3D Laser Scanning Services Uncover Defiant Message from Cuban Missile Crisis
The Technology is Aiding Researchers
Perhaps no time other than 13 days near the end of 1962 was the United States, Russia, and likely the world closer to the brink of global nuclear war and destruction. A recent discovery by archaeologists using 3D laser scanning services solidifies just how close we were.
The images and models created by 3D scanning the walls in the system of bunkers and trenches revealed graffiti written 60 years ago during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The words, a message written in Spanish, declared that surrendering to the United States was not an option.
It is believed this was a general feeling among the embattled soldiers on the Cuban coast. They were determined to fight to the end when, what they thought at the time, inevitable war broke out.
Despite how close the United States was to nuclear war during the standoff, the island nation was never invaded by the American military, and much of the network of trenches and bunkers remains.
How 3D Laser Scanning Services Aided Researchers
The advancements and accessibility of 3D scanners and modeling have led researchers and archaeologists to recent discoveries after 60 years of remaining hidden.
While mostly intact, many of the bunkers and walls show significant signs of erosion and weathering from the elements. They were abandoned nearly immediately after the standoff ended. Certain materials such as paint and other marking mediums have long since disappeared.
The precision of 3D scanning services allows researchers to see detailed surfaces of the wall to uncover etchings and indentations from texts or written messages. The 3D scanners also allow significantly more surfaces and sites to be mapped and cataloged. Researchers can then manipulate the software models to help discover more that may have been previously hidden.
Compared to the previously traditional methods of photographs and mapping from memory or hand drawings, 3D scanners have allowed researchers to accomplish and discover much more than ever before.
With this recent discovery only possible with a 3D laser scan, researchers and archaeologists are hopeful this is only the beginning of how 3D scanners can benefit the research community and industry.