Minderoo Grant Update
WA Museum 3D Scanner
3D scanning and 3D printing have opened up a range of new opportunities in the museum sector.
Recently the WA Museum provided a 3D scan of a 46,000-year-old bone ornament excavated from a rock shelter in the Kimberley to the Musee de I’Homme in Paris to 3D print and use in their current exhibition PIERCING, about the human history of piercing. Funds provided by the Foundation’s Annual Minderoo Grant were used to purchase the handheld 3D scanner used to obtain the scan.
This project has been a unique collaboration between the WA Museum, the Musee de l’Homme, the Australian National University archaeologists who excavated the bone and most importantly, Bunuba community members whose lands include the
site where the bone was found.
Over the past year the WA Museum’s scientists have been beavering away on amazing projects and research. Annually, thanks to the generosity of the Minderoo Foundation, the Foundation awards annual grants to valuable and significant WA Museum projects such as this. We will share more exciting projects with you in future posts.
Fun fact – The scanner has also been used for the 3D scanning of artefacts from the WA Museum’s Anthropology and Archaeology, History, Maritime Archaeology and Maritime History departments which will be displayed in the New Museum.
