In Western Europe the main use for artificial monuments out of stone, wood or earthy materials extends from the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age (4th and 3rd millennium BCE).  This unique period of landscape adaptation has a lasting, visible imprint on the present. However, as monuments are by definition visual landmarks, there is currently a lack of research regarding the perceptive clues offered by these structures to the people who built and frequented them.
This project focuses on integrating Virtual Reality (VR) into the analysis of prehistoric human-made structures. Covering various megalithic monuments throughout four study regions in Western Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to Southern Scandinavia. The aim is to reveal potential intended impacts on prehistoric viewers with offering first person experiences of architectural features.

Assessment of the available archaeological record will provide insights into the original extent and context of prehistoric megalithic structures. These data will be used to create image-based 3D reconstructions of these structures. Photogrammetry is deemed the best approach for creating an accurate model as it offers an inexpensive, portable and flexible solution to circumvent possible dimensions and location constraints. These 3D reconstructions of megalithic monumental structures can subsequently be displayed in VR space using freeware game engine software and low-cost VR hardware. The gathered and generated information should provide a deeper understanding of how monuments were experienced and, ideally, their performative role. A special focus will be on visual aspects, as a major impact of monuments on the viewer derives from their size, shape and the materials used. For example, on entering the monument, awareness of surface textures or confined spaces demanding specific postures. Additionally, this approach offers interpretative advantages by visualizing and testing hypotheses, providing immersive context and replicating possible visual experiences (e.g. simulating fire or smoke).
The resulting multidisciplinary approach of this project will offer a new perspective from which to discuss visualization aspects of the architecture of prehistoric monuments in Western Europe.