Potential and limitation of new technologies for the survey of morphology and colour of rupestrian habitat

Regardless of the approach that every subject adopts with the rupestrian habitat, the contribution of new technology products in the practice of surveying and documentation requires a urgent systematisation, both in the operative methods and in the criteria for data diffusion and exchange in order to get a standardised, and homogeneous product, useful to the largest number of subjects. Rock-cut architecture is one of the fields in which a multidisciplinary synergy is well suited, creating a strong innovative drive. For almost a decade the Department of History, Drawing and Restoration of Architecture at the Sapienza University in Rome has been developing research in this direction, both in Italy and Cappadocia. This paper intends to provide a contribution to the knowledge of the problems of surveying and representation that have been faced during the Cappadocia survey campaign, as well as work method and adopted solutions. In particular, the significant pictorial presences encountered in some of the rock-cut churches have focused the research on the issue of surveying the painted surfaces in order to record both the chromatic and the lighting data. This experience demonstrates that behind the apparent operative easiness provided by new technologies, lies a growing need for their deep knowledge is essential to better co-ordinate and guide their use. Either the obtaining of a good-looking coloured cloud of points or its virtual navigation are not the survey but only a proper record of a certain amount of points describing a surface. The representation, as a scientific documentation to be queried for the purposes of knowledge and preservation, comes from the critical processing of such data, that cannot be pursued without an active role of the surveyor.