The Asahi Shimbun Displays: Containing the divine a sculpture of the Pacific god A'a
This example project on devfab.io uses the annotations that are stored in the Sketchfab model and presents them in a scrollable format.
One of the Pacific's most famous sculptures, this is a figure of a creator god, probably A'a, of the island of Rurutu in the Austral Islands. Its features are formed of thirty small human figures - appropriate for a god of creation. A'a was carved with a hollow head and torso covered by a panel at the back. The cavity may have been designed to hold the skull and bones of a deified ancestor. The British Museum acknowledges contemporary cultural perspectives associated with the objects in its collection. Please note: cultural rights may apply to this object.
3D model by Thomas Flynn, Canon G7x + Agisoft Photoscan
God figure known as A'a, carved in anthropomorphic form with 30 small figures over surface of the body and making up the facial features. A lidded cavity in back.
17thC (before 1821 (see curatorial comments)) (before 1821 (see curatorial comments))
Height: 116.80 centimetres
Width: 36 centimetres
Depth: 36 centimetres
In November 2015, wood samples taken from inside the figure were tested by British Museum scientists and found to be Sandalwood. The wood was too deteriorated to be definitive about the species but it is likely to be Santalum insulare. This information was fed back to the island of Rurutu and the Council of Elders met to discuss it. The Elders chose not to accept the Sandalwood finding, preferring to uphold their own histories which state that A'a was carved from pua wood (Fagraea berteriana). At the same time wood samples from inside the figure's cavity were radiocarbon dated by the Socttish Universities Environmental Research Centre. The results suggest that A'a was carved at some point between 1591 and 1647.