Staff profile

Alexander manages the Digital Visualisation Laboratory, and teaches subjects including 3D scanning, drone surveying, photography, and GIS, to both undergraduate and postgraduate students (and organises workshops for PhD students). He also assists our post-docs, PhD students, and UG and TPG students in developing their research methodologies on an individual basis. He manages the departmental digital equipment such as specialised 3D scanners, 3D printers, photography gear, and software. He provides our students and staff with the tools and methodological knowledge they need to conduct their research. Alexander also produces videos and photographs for our department, which are shared through our YouTube channel and on social media. Some of his 3D models can be viewed online here.

Current and recent projects he is working on include 3D scanning the Melsonby treasure hoard, drone surveying Durham Castle, laser scanning the Great Hall and the Norman Chapel, scanning the interior of the St Mary the Less chapel, the Shakespeare First Folio project (multispectral imaging and 3D SL-scanning), the Oriental Museum Guanyin statue project (combining ultraviolet and infrared imaging with 3D scanning), the Auckland Palace excavations, and several other projects. Alexander is also contributing to various multidisciplinary research projects, such as collaborations with: the departments of Computer Science, Classics and Ancient History, Anthropology, Library and Collections, Earth Sciences, the Hidden Heritage project (Heritage 360) of the Department of History, and the WRENCH project of the Department of Engineering. He is also currently upgrading and expanding the Digitial Visualisation Laboratory, to facilitate our new 3D scanning equipment.

He joined Durham University in 2021, after having obtained a MSc (cum laude) in Digital Archaeology from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and a BA in Mediterranean Archaeology (with a second specialisation in Near Eastern Archaeology). During his BA studies, he also completed the extracurricular “Honours College: Crossing the borders in World Archaeology” track, with excellent grades (equivalent of cum laude).

Alexander has experience with archaeological excavations and fieldwork all over the Mediterranean, as well as in the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom. This fieldwork ranges from geophysical surveying to 3D drone surveys, as well as conventional excavations. His own research focuses on the spatial analysis of the built environment and 3D modelling. He specialises in Structure-From-Motion (photogrammetry), with both conventional cameras as well as drones and multispectral photography, but also other digital data (including 3D) acquisition methods.

Since 2018, he has been a member of CAA International (“Computer Applications and quantitative methods in Archaeology”), and is one of the founding committee members of the CAA Special Interest Group "3D Spatial Analysis" (3D Spatial Analysis - CAA International). At CAA2021 in Cyprus, he was the main organiser of the “Exploring the possibilities of 3D Spatial Analysis” session, and at CAA2022 (Oxford) and CAA2023 (Amsterdam) co-organiser of the follow-up sessions on "3D Spatial Analysis".

Teaching

Alexander teaches on the following modules:

• Practical Research and Study Skills: 3D scanning and photography
• Adv. Skills: Digital Visualisation - Applications for the Study of Prehistoric Art
• Adv. Skills: Digital Visualisation - Applications to Material and Visual Culture
• Adv. Skills: Remote Sensing - Drone surveying
• Data Science Applications in Archaeology and Heritage
• Research Skills in Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology
• Research and Study Skills in Archaeological Science
• Developing Archaeological Research: Introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
• Artefact studies
• Conservation Skills

Alexander also organises several workshops for students every year, on:

• 3D drone surveying for Archaeologists
• 3D photogrammetry for Archaeologists
• Photography for Archaeologists

• Digital Archaeology
• 3D scanning
• 3D reconstructions
• Drone surveying
• Photogrammetry
• Structured light scanning
• Laser scanning (incl. LiDAR)
• Reflectance Transformation Imaging
• Multispectral Imaging (UV+IR)
• Remote Sensing
• Space Syntax
• Agent based modelling (ABM)
• Spatial Analysis
• Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
• Photography (incl. Medium Format: extreme resolution)

• 2024: Teaching and Learning Awards 2024 - Unsung Hero: Awarded the 2024 "Unsung Hero" Teaching and Learning Award. For my efforts for designing and teaching a new module in 3D scanning (last-minute, to cover for a staff member), and for - in the midst of suddenly needing to move my laboratory twice - ensuring that student and staff support was never reduced.

Chapter in book

• Revisiting old data with new techniques: A re-evaluation of insulae V ii and IV ii in Ostia through the eyes of space syntax
  
  Jansen, A. C. (2020). Revisiting old data with new techniques: A re-evaluation of insulae V ii and IV ii in Ostia through the eyes of space syntax. In H. Kamermans & L. van der Meer (Eds.), Designating Place: Archaeological Perspectives on Built Environments in Ostia and Pompeii (pp. 135-152). Leiden University Press.

Conference Paper

• The potential of Space Syntax methods
  
  Jansen, A. (2019, December 5 – 2019, December 7). The potential of Space Syntax methods [Conference paper]. Presented at Graphendatenbanken, GIS und 3D-Modelle in der Bauforschung des Mittelalters, Heidelberg, Germany.
• Applying space syntax to insula V ii in Ostia: A comparative assessment of four space syntax methods
  
  Jansen, A. (2019, April 23 – 2019, April 27). Applying space syntax to insula V ii in Ostia: A comparative assessment of four space syntax methods [Conference paper]. Presented at CAA 2019, Kraków, Poland.
• Quantifying functions in urban contexts: Reconstructing the functions of spaces based on spatial characteristics
  
  Jansen, A. (2019, February 4 – 2019, February 6). Quantifying functions in urban contexts: Reconstructing the functions of spaces based on spatial characteristics [Conference paper]. Presented at International Colloquium on Digital Archaeology., Bern, Switzerland (Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research).
• 3D Visualizations and Ostia
  
  Locicero, M., Stoger, H., & Jansen, A. (2017, June 15). 3D Visualizations and Ostia. Presented at Conference for Digital Heritage Annual Meeting, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Journal Article

• Space syntax in a Roman tomb: Spatial analysis of the tomb of the Scipios
  
  Jansen, A. C. (2020). Space syntax in a Roman tomb: Spatial analysis of the tomb of the Scipios. Tijdschrift Voor Mediterrane Archeologie, 62(31).

Masters Thesis

• Applying space syntax methods to insula V ii in Ostia: To gain new insights into the effects of changes in the spatial organisation of urban buildings during the Late Roman Empire
  
  Jansen, A. C. (2018). Applying space syntax methods to insula V ii in Ostia: To gain new insights into the effects of changes in the spatial organisation of urban buildings during the Late Roman Empire [Dissertation]. Awarding Organisation: Unknown.

Presentation

• SUB-MILLIMETRIC SFM 3D SCANNING OF MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE: PHOTOGRAMMETRIC DIGITAL TWIN OF THE DURHAM NORMAN CHAPEL FOR CONSERVATION AND HERITAGE MANAGEMENT
  
  Jansen, A., & Rennie, G. (2024, August 28 – 2024, August 31). SUB-MILLIMETRIC SFM 3D SCANNING OF MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE: PHOTOGRAMMETRIC DIGITAL TWIN OF THE DURHAM NORMAN CHAPEL FOR CONSERVATION AND HERITAGE MANAGEMENT. Presented at European Association of Archaeologists 30th Annual Meeting, Rome.