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The present study addresses the use of high-tech peripheral computer equipment and software that allow to enhance the work of the modern archaeologist while preparing and describing objects acquired in the excavations [1, 2, 3]. The authors present the sequence of actions forming a transition from the actual fragments of excavated vessels to virtual objects and then obtaining their copies, which permits secure reconstruction of the entire vessel. The authors created copies of the actual fragments of pottery objects using the sequential steps of digitization and 3D printing. To obtain a point cloud of objects two different types of laser scanners were used - mobile and stationary, recognizing the appropriate process parameters and their suitability to be used in the field of archeology. Then, using the CATIA and Meshlab programs, the point clouds were successively converted into mesh models, three-dimensional original models, and then into modified mesh models with deleted defects resulting from errors of the scanning process. For this purpose, the relevant parameters should be chosen for glossing over the existing discontinuities, which suitably smooth up the form of the reconstructed surface. The next stage involved integration of the mesh surfaces watertight), and their conversion to a solid model. Then the virtual objects thus created were stored in STL file format and three-dimensional copies were made with 3D printers working in two different replication technologies: Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) and powder of the ColorJet Printing (CJP) type. Having digitizet objects allowed to develop procedures for their virtual installation in a virtual 3D environment. The basis of the developed procedure was information about the culture from which the recovered archaeological artifacts come On its basis, typical shapes of pottery were determined and using them as reference images their three-dimensional models were made in Blender environment. The proposed algorithm is based on the study of the curvature of the hypersurfaces of the fragments in possession and matching them with a 3D model of the complete vessel. In a situation when the items in question are not complete and do not form the whole dish, it is possible to make the missing objects. For their generation in virtual form, Boolean arithmetic was applied which, with respect to solid objects, allows generation of differences and common parts between the complete object and the inserted fragments. After isolating the resulting parts their three-dimensional replications were made with a 3D printer. Such a complex archeological artifact may in the future be used to develop a procedure for the automatic assembly of copies of archaeological finds with the use of a robot.
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