Reconstructing The Temple Ceiling

For the reconstruction of the ceiling of the Huaca Cao Viejo, the participants digitized the pieces (using a HP ScanJet 4C scanner), and manipulated them electronically on an IBM RS/6000 computer.
The reconstruction follows the somewhat similar process of putting together a puzzle, with the added difficulties that (a) since the pieces have crumbled badly at their edges, they do not interlock, and (b) many of the pieces are missing.

Capturing the pieces

Because of the fragile nature of the pieces, they were digitized on-site at the huaca itself, using a scanner and a computer. The working procedure for digitizing the pieces was developed by students from both the Computer Science and Archaeology Departments of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). The characteristics of each piece were registered onto a database, and the painted surface of each piece was captured with the scanner.

Re-assembling the pieces

In order to build the gigantic puzzle, a program ARMADO ("assemble" in Spanish) was created to allow archeologists to carry out searches and handle the pieces quickly on a computer. ARMADO was developed by PUCP with support from IBM, using the IBM Visualization Data Explorer toolkit. It runs on an IBM RS/6000 computer, and has recently been ported to a ThinkPad PC.

Current Status of the Project

The tool development stage for putting together the ceiling has ended. These tools are already being used by the restorer, Víctor Fernández, with great success. Several figures from the Moche iconography have been reconstructed. Reconstructed figures that stand out include:
--- deer
--- crowned head
--- puma-like feline
--- iguana
--- reed boat
--- skirt.