Very cool. Any other Maya sites in the pipeline to do?
Yes, I 3d captured the murals at San Bartolo, and they're somewhere in the pipeline of being ready to be made public soon.
Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
61–70 of 99 posts
Re: Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
#62Were the tombs and other structures originally sealed in with no path to the outside world? Were there other rooms accessible for rituals without archaeologists having to excavate tunnels in the modern day?
For the majority of the monuments that I worked on, they were ritually destroyed, buried, and built on top of -- with the Rosalila temple being the main exception. The tombs typically have some type of arch and the temple area and staircases are kind of built around or on top of them.
Re: Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
#63Is there any plans to support a WebXR interface in the future?
Yes, these scans also work in WebXR using Matterport's default VR viewer -- I have a basic page setup at https://mused.com/vr/ -- but I'll get the Copan tours added there.
Re: Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
#64Wow! That sure brings back memories. I've been there twice, 2011 & 2012.
Congratulations. I'm very impressed.
Re: Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's something we have to be careful of while working on site! We're really careful around the rooms that have mercury in them--there are few that I didn't put in the guide also. I was wondering about this too: they've found high levels of mercury in the water supply at Maya cities and believe now it contributed to the eventual collapse: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/mercury-and-algal-bl...
> “The drinking and cooking water for the Tikal rulers and their elite entourage almost certainly came from the Palace and Temple Reservoirs,” wrote Lentz and his colleagues. “As a result, the leading families of Tikal likely were fed foods laced with mercury at every meal.” This makes me think: what if today's rulers are being poisoned by something making them act like idiots?
> This makes me think: what if today's rulers are being poisoned by something making them act like idiots?
Leaded gasoline! With how old politicians are in the US, they are almost certainly affected.
Re: Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
#66This is great use of the technology. There should be scans of all our national monuments, world wonders, etc. So much better a use for the tech than just Redfin.
Popping my comment cherry here! I’m a 3D artist that is currently encountering staunch resistance of generating 3D models from drone captured photogrammetry of historically protected sites in Pennsylvania, USA. I’ve had resistance from the state and county level in pursuing take off and landing permission at historical sites. Communicating my intentions of digital historic preservation with photogrammetry has been a…
I used to live in Pennsylvania across the street from a colonial era house and just a few miles from a national historic site. I love your idea of digital historic preservation but totally understand the skepticism and reluctance of those entrusted with protecting the sites.
Is there a way you could partner with the custodians of a historic site so they become part of the digital preservation effort? Maybe offer a way to embed the 3D model on an official webpage of the historic site? Getting the custodians onboard could smooth the process of getting the required permissions.
Re: Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
#67Wow! That sure brings back memories. I've been there twice, 2011 & 2012. Congratulations. I'm very impressed.
Thanks so much! Does it look very different / did you go in the tunnels?
Re: Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's something we have to be careful of while working on site! We're really careful around the rooms that have mercury in them--there are few that I didn't put in the guide also. I was wondering about this too: they've found high levels of mercury in the water supply at Maya cities and believe now it contributed to the eventual collapse: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/mercury-and-algal-bl...
> “The drinking and cooking water for the Tikal rulers and their elite entourage almost certainly came from the Palace and Temple Reservoirs,” wrote Lentz and his colleagues. “As a result, the leading families of Tikal likely were fed foods laced with mercury at every meal.” This makes me think: what if today's rulers are being poisoned by something making them act like idiots?
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Re: Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's something we have to be careful of while working on site! We're really careful around the rooms that have mercury in them--there are few that I didn't put in the guide also. I was wondering about this too: they've found high levels of mercury in the water supply at Maya cities and believe now it contributed to the eventual collapse: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/mercury-and-algal-bl...
> “The drinking and cooking water for the Tikal rulers and their elite entourage almost certainly came from the Palace and Temple Reservoirs,” wrote Lentz and his colleagues. “As a result, the leading families of Tikal likely were fed foods laced with mercury at every meal.” This makes me think: what if today's rulers are being poisoned by something making them act like idiots?
Claiming that today’s rulers are acting like idiots seems off topic. And subjective too; even if only because yesterday’s rulers weren’t different.
Re: Show HN: I 3D scanned the tunnels inside the Maya Pyramid Temples at Copan
#70I love all these Maya inscriptions. I hope more are discovered (and hopefully some manuscripts) - the little we do have of Maya text is amazing. What are your top 3 things to tell people at parties that no little about Maya?
I love the inscriptions too--the stela only get more meaningful the more you learn about them. But it's kind of like Egypt, the iconography is harder to understand because we inherited from a different culture. For me, the Maya have always been important because they're our history and our stories in the Americas (I'm from the US) -- more than the greco-roman mythology I grew up with. They grew corn and love ball gam…
Feynman was very interested in Maya writing, but made no useful contribution to its interpretation. Credit for that goes to Knorozov and many others (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_script#Decipherment); Feynman's approach followed Thompson's, which we know now to be incorrect.