Modernizing Millennia: 3D Models as Ethical Progress in Museum Practice

Sammanfattning: Practical knowledge of how to use digital technologies for archaeological purposes are rapidly becoming an in-demand skill set. Why we should use these technologies, however, is a subject of somewhat less discussion. Within the past decade cultural heritage management has seen a surge in tools that promise cheaper, faster and more precise data acquisition, as well as a host of software to enable easy and integrated access to this data. With increasing user expectations, what does this mean for museums which endeavor to integrate 3D modeling into their practice? This thesis will explore the chaîne-opératoire which museums progress through to adopt 3D models into their collections. Mission statements and points of ethical museum practice will be considered for each step in the process of implementing 3D model use, such as the motivations for inception, to funding, scale of implementation, maintenance, and results in the form of community support and access. The end-product is not the only valuable part of this process, nor is it the only one that can aid museums in engaging their community. By examining the ways in which 3D modeling impacts museum ethics and practice, perhaps a more enlightened justification than the technological superiority of new digital methods can be made for embracing it.