From Damage Survey to the Module Measurements of the Dart Launcher

This study develops workflows derived from the non-contact survey of small anthropic markers along the northern stretch of Pompeii’s urban walls. For valid reasons cur-rently being verified, these indentations have been attributed to the impact of darts fired by Sulla’s artillery in 89 BC. Consistent with published findings, the morphometric data obtained from the casts of the impressions generated by the metal tips were used to obtain measurement modules suitable for measuring the reconstruction of SCORpiò-NIDI. To achieve this result, calibration formulas handed down directly from the Greeks and Romans were used. The method adopted reverses the usual sequence, starting from the effects and arriving at the causes. According to the principles handed down by ancient treatise writers, typical 2D-3D graphic modeling investigations guided the commensuration of parts. A family of dart-launcher prototypes was created based on the measurement module, to be tested and mechanically analyzed through reverse engineering processes. The creation of virtual models was not based on the dimensions of the findings, but rather on parameters that study the reaction of stone blocks to the impact of blunt objects. The results aim to raise operational criticism, contributing to the debate on “certified” typological families of reconstructions based on objective data and verifiable calculations.