172 ARCHAEOLOGICALILLUSTRATION
Illustrations need to convey technical information about
each object – exact dimensions, types of material, method
of construction, traces of use and many other features –
accurately enough for a researcher to recognize parallels,
similarities or differences with material from elsewhere.
To satisfy these criteria, archaeological illustrations
follow set standards and conventions. This subject area is
wide, and the reader is referred to publications listed in
the Further Information section at the end of the chap-
ter. On a large project where a lot of drawing work is
required, it is well worth appointing a supervisor to be in
charge of ensuring consistency in terms of conventions
used. Artefact photography has been covered in chapter
- This section will deal with the basic concepts and
techniques involved in recording archaeological material
by drawing.
Archaeological drawing can be described as a me-
chanical process. Artistic flair may be an advantage and
expertly executed archaeological record drawings can
often be extremely attractive works in their own right.
Having said that, the ability to make careful observations
and transpose a measurement from an object onto paper
are the main skills required to produce acceptable results.
Choosing between drawing and photography: Draw-
ings have many advantages over photographs. Clarity
of, and emphasis on, particular detail can be achieved
more readily with a drawing. While photography can be
used to record a number of objects relatively quickly,
photographs cannot be used to present sectional infor-
mation of complete or near-complete objects in the
way that drawings can; nor do they tend to offer quite
the same opportunities for comparison of form. Illus-
trations showing hypothetical reconstruction are also
much more readily achieved with drawings than pho-
tographs. Most people would agree that a photograph
alone is an insufficient illustrative record of an archae-
ological object. Quite often, during the process of mak-
ing a measured drawing of archaeological material, more
information comes to light, which helps in refining
the final record. Notes of observations made while
drawing therefore need to be kept and added to the
written record.
Recording by drawing can be divided into a number
of areas:
- recording shape and dimensions;
- recording decoration and surface detail;
- recording detail related to composition and
manufacture.
All the above are essentially objective processes based
on careful study and measurement. However, an element
of interpretation is involved in many drawings – for
example, the orientation of the object on the page, the
emphasis given to each feature, the selection of views
recorded. This is unavoidable and an illustrator must try
to ensure that such decisions do not become the source
of distortion and bias. Explicitly interpretive drawings
are dealt with separately below.
There are a few general conventions that should be
noted. As mentioned already, archaeological material
is most usually drawn as if lit from the top left-hand
corner of the page. Record drawings do not generally
involve perspective; elevations are drawn from as many
views as required to convey the available information. More
views may be recorded for the archive than are eventu-
ally published. Sections through the object are very
useful as an adjunct to other views and should always
be included when drawing ceramic vessels.
All record drawings should be clearly and permanently
marked with the object’s record number, the draught-
person’s name and a linear, metric scale.Originals and reductions: Most artefacts are drawn at
full-size in pencil, and completed inked drawings reduced
for publication as necessary. Some smaller objects are drawn
at more than life-size (often using tracing from carefully
scaled and prepared photographs) while others (such as
amphoras) are drawn at half or quarter scale. The final
inked version of any drawing should be the version that
is reduced for publication when necessary.
It is clear from the outset that reduction must be
considered when planning the drawing. A linear scale is
used so that it will remain true, even when a drawing
is reduced or enlarged for publication. Line-thicknesses
and levels of detail are also important factors to consider.
Lines less than 0.25 mm thick will often be lost with a
50 per cent reduction, and intricate detail will blur if not
carefully drawn. It is worth remembering that plans and
section drawings will have to be drawn for reduction as
well as objects. In these drawings, particular attention
must be paid to ensuring that any lettering or labelling
remains clearly legible after reduction. Adding the lettering
to a drawing/plan after it has been scanned and reduced
can help avoid this problem.
Consideration of the effects of reduction can sometimes
leave the full-size drawing looking a little plain but this
is preferable to merged and blurred detail when reproduced
at published size. In extreme cases, it may be necessary
to produce a highly detailed record drawing and another,
less-detailed but still accurate, drawing for reduction and
publication.
There are some advantages to reduction.- Reducing a drawing by 50 per cent can remove
many slight blemishes from view, and smooth out
slightly rough lines.