Abstract
Sub-bottom systems able to distinguish poles less
than 10 cm in diameter embedded in the sea-floor sediments have
been used since 1994 to map submerged archaeological pole
structures, such as harbours and defensive barrages intended to
protect against naval attacks, located in relatively shallow water.
This approach has proved its worth in providing fast and cheap
large-scale information about the horizontal configurations of
such structures, making it possible to distinguish and target
zones that, with excavation, can elucidate central archaeological
problems. For instance, this method has permitted the
identification of repeated repair phases in large-scale
constructions, which would have been extremely time-consuming
and much more expensive to distinguish and map in the
conventional way, with an excavation carried out by divers. A
precondition for success is precise positioning of the recorded
features, allowing a diver subsequently to be directed to them
with a real precision (not a statistical one) of a few decimetres.
This paper presents some examples of the application of this
technique from several central archaeological sites dating from
the Iron Age, Viking Age and the Medieval period, such as the
harbours at Haithabu, Germany, and Vordingborg and
Jungshoved, Denmark, as well as barrages against naval attack
located in Haderslev Fjord, Kerteminde Fjord and Jungshoved
Vig, Denmark. It discusses cost-effective verification strategies,
including collection of samples for radiocarbon dating,
dendrochronological dating etc. The science explaining how the
poles can be distinguished acoustically is also discussed.
than 10 cm in diameter embedded in the sea-floor sediments have
been used since 1994 to map submerged archaeological pole
structures, such as harbours and defensive barrages intended to
protect against naval attacks, located in relatively shallow water.
This approach has proved its worth in providing fast and cheap
large-scale information about the horizontal configurations of
such structures, making it possible to distinguish and target
zones that, with excavation, can elucidate central archaeological
problems. For instance, this method has permitted the
identification of repeated repair phases in large-scale
constructions, which would have been extremely time-consuming
and much more expensive to distinguish and map in the
conventional way, with an excavation carried out by divers. A
precondition for success is precise positioning of the recorded
features, allowing a diver subsequently to be directed to them
with a real precision (not a statistical one) of a few decimetres.
This paper presents some examples of the application of this
technique from several central archaeological sites dating from
the Iron Age, Viking Age and the Medieval period, such as the
harbours at Haithabu, Germany, and Vordingborg and
Jungshoved, Denmark, as well as barrages against naval attack
located in Haderslev Fjord, Kerteminde Fjord and Jungshoved
Vig, Denmark. It discusses cost-effective verification strategies,
including collection of samples for radiocarbon dating,
dendrochronological dating etc. The science explaining how the
poles can be distinguished acoustically is also discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | IEEE Xplore Digital Library |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jul 2017 |