Reconstructing history more than just a job for archaeological illustrator Marc
Despite studying history with an intention to specialise in modern history and international politics, a summer working on an archaeological site changed everything for Marc Zubia-Pons, who now works as part of the team at RSK Group company Headland Archaeology.
After graduating from the University of Barcelona, Marc went on to gain a master’s in classical archaeology and worked for various businesses in Spain and, later, Scotland. He said: “Over the years, I’ve completed various courses in finds drawings, photography and 3D reconstructions. In hindsight, this was one of the best decisions I’ve made, as it allowed me to start doing the work I’m doing now.”
Having previously worked for small companies, he described the idea of joining Headland, with its full post-excavation department and plenty of specialist roles, as mind-blowing. Marc added: “I always wanted to work somewhere where I could learn new skills and progress. I joined Headland as a field archaeologist and a year later applied for a position as an archaeological illustrator.
“As an archaeologist, I think there’s something special about finding a small object from hundreds of years ago and imagining who that belonged to, what they were doing and what their life was like. As an archaeological illustrator, you take that one step further by not only imagining but also recreating and bringing the past to life.”
Marc’s role sees him create all sorts of visuals, including site plans for client reports and research publications, finds drawings and photographs and, most recently, 3D reconstructions: “Unless we’re working on a very big project, no two days are the same, which is one of the things I like most about my job.
“One day you might be photographing prehistoric pottery, and the day after you might be working on a plan of a Roman site or a 3D reconstruction of a 19th-century building.
“Since we produce illustrations for very different purposes, we’re always collaborating with different departments such as technical services, fieldwork, post-excavation and consultancy.”
The graphics team is responsible for presenting all the information from a site in a visually appealing and cohesive way. Marc said he sees what they do as putting together all the work from the different specialists and departments and adding that all-important final touch.
He added: “As archaeological illustrators, we are always trying to show what the past looked like, but this can sometimes be tricky, especially for the public. Creating archaeological illustrations is a great way of telling a story and helping people see what these sites looked like in the past.
“They also help create a more inclusive representation of the past. Written history has traditionally been a history of the powerful, but through reconstructions we can show all layers of society, including those who are often ignored or forgotten. This also makes us more empathetic and question our own biases.”
Recently, Marc produced his third 3D reconstruction since joining the business. The visual showed the prominent features uncovered at Watery Lane, a small Romano-British agricultural settlement near Lichfield in Staffordshire.
Marc said: “After having a look at the site records, which included photos, plans and environmental data, we also got in touch with some of our post-excavation specialists. We scheduled meetings for every part of the process (first ideas, sketching, modelling, texturing and adding details) to make sure that we were on the right track and all the different elements of the reconstructions were historically accurate and made sense in their context. Being part of a large team means having specialists in very specific topics, such as building materials or archaeozoology, which allows us to be very precise with our reconstruction.
“Three days later, I rendered the final version and created the video animation. The result was fantastic, and I am looking forward to working on more new and exciting projects that are coming up.”
Although the majority of the work Marc does is on the computer, he believes that certain skills cannot be replaced by technology. He said: “Most of the software we use is constantly updating and improving, which allows us to work faster and more efficiently. For example, a render that in the past would take weeks to process can now be done in less than a day, and the quality and detail of the final image will be much higher. This allows us to spend more time working on the actual reconstruction and less on waiting in front of a screen for a file to load.
“However, when it comes to AI-generated images, for instance, although they can be visually attractive to the untrained eye, they are often full of historical errors and amplify some of the biases we talked about.”
As Marc continues to work on new and exciting projects, he shared his hopes for the future: “One day I would like to reconstruct a whole Roman or medieval city, with all the buildings, landscape and small details.
“For me, recreating a site with different periods of occupation and creating a reconstruction for each of the historical phases would be an amazing challenge.”
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Headland Archaeology
Headland Archaeology, founded in 1996, provides heritage services to the development and construction sectors. Its team has an in-depth understanding of commercial archaeology with practical experience of participating in major construction projects. The team covers the whole of the UK and Ireland. Contracting and post-excavation services are based in four regional offices located in Luton, Hereford, Leeds and Edinburgh; the consultancy team is based in a number of RSK offices, including Manchester, Bristol, Helsby, Edinburgh and Glasgow.