Advances in imaging technologies and applications offer great potential for research as well as for the documentation and preservation of archaeological objects and works of art. In this context, continuous to develop a cutting edge imaging center that will spearhead its contribution in the study and protection of Cultural Heritage in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean. This effort is possible within the activities of the LinkSCEEM2 project led by CyI’s CaSToRC researchers.

The available imaging systems are not commercially available and were custom built to meet the needs of research in Cyprus and the region. The establishment of ICACH is materialized in collaboration with world leading experts from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) and the University of Southern California (USC) and supported by CyI’s wide network of local and international collaborators.

The Cyprus Institute’s imaging center currently features three imaging systems:

1.  An RTI dome which is an application of RTI photography and addresses the challenges of producing high quality digital records of the surfaces of archaeological objects and works of art.
2. The second system concerns a domeless PTM system that can be used to create RTI images of larger objects and works of art. This technique is known as “highlight RTI”.
3.  A Large Format Photography unit customized in collaboration with the University of Southern California to address the challenges in the documentation of unique archaeological materials from Cyprus and the region. In particular, the system has been used to unwrap the cylindrical surfaces of ancient cylinder seals producing panoramic images with impressive detail resolution of up to 8,000 × 65,000 pixels.