The Rise of 3D in Maritime Archaeology

McCarthy, J.; Benjamín, Jonathan; Winton, Trevor; Duivenvoorde, Wendy van

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-03635-5_1

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(45 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Rapidly evolving digital technologies have been integrated into underwater archaeological practices at a swift rate, owing to the challenges presented by elements such as depth, visibility, temperature, and currents [5]. Originally used by the authors to record and document underwater sites, it was quickly realized that these digital assets also had value as a means to communicate UCH to those who are not able to visit the sites in situ.…”

Section: Malta and The Development Of Underwater Cultural Heritage Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main aim behind this was the creation of a single widely accessible space where members of the public can explore multiple UCH sites as 3D reconstructions or through virtual reality (VR). The versatility and success of tools such as 3D models and VR for cultural heritage purposes have already been demonstrated [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21], establishing them as fundamental tools that "can be applied to the world of cultural heritage as a vessel for preservation, reconstruction, documentation, research and promotion" [22] (p. 42).…”

Section: Malta and The Development Of Underwater Cultural Heritage Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The development of the Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) in the 1940s by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emil Gagnan brought the seabed within human reach. In subsequent years, the discovery and subsequent excavation of sites such as the Cape Gelidonya and Uluburun wrecks demonstrated that scientific excavation and documentation underwater were possible [5]. The following decades were witness to a verifiable explosion of underwater exploration, excavation, and exploitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Making the Invisible Visible: Underwater Malta—A Virtual Museum for Submerged Cultural Heritage

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The seabed can be considered as the world’s largest museum, and underwater sites explored and studied so far provide priceless information on human interaction with the sea. In recognition of the importance of this cultural resource, UNESCO, in its 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, determined that objects/sites should be preserved in situ, whilst also advocating for public access and sharing. The implementation of these principles is not without difficulties. Some states have opened up underwater sites to the public—mainly through diving, yet the vast majority of the world’s population does not dive. In Malta, 7000 years of human occupation is reflected in and on the landscape, and recent offshore surveys show that the islands’ long and complex history has also left an indelible mark on the seabed. Besides difficulties related to their protection and management, these sites also present a challenge with regard to sharing and communicating. Recent advances in underwater imaging and processing software have accelerated the development of 3D photogrammetry of submerged sites and the idea for a virtual museum was born. The virtual museum, UnderwaterMalta, was created out of a need to share the plethora of underwater sites located on the seabed of the Maltese Islands. A multitude of digital tools are used to share and communicate these sites, offering visitors a dry dive into submerged sites that would otherwise remain invisible to the vast majority of the public. This paper discusses the basic principle of the sharing of underwater cultural heritage and the difficulties that beset the implementation of such a principle. A detailed explanation and evaluation of the methods used to gather the raw data needed is set in the context of the particular and unique working conditions related to deep water sites. The workings of this paper are based on first-hand experiences garnered through the recording of numerous wrecks over the years and the creation and launch of The Virtual Museum-Underwater Malta—a comprehensive virtual museum specifically built for “displaying” underwater archaeological sites that are otherwise invisible to the general public.

show abstract

Section: Malta and The Development Of Underwater Cultural Heritage Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Malta and The Development Of Underwater Cultural Heritage Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Making the Invisible Visible: Underwater Malta—A Virtual Museum for Submerged Cultural Heritage

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Since then, interest in this technique in the field has been growing with the arrival of digital technology, thanks also to the implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) and the creation of digital terrain models (DTM). The book “3D Recording and Interpretation for Maritime Archaeology” [ 27 ] reports several contributions to the topic and numerous reviews in which techniques for underwater measurements are explored. Among them, some examples can be found in the creation of networks of control points for an accurate positioning system or in the creation of 2D models and 3D reconstructions of wrecks, with a comparison among different approaches [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Enhanced Photogrammetric Approach for the Underwater Surveying of the Posidonia Meadow Structure in the Spiaggia Nera Area of Maratea

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Posidonia oceanica meadows represent a fundamental biological indicator for the assessment of the marine ecosystem’s state of health. They also play an essential role in the conservation of coastal morphology. The composition, extent, and structure of the meadows are conditioned by the biological characteristics of the plant itself and by the environmental setting, considering the type and nature of the substrate, the geomorphology of the seabed, the hydrodynamics, the depth, the light availability, the sedimentation speed, etc. In this work, we present a methodology for the effective monitoring and mapping of the Posidonia oceanica meadows by means of underwater photogrammetry. To reduce the effect of environmental factors on the underwater images (e.g., the bluish or greenish effects), the workflow is enhanced through the application of two different algorithms. The 3D point cloud obtained using the restored images allowed for a better categorization of a wider area than the one made using the original image elaboration. Therefore, this work aims at presenting a photogrammetric approach for the rapid and reliable characterization of the seabed, with particular reference to the Posidonia coverage.

show abstract

“…For instance, when the wreck at Uluburun was discovered, the divers had to conduct up to 22,413 dives to depths between 44 and 61 m [14]. With the development of acoustic and optical technology, devices such as scanning sonar can obtain data of underwater targets with high precision and high resolution [15]. In the Thistlegorm Project, underwater photogrammetry was used in the survey of a shipwreck and proved to be an important tool for acquiring high-quality images, even in an unfavourable underwater environment [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation of Terrain Variations of an Underwater Ancient Town in Qiandao Lake

Yang

Zhang

et al. 2020

Remote Sensing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The underwater ancient town of Chunan is of great importance in archaeology and tourism. Hence, the efficient mapping and monitoring of the topographical changes in this town are essential. An attractive choice for the efficient mapping of underwater archaeology is the multibeam echo sounder system (MBES). The MBES has several advantages including noncontact survey, high precision, and low cost. In this study, the topographical changes of the ancient town under Qiandao Lake were quantitatively assessed on the basis of time-series MBES data collected in 2002 and 2015. First, the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm was applied to eliminate the coordinate deviations between two point sets. Second, the robust estimation method was used to analyse the characterisations of the terrain variations of the town on the basis of the differences between the two matched point sets. Obvious topographical changes ranging from −0.89 m to 0.88 m were observed in a number of local areas in the town. On the global scale, the mean absolute value of the depth change in the town was merely 0.12 m, which indicated a weak global deformation pattern. The experiment proved the effectiveness of applying MBES data to analyse the deformation of the ancient town. The results are beneficial to the study of underwater ancient towns and the development of protection strategies.

show abstract

The Rise of 3D in Maritime Archaeology

Cited by 13 publications

References 54 publications

Making the Invisible Visible: Underwater Malta—A Virtual Museum for Submerged Cultural Heritage

Making the Invisible Visible: Underwater Malta—A Virtual Museum for Submerged Cultural Heritage

An Enhanced Photogrammetric Approach for the Underwater Surveying of the Posidonia Meadow Structure in the Spiaggia Nera Area of Maratea

Characterisation of Terrain Variations of an Underwater Ancient Town in Qiandao Lake

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About