Barceló, Luciana Duranti, & Susan Hazan. eds.
Proceedings of the 2015 Digital Heritage International Congress, Granada, Spain. 2 vols. published by IEEE. Some material also available online:
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/tocresult.jsp?isnumber=7413813
[virtual heritage provides researchers with opportunities to ask new questions, gain insight into the past, and disseminate their work to an ever-increasingly digital data-hungry world; the range of virtual heritage options has dramatically expanded to include game engines, drones, intelligent agents, multifaceted smartphone apps, and all-digital handheld-device driven documentation packages; article explores the pros and cons of each for real-world projects.]
2015 "Virtual Tour of the Palace of Nineveh: using modern technology to preserve antiquities in danger," pp.41-59 in Eyal Meiron, Editor,
City of David: studies of ancient Jerusalem. The 16th Annual Conference. Jerusalem: Megalim: City of David Institute for Jerusalem Studies.
[a discussion of the textual, archaeological, and architectural evidence of the events that connected the Assyrian Empire of the 8th-7th centuries BCE and the Levantine Coast in light of recent destruction of key Assyrian capital cities and how digital computer modeling is a valuable asset for ensuring that the history of the Assyrians and their cultural heritage survive, if only as virtual surrogates, for future generations]
2014 "Virtual Heritage: Researching and Visualizing the Past in 3D,"
Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 2.1:30-47.
[a brief history of virtual heritage, with examples of projects that led to new insight into the past as a direct result of that profession's approaches and visualizations, with a glimpse into where the technology might be headed and how it may have an impact on archaeological fieldwork, with an example based on the open-source REVEAL all digital excavation documentation and recording software package]
2013 "Gurob Ship-Cart Model in Virtual Reality," pp.207-18 in Shelley Wachsmann,
The Gurob Ship-Cart Model and Its Mediterranean Context, College Station, TX: Texas A&M Press.
[discussion of the building of the ship-cart in virtual reality, how that influenced the author's understanding and appreciation of the object, and how new insight was gained through the use of interactive 3D computer models; also explains the digital supplement to the paper book, a innovation in scholarly archaeology publishing]
2012 "A Brief History of Virtual Heritage," pp.95-103 in Jack Green, Emily Teeter, & Jack Larson, eds.,
Picturing the Past: imaging and imagining the ancient Middle East, Oriental Institute Publications #34, Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
[a review of the field of virtual heritage since the mid 1990s and including a peek at one possible future; featuring examples from various Learning Sites projects]
2012 "More than Pretty Pictures of the Past: an American perspective on virtual heritage," pp.37-56 in Anna Bentkowska-Kafel; Hugh Denard & Drew Baker eds.,
Paradata and Transparency in Virtual Heritage, Farnham, UK: Ashgate.
[published papers from a 2006 London conference on transparency in virtual heritage with material from various Learning Sites projects that demonstrated our long-standing commitment to linking virtual worlds with the excavated data upon which they are based]
2011 "Enabling Archaeological Hypothesis Testing in Real Time using the REVEAL Documentation and Display System,"
Virtual Archaeology Review 2.4:89-94.
[review of traditional archaeological documentation methods and introduction to the paradigm-shifting software for recording excavations, automating the process of creating geolocated virtual reality models of trenches, architecture, and artifacts, and integrating photos, models, text, and database information about a site into a single tool to expedite all aspects of archaeological fieldwork, analysis, and data dissemination]
2011 "Virtual Reconstruction of Maritime Sites and Artifacts," pp.305-26 in Alexis Catsambis, Ben Ford & Donny L. Hamilton, eds.,
The Oxford Hanbook of Maritime Archaeology, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[review of recent work in virtual heritage as it pertains to underwater sites and objects, including a discussion of methods, output formats, and case studies]
2008 "Why Do Virtual Heritage?" pp.427-436 in Jeffrey T. Clark & Emily M. Hagemeister, eds.,
Digital Discovery: exploring new frontiers in human heritage (proceedings from the 34th Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology conference, Fargo, ND, USA, April 2006), Budapest: Archaeolingua.
2008 "Interactive 3D Computer Graphics for Teaching, Research, and Publication in Cultural Heritage," pp.143-58 in Tassos A. Mikropoulos & Nikiforos M. Papachristos, eds.,
Proceedings: International Symposium on “Information and Communication Technologies in Cultural Heritage” October 16-18, 2008, Ioannina:
the University of Ioannina.
[over the past 15 years since Learning Sites began, it has become clear that interactive 3D computer graphics can dramatically change the way archaeological research, education, and publication are fundamentally undertaken; the benefits if CGI go far beyond what traditional paper-based methods can provide; this paper substantiates those claims with examples from several of our projects]
2008 "Why Do Virtual Heritage? Case studies from the portfolio of a long-time practitioner,"
Archaeology Magazine. Online at:
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/virtualheritage/
[using several projects from Learning Sites and the Institute for the Visualization of History as examples, the article explores how new insight into the past gained through the methods of virtual heritage; insight that could not have been obtained through the use of traditional 2D or paper-based illustration media]
2005 "Imagine That: just how do they make computer pictures?"
DIG 7.6:28-31.
[how Learning Sites creates virtual heritage worlds, using the Vari House, Greece, as an example; one of several articles on ancient Greece and sports in this magazine aimed at middle and high school kids]
2002 "Virtual Archaeology and Museums: where are the exhibits?" pp.187-194 in Franco
Niccolucci, ed.,
Virtual Archaeology; proceedings of the VAST Euroconference, Arezzo, 24-25 November, 2000. Oxford: ArcheoPress (British Archaeological Reports, International Series #1075.
[discussing the reasons why museums with collections of art, architecture, and archaeological
artifacts seem reluctant to install VR-based exhibit displays despite their many advantages for the museum and the visiting public; solutions to each perceived problem is presented]
2002 "3D Computer Models Help Archaeologists Understand the Past,"
Newsletter of the Archaeological Institute of America, Western Massachusetts Society, 15.2:1-2, 4, 6-8.
[description of how new interactive 3D computer graphics are changing the way archaeologists
study, publish, and teach about their excavated evidence; with images and descriptions of various Learning Sites projects.]
2001 "Persuade or Perish: moving virtual heritage beyond pretty pictures of the past," pp.236-245 in Hal Thwaites & Lon Addison, eds.,
Enhanced Realities: augmented and unplugged -- Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia, 25-27 October, 2001, Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society.
[the creation of virtual worlds based on our cultural heritage is an endeavor that although no
longer in its infacy is still struggling to generate worthy content; as drawing and then photography were adopted to document historical places, objects, and cultures, so today virtual heritage products are beginning to serve those functions; but is VR content really taking advantage of the digital medium; who is creating the content; who is the audience; and are the creators and the audiences working together in fruitful ways?]
2001 "Modern Technology Deciphers Ancient Architecture,"
Indian
Architect & Builder, Mar., pp.24-26.
[how software once used primarily by architects, construction professionals, and graphic
artists has found alternative applications by archaeologists trying to understand and visualize the ancient monuments; with examples from Learning Sites' projects]
2000 "Author! Author?," pp.11-19 in Mary S. Carroll, ed.,
Delivering
Archeological Information Electronically: papers from a symposium presented at the 64th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, March 25, 1999, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, National Park
Service, U.S. Department of the Interior (PTTPublication #2000-02).
[in an increasingly electronic world, archeological data are appearing in new types of publications and are finding new avenues for dissemination; the definitions of author, publisher, and content creator have become blurred, and entities other than the original excavation team are playing important roles; new collaborations are required between the excavators and the digital designer and publisher to produce text, graphics and organizational layouts; the resulting new formats and presentations are so different from traditional print-based publishing that new techniques must emerge for crediting authors and illustrators, for peer review, and for bibliographic citations; some of the changes that digital media bring to the process of archeological publishing are discussed]
2000 "CAD, Virtual Reality, and Cultural Heritage Preservation,"
TIES Magazine, Jan/Feb., pp.6-10.
[a review of the company, the software we use to construct our 3D models, the new insight into the past that interactive computer models provide, some recent projects, and our view of a digital archaeology and virtual-reality-based education of the future]
1999 "Virtual Worlds for Archaeological Research and Education," in L. Dingwall, S. Exon, V. Gaffney, S. Laflin, & M. van Leusen,
Archaeology in the Age of the Internet - CAA97; Computer
Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology 25th Anniversary Conference. University of Birmingham. April 1997. Oxford: Archaeopress (British Archaeological Reports #S750).
[a brief history of virtual reality; how virtual reality has been used by archaeologists; how virtual reality can be better integrated into archaeological excavation, data analysis, publication, teaching, and site preservation; with examples from current Learning Sites projects]
1997 "Archaeological Virtual Worlds for Public Education,"
Computers in the Social Sciences Journal, 5:3.
[the long history of virtual reality but only recent use of it for public education, how to move virtual reality from adjunct audiovisual aid to complete curriculum framework, with archaeological content as an example]
Sanders, Donald H. & Eben Gay
1997 "Exploring the Past"
HyperNexus 7.3:29-31.
[Learning Sites' Vari House Virtual World package for public school education, its hyperlinked and virtual reality components, and a vision of the future classroom]
1997 "Virtual Reality and the Internet in the Service of Education: the premise and the promise,"
EduPort Newsletter 2.1.
[how virtual reality-based education, the Internet, and emerging technologies for multi-user interaction and customized database access could affect education]
1996 "VRML-Based Public Education: an example and a vision,"
VRML Site Magazine.
[the benefits and pitfalls of designing virtual worlds using the emerging VRML standard]
for other works by Gay, see also:
Gay2003 "Cultural Crises and Virtual Heritage: the Institute for the Visualization of History and The Baghdad Museum Project," pp.118-28 in Hal Thwaites, ed.,
Ninth International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia--Hybrid Reality: Art, Technology and the Human Factor, 15-17 October 2003, Montreal, Canada. Montreal: VSMM and 3Dmt Center.
[discusses a collaboration between Learning Sites' sister organization, the Institute for the Visualization of History, the newly formed Baghdad Museum Project and other technology and crisis management companies for the protection and resurrection of Iraqi cultural heritage]
Scheppach, Joseph
2000 "Virtuelle Archäologie,"
P.M. Perspektive Archäologie, April, pp:54-57.
[special issue devoted to archaeology, reviewing new excavations, new analyses, and new
techniques for understanding and visualizing "lost" or destroyed ancient buildings and sites; article discusses examples from several projects using virtual reality, including those by Learning Sites]
Shedd, Karin
2017 "Students 'Visit' a Lost Archaeological Treasure via Virtual Reality,"
Yale News, September 25 online:
https://news.yale.edu/2017/09/25/students-visit-lost-archaeological-treasure-virtual-reality.
["In mid-2015, members of the Islamic State terrorist group used barrel bombs to destroy much of an ancient archaeological site in northern Iraq. In mid-2017, a group of Yale students toured the site anyway." Discussion with video of Yale's exciting use of Learning Sites VR model of the Northwest Palace, Nimrud, as a key educational component of classes at the Yale Center for Teaching and Learning.]
Smith, Julian
2012 "Virtually Recreating the Past,"
American Archaeology 16.4:13-18.
[examples of recent virtual archaeology projects across the United States, with a sidebar by Donald H. Sanders commenting on the state of the discipline]
Snyder, Alison B. & Samuel M. Paley
2001 "Experiencing an Ancient Assyrian Palace: Methods for a Reconstruction," pp.62-75 in Wassim Jabi, ed.,
Reinventing the Discourse - How Digital Tools Help Bridge and Transform Research, Education and Practice in Architecture: Proceedings of the Twenty First Annual Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture, 062-075. ACADIA. Buffalo, New York. New York: SUNY Buffalo.
[discussion and description of the Learning Sites project to reconstruct the 9th-century BCE Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Nimrud, Iraq. Though much of the palace has been excavated its architecture and full artistic program will never again be fully realized. Attempting to visualize partially preserved archaeological sites depends upon deductive reasoning, empirical wisdom and sound research. By modeling digitally and using “real-time” Java-based programming, we learned more quickly about the building than we could have by relying on 2D images alone. We are able to “inhabit” specific interior and exterior spaces in ways not possible before. Digital archaeological tools allow a myriad of educational possibilities for the scholar, student or layperson; article includes many renderings from the then current state of the 3D model.]
Soltysiak, Arkadiusz & Piotr Jaskulski
1998 "Wykopaliska w Komputerze,"
Wiedza i Zycie, 6:48-52.
[review of some of the latest digital techniques used for archaeological research and interpretation, including the virtual reality efforts of Learning Sites; liberally illustrated with examples from
Learning Sites projects]
Stevens, Saskia
2023 "Domitian: an innovative emperor?"
American Journal of Archaeology 127.1:141-47. Online:
https://doi.org/10.1086/723402.
[review of the exhibition on the Emperor Domitian at the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, the Netherlands, in which the Learning Sites videos digitally reconstructing the emperor's house and palace are highlighted in text and images]
T.H.E. Journal (Technological Horizons in Education Journal)
1999 "Reliving the Past: Archaeological Sites Brought to Life Through CAD and Virtual Reality," 26.7:24-28.
[how Learning Sites uses CAD and virtual reality technology to create educational packages; they have a high-degree of accuracy and integrate abundant teaching aids; our educational project based on data from the Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II, Nimrud, is featured]
Townes, John
2016 "Lost & Found: Williamstown-based firm recognized for pioneering work in virtual heritage,"
Berkshire Trade & Commerce Monthly, January, 19.9:front page, 10-11 (with numerous illustrations).
[review of the history of Learning Sites, the recent Tartessos Prize awarded to President Donald H. Sanders, and current projects, especially in light of the wanton and willful destruction of cultural heritage by ISIS and how virtual reality and other digital visualization technologies can play important roles in long-term preservation of fragile archaeological material]
Vermeulen, Joost
2018 "Dwaal door oude tempels an paleizen," in
Het Parool, February 3, 2018: pages 60-61, with illustrations.
[interview with Learning Sites president, Donald H. Sanders, during a conference on the ancient Assyrian capital city of Nineveh, at which Sanders presented about Learning Sites projects and hosted virtual reality demonstrations using OculusRift VR headsets; interview also discusses Sanders involvement in virtual heritage in general]
Virtuality & Interactivity
1999 Virtuality & Interactivity II: MediARTech: Digital Renaissance conference and exhibit (held May 26-30, 1999, Florence), catalogue edited by Franz Fischnaller, F.A.B.R.I.CATORS, Milan, [np].
[this year's program of events focused on advanced multimedia technologies as applied to cultural heritage, including new methds for assessing and enjoying our cultural heritage and looking for ways to use these methods for education; display of several Learning Sites projects; description, objectives, and innovations of our Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II, Nimrud, project is featured in the catalogue]
Wachsmann, Shelley & Donald H. Sanders
2023 "Reconstructing a Late Archaic-Period Dionysian Ship Cart,"
Collection of Papers of the Faculty of Philosophy in Priština 53.3:135-69. The entire volume can be
accessed online.
[describing both the process of creating the interactive 3D content to test the validity of ideas about the ship cart and providing readers with information about how to view and navigate the interactive model]
Wheatley, Abigail & Struan Reid
2004
The Usborne Introduction to Archaeology. London: Usborne Publishing.
[a lushly illustrated, thorough, young adult education resource covering a full range of topics relating to archaeology and history around the world; a unique feature is the links provided to Internet sites with related information for further information; includes several visualizations provided by Learning Sites to supplement discussions about various archaeological sites and periods]
Wilkinson, Richard H.
2000
The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson.
[a copiously illustrated encyclopedic review of ancient Egyptian temples, covering such topics as temple origins, construction techniques, the various spaces of the temple, the religious functions of temples, and examples of the major buildings all along the Nile from the Delta to Nubia; included in the discussion of the Nubian site of Gebel Barkal, are renderings from Learning Sites' 3D model of the site]
Youngblut, Christine
1998
Educational Uses of Virtual Reality Technology. Alexandria, VA: Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA Document D-2128).
[review and evaluation of current efforts at developing, evaluating, or using VR technology for education; research indicates potential of VR-based educational packages to enhance constructivist and collaborative
learning at all levels of teaching; Learning Sites' education efforts are highlighted throughout]
