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Field project

Mitzpe Shivta: Surface-to-Underground Mapping of an Ancient Desert Site

Integrated aerial and underground mapping of a Nabataean–Byzantine site for the University of Haifa research team led by Dr. Sina Lehnig and Prof. Gil Gambash.

Location: Mitzpe Shivta, Negev Highlands
Status: Completed
Goal: Document the whole site, its hidden cave complex and its inscriptions in one accurate spatial record for ongoing archaeological research.
Data: Centimetre-level orthophoto; unified aerial and handheld point clouds
Environment: Desert ruins, narrow underground passages and chambers, a rock-cut cistern
Duration: 2025

The challenge

The site’s most important spaces are underground: a complex of rooms linked by narrow, dark burrows where GPS does not reach. The researchers needed these spaces positioned precisely in relation to the ruins above, together with a lasting record of the inscriptions.

The DynamicSense intervention

We combined a drone LiDAR and imagery survey of the whole site with a handheld SLAM scan of the cave complex, tied both to the same ground control and merged them into a single point cloud. Inscriptions and key architectural elements were captured as detailed 3D models.

Outcomes & decision support

The team received one unified 3D record of surface and underground spaces, terrain products for archaeological interpretation, cross-sections through the halls and an estimate of the cistern’s original capacity, reconstructed from the depth markings carved into its central column.

Structured outputs