The Chicago method is one way of making a faithful copy, or facsimile. Others have been used for two centuries, and new ones arrive every decade. Each has a job it does best.
Key idea
Recording methods range from hand tracing on clear film laid on the wall, through measured drawing on photographs, to photogrammetry (a 3-D model computed from many overlapping photographs), laser scanning (millions of measured points), and reflectance transformation imaging (RTI: photographs lit from many directions). None replaces the trained eye that checks the result.
Why it works
Each method captures different evidence. Tracing records what the copyist sees, at full size, but touching the wall can harm fragile paint. Photogrammetry and laser scanning record shape and depth, so they show weathered relief that a flat photo misses. RTI lets a viewer move the light afterwards, so shallow carving appears in raking light. But a computer cannot know whether a groove is a chisel mark or a crack; an epigrapher must decide.
| Method | Captures | Best for | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tracing on clear film | outlines, at full size | quick records in tombs and on stelae | contact with fragile surfaces; copyist's judgment unchecked |
| Drawing on a photograph (Chicago method) | lines checked against the wall | publication drawings of large walls | slow; needs trained artists and collators |
| Photogrammetry | shape and color in 3-D | whole rooms, objects, damaged relief | needs good overlap and light; processing time |
| Laser scanning | precise surface shape | measuring and monitoring decay | costly equipment; no color on its own |
| RTI | surface relief under moving light | faint carving, worn stelae, seals | small areas at a time |
Worked example: Choosing a method
A stela's carving is so worn that it can barely be seen in daylight. Which method would you try first, and why?
- The problem is shallow relief, not size or color.
- RTI photographs the surface lit from many angles; software then lets you light it from any direction, so faint carving casts shadows.
- An epigrapher then reads the signs and draws them, marking what is uncertain.
Answer: RTI, then an epigrapher's reading.
Worked example: A tomb copied for visitors
In 2014 the firm Factum Arte finished an exact full-size facsimile of Tutankhamun's burial chamber, set up near Howard Carter's house at Luxor. Why make one?
- Every visitor brings heat, humidity and dust into a tomb, which damage its paintings.
- A facsimile made from high-resolution recording lets people see the tomb's decoration without harming it.
- The recording itself also preserves the tomb's present state for study.
Answer: To protect the real tomb while letting people see it.
Common mistake
Thinking new technology replaces the expert. Every method still needs a trained eye to check it. A scan records a groove; only an epigrapher can say whether it is a sign.