Digital heritage visualisations are always interpretations. They emerge from fragmented archaeological evidence, informed by comparative analogies and shaped by the expertise and judgement of the visualisation team. Making these interpretive decisions visible is a core principle of modern heritage practice (London Charter, 2009). Transparency helps diverse audiences recognise that a 3D model is not a definitive truth but a carefully reasoned hypothesis. At the same time, documentation of sources and decisions enables researchers to critically evaluate the work and reuse its findings in diverse ways, enriching the wider knowledge base.
The PURE3D Project was established to address this need for transparency by developing an infrastructure for the preservation and publication of 3D scholarship. Central to this initiative is the concept of the 3D Scholarly Edition, a framework that presents 3D models together with their evidence, interpretive reasoning and narrative context in a unified, interactive environment (Schreibman & Papadopoulos, 2019).
With this in mind, this tour shifts focus from what we know about the Late Roman castellum of Maastricht to a behind‑the‑scenes account of how the 3D environment was created and how it may support future investigations of this site and other Roman locations in the region.