Integrated survey methods for the documentation of the Masada plateau.

The aim of the three-year research programme at the archaeological site of Masada was to document the entire area located on the plateau by testing a data acquisition and processing method that is integrating the best aspects of each of the instruments used on the field. During the mission, performed in February 2014, an intensive surveying campaign of the Masada plateau was scheduled, that integrated GPS tracking systems with systematic coverage of the entire area covered by laser scanning. At the same time, intensive and systematic data acquisition was scheduled using photographic tools, able to meet a twofold documentary requirement: to produce an image of the state of the building at the time of filming and to be processed, using specific software, three-dimensional models closely corresponding to reality. The aim of such a documentation project was to produce an image of the site with all its complexities, using a language able to describe them simultaneously on a single print-out. So, once the complexity of the structure to be analysed and the potential offered by each instrument was established, the task was to organise the work of the research team so as to define a timetable to schedule the individual activities on the field and in the data post-production phase.