The application you are currently holding presents a medieval silver ore mining site called “Buchberg” located near the village of Utín/Uttendorf in the Vysočina Region, which dated back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Archaeologists have been able to not only precisely define the extent of the mining area there but also identify all relicts associated with silver mining and processing. They have applied a combination of different non-destructive methods such as surface collection, visual investigation, area-based geophysical exploration, 3D digital documentation and remote sensing data analysis, the results of which were supplemented with smaller-scale excavations. Based on the data obtained, it was possible to create a 3D virtual reconstruction of the entire site. Moreover, the reconstruction became the basis for the application and will allow you a virtual tour through the entire mining area with the adjacent production district.

The application is divided into two main parts, each of which operates independently and provides information in different ways. If you want to engage in a thrilling story that took place in Buchberg on September 22nd, in the year of our Lord 1269, you can play a game – the Devil’s Adit. You will perform various tasks in the environment of virtual and augmented reality, and the game will carry you through nine stops, including underground mining galleries. It will take you about 90 minutes. If you are interested mainly in facts about medieval mining, you can use the Encyclopaedia section of the application. The virtual guide shall guide you through a total number of eight stops where you will get familiarised with the operating of the mining complex at Buchberg through virtual and augmented reality. You can use the map with an indication of your current position. The complete survey of the site shall take you about an hour.

The application was developed as part of the VirtualArch project of the INTERREG Central Europe transnational cooperation programme financed by the European Regional Development Fund. On the research and presentation of the Buchberg archaeological site have cooperated two institutions: the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, and the Institute of Archaeology and Museology of Masaryk University in Brno (Chief researchers: Petr Hrubý, Jan Mařík; 3D processing: Martin Košťál, Michal Vágner, Jiří Unger; game: Michal Vágner; cartoon illustrations: Michal Kocourek; application development: Best Sequence, Mathesio).