🧑‍🏫 Archaeological Redrawing of Plans

On this page, you will find all necessary information to do archaeological redrawings with the software AutoCAD by Autodesk. The information is divided into different chapters, as we sequentially progress. Each chapter is available as a wiki article to read (📖) and go along. This way you can take your time and go through the exercise in your own pace.

This course is packed with lessons, but it can't stand on its own. Please remember, that all the content is to be viewed in combination with the course, where I will explain way more than I can do here. This webiste is focused on repeating what you have already learned and to come back to when you need to remember something. After the course you should be able to convert a hand-drawn into a digital plan.

👨‍🍳 Preparations

Be prepared: Download and install AutoCAD for free

AutoCAD is free for students and in order to work from home, you'll need your own copy of AutoCAD to download. It is a 2D- and 3D CAD drawing software. In this very short chapter, I'll explain the process of downloading the software to installing and starting it.
📖 Estimated reading time: 1 minute -> Go to lesson!

🛠️ Exercises

Chapter 1: Introduction into the unit system

In this chapter, we will learn the basics of the software and create our own correctly sized excavation grid, that we will need in the upcoming lessons.
📖 Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

Chapter 2: Referencing, Layers and Drawing

In this chapter, we will learn how to insert a reference drawing into our scaled ACAD file and how to redraw what we see on that reference. We'll also learn about line-types and some tricks in redrawing.
📖 Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

Chapter 3: Hatching and Labelling

Today, we will finish our drawing and make it print-ready. For that, we will learn how to fill our redrawing with colours and transparencies. We will also label everything in that drawing by inserting another reference drawing showing the heights in that trench.
📖 Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Chapter 4: Introduction into ACAD 3D

In this chapter, we will learn the basics of the 3D aspect of ACAD. So start, we'll only use three tools to create a very simple temple.
📖 Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Chapter 5: Advanced Techniques

In this chapter we'll learn to use some advanced techniques in order to build a simple column and to use the texture and render engine of ACAD.
📖 Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Chapter 6: Advanced Tools & Boolean Operators

In this last chapter on ACAD 3D we'll learn some further tools and techniques in order to get familiar with the possibilities.
📖 Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Sitemap

• Be prepared: Download and install AutoCAD
• Chapter 1: Unit system and the trench grid
• Chapter 2: Referencing, Layers and Drawing
• Chapter 3: Hatching and Labelling
• Chapter 4: Introduction into ACAD 3D
• Chapter 5: Advanced Techniques
• Chapter 6: Boolean Operators