3D Greek Vase Scanning and Printing Project
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The 3D Greek Vase Scanning and Printing Project (3DGV) brings together faculty, staff, and students at the University of Virginia to create scale replicas of the Greek vases in the collection of the Fralin Museum of Art using rapid prototyping technologies. Beginning in January 2015 as the brainchild of Professor Tyler Jo Smith and undergraduate engineering student Gregory Lewis, the project has since grown into a collaborative effort between the archaeology program, the UVa Library System, the UVa Engineering School, and the Fralin Museum, and has been featured in numerous articles, talks, and conferences, both at UVa and across the country.
3DGV aims to scan and print these vases so that the digital and physical models can be used for both research and educational purposes, and can be shared with the larger community of museum specialists, archaeologists, and digital humanists. In addition, we seek to introduce the physical models into the classroom to facilitate experiential learning and exposure to ancient artifacts as well as to teach students of all levels and disciplines about how to apply these rapidly proliferating technologies to their fields.
For more information please contact Tyler Jo Smith at tjs6e@virginia.edu
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Our Models
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Athenian black-figure colum krater, ca. 510-500 BC
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum 1988.62
Corinthian black-figure aryballos, ca. 600-575 BC
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum 0.635
Corinthian black-figure kotyle, ca. 600-575 BC
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum 2008.12
Corinthian lidded pyxis, 6th century BC
Charlottesville, UVa Art Museum Collection 0.646.2a-b
Euboean black-figure hydria, early 5th century BC
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum 1983.2.5
South Italian fish plate, ca. 425-400 BC
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum 1979.56
South Italian kantharos, 4th c. BC
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum 1988.23
South Italian trefoil mouth oinochoe, ca. 350-325 BC
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum 1973.71
Black-figure lekythos
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum
Black-figure skyphos
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum
Red-figure squat lekythos
Charlottesville, Fralin Museum
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News Articles and Exhibits
Collect, Care, Conserve, Curate: The Life of the Art Object
Exhibit at Fralin Museum of Art — 10 March 2017 to 23 July 2017
Curated by Jean Lancaster, Collections Manager
Click here for 3D scans from the exhibition
Digital Archaeology Digest: Medieval Manuscripts, The Antikythera Mechanism And The Sounds Of Paris
Sarah Bond
Forbes — 14 October 2016
3D Printing Brings Replicas of Ancient Greek Art to the Classroom
Kerry Kolasa-Sikiaridi
GreekReporter.com — 19 October 2016
History Made New
Caroline Newman
UVa Today — 12 October 2016
Reprinted as:
How 3-D printing brings ancient Greek art to life
Phys.org — 13 October 2016
and
University of Virginia faculty and staff use 3-D printing to take a fresh look at ancient art
ArtDaily.org — 18 October 2016
Exploring New Dimensions with Art History and Engineering
John Kelly
UVa Arts Vol 04 — Spring 2016
Presentations and Conferences
Teaching and Learning with 3D Vases
Tyler Jo Smith
Department of Classics, Tulane University — 10 November 2022
Even Better than the Real Thing? Making and Using 3D Greek Vases
Tyler Jo Smith
Department of Classics, College of William & Mary — 1 April 2021
3D-GV: Scanning and Printing Artifacts
Tyler Jo Smith with Victoria Valdez
Digital Archaeology, University of Virginia, guest lecture — 19 October 2020
Pots and Pedagogy: 3D Vases in the Classics Classroom
Tyler Jo Smith
Society of Classical Studies (SCS) Annual Meeting
Washington DC — 4 January 2020
Round Table: Ancient Art and Archaeology Pedagogy and 3D Printing
Tyler Jo Smith
Institute of Classical Studies
University of London — 11 July 2018
3D-GV: From Scanning to Printing to Using
Tyler Jo Smith with G. Bodard, Ph. Carter, W. Rourk, and D. Mitchell
Digital Cultural Heritage, University of London and Sunoikisis, DC — 7 December 2017
The Plastic Pyxis: Greek Vases in 3D
Tyler Jo Smith
Davidson College, Digital Studies
Davidson, North Carolina — 26 September 2017
3D Scanning and Printing Greek Vases: From Deep Storage to Rapid Prototyping
Tyler Jo Smith, G. Lewis
Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) International Conference
Atlanta, Georgia — 14 March 2017
3D Printing Greek Vases: Applications and Implications
Tyler Jo Smith
Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) Annual Meeting
Toronto, Canada — 6 January 2017
The Plastic Pyxis: 3D Scanning and Printing Greek Vases
Tyler Jo Smith
Classics Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS) Southern Section
Atlanta, Georgia — 28 October 2016
3D-GV: Scanning and Printing Greek Vases
Tyler Jo Smith, G. Lewis and W. Rourk
DH@UVa, Scholar’s Lab
UVa — 14 October 2016
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Other Resources
Learn more about 3D scanning, printing, and their use in data preservation
The 3 Dimensions of Digitalised Archaeology: State-of-the-Art, Data Management and Current Challenges in Archaeological 3D-Documentation
edited by Marco Hostettler, Anja Buhlke, Clara Drummer, Lea Emmenegger, Johannes Reich, and Corinne Stäheli
Springer Cham, 2024
Digitization of Ancient Artefacts and Fabrication of Sustainable 3D-Printed Replicas for Intended Use by Visitors with Disabilities: The Case of Piraeus Archaeological Museum
Antreas Kantaros, Evangelos Soulis, and Elli Alysandratou, 2023
Sustainability 2023, 15 (17)
Active learning in the lecture theatre using 3D printed objects
David P. Smith
F1000Research, 2016
Digital 3D models of heritage artefacts: Towards a digital dream space
Sarah Younan, Cathy Treadaway
Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 2, 2015
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Our Partners
Cultural Heritage Informatics
Learn more about further efforts at UVa to preserve cultural heritage data using 3D scanning and printing techniques
Artifacsimile
Learn more about about Democratizating Cultural Heritge Data and our 3D vases
Fralin Museum of Art
View the collection of the Fralin Museum of Art including more digital models of the vases used in this project