(Artec Leo 3D: Santa Clara, CA ) -- For more than 2,000 years, Alexander the Great’s tomb has been lost to time, with countless searches leading to dead ends. The team behind Expedition Unknown set out to cover digs, with archaeologists on the verge of solving this historical mystery. Having looked under buildings and inside other tombs, the chase led the TV docuseries to the British Museum and the sarcophagus of St. Mark. With historians speculating that the sarcophagus might have originally belonged to Alexander, the team headed to Venice, where the missing lid was found with Macedonian inscriptions. However, due to its fragility and immovability, direct physical verification remained a challenge.

To do so, the team leveraged a state-of-the-art, wireless 3D scanning device called Artec Leo to rapidly and accurately digitize the artifact and send it straight to the museum for verification. This incredibly detailed model turned out to be an exact match and provided the long-awaited evidence of its connection to Alexander.

Scanning the 1m x 2m wall-mounted block required a careful approach. Propping a small ladder next to the artifact made it possible to scan in minutes using the compact, cable-free device from all angles. Using Leo’s built-in display, ShareMind owner Pietro Meloni was able to monitor what he was capturing on the move and ensure that every small detail was captured. Within minutes, the scan was complete, and using Artec Studio 3D software, the team processed and refined the model in less than 30 minutes.

Back at the museum, experts found additional Macedonian symbols, including a belt-mounted sword and leg armor. But the real breakthrough was being able to match this digital, full-color, geometrically accurate replica with the physical sarcophagus using an AR app. Not only did they discover it was a perfect fit, but the team was also able to simulate the tomb’s original appearance. 

“Leo is so fast. It doesn’t require PC cables, either,” says Meloni. “I’ve been involved many times in archaeology projects. When using ladders, having cables around you is very uncomfortable. You need a device that is not just fast but wireless, where you can immediately check the quality of your scans. This is where Leo really shines.” 

Meloni’s expertise in digital archaeology extends beyond this discovery. Just last year, he found two bronze feet in Rome. Back then, he leveraged 3D scanning and academic collaboration to track down the rest of the statue in France. For that project, he used the Artec Space Spider—predecessor to the newly released Artec Spider II—which provided even higher resolution scanning, proving that advanced 3D technology is adaptable to various archaeological applications.

The integration of 3D scanning in archaeology is revolutionizing how we uncover and verify historical finds. Thanks to 3D scanning, lost treasures of the past are now more accessible than ever before.