Prevention
Underwater cultural heritage discoveries often occur during near-shore and offshore development projects, and in a number of cases, from onshore development projects on what was once submerged land. These include the placement of underwater cables and pipelines, harbour development projects, dredging, and coastal construction.
A wide range of impacts are caused by marine industries on the seabed and in some instances these impacts may affect archaeological remains associated with the seabed or buried in sediments beneath the seabed.
Today thanks to the development of advanced marine geophysical techniques and sophisticated underwater vehicles (HOVs, ROVs, AUVs) operating from big oceanographic vessels spectacular discoveries of ancient shipwrecks in deep waters have been possible
The development of user-friendly, purpose-designed techniques for the high resolution survey, early detection and mapping of archaeological sites and prehistoric landscapes in shallow waters is a major challenge for the broad marine geo-archaeological and marine technology community.
Wreck in Baia Salinedda, Italy, 3d century, E.Trainito @UNESCO
The role of archaeologists in understanding and preventing the impacts of marine industries on the prehistoric environment
In order to help educate and inform maritime industries about the nature of the archaeological problems of submerged prehistory it is important that as an industry we are clear about what our aims and objectives are when we consider developing projects in the marine sector. Too often we only have vague notions of what we mean when we discuss the prehistoric record, and there is little consideration for examples, that approaches to late Palaeolithic/Holocene pre-histories require different strategies to those dealing with the lower and middle Palaeolithic.
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Innovative, non-destructive techniques and methodologies for the survey and the exploration of submerged cultural remains on the shallow and deep seafloor
Remote sensing techniques have found wide application in underwater archaeological surveys, particularly in deep waters and self areas. With their use large areas of the seafloor can be surveyed in detail at almost any depth and in very short time. Spectacular discoveries of ancient shipwrecks in deep waters have been possible with the use of advanced marine geophysical techniques and sophisticated underwater vehicles (HOVs, ROVs, AUVs) operating from big oceanographic vessels.
Opposite to deep water research, very few archaeological survey in the shallow coastal zone have incorporated remote sensing techniques for the mapping or detection of archaeological remains.
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