The Ribadeo I Wreck—Multi-Year Photogrammetric Survey of a Spanish Galleon of the Second Armada

Abstract

There are multiple approaches to bridging the gap between the relatively new world of three-dimensional survey and so-called reality-capture with traditional recording conventions and archaeological interpretative processes, challenges that have been encountered during the various fieldwork campaigns undertaken on the Ribadeo I wreck. Questions discussed in this paper include: does every team member need to be a 3D expert? Does a 3D specialist need to be an archaeologist? Is it enough to have a specialist 3D ‘navigator’, someone who can drive the software through the data and act as a guide to a wider team to deliver their own interpretation of the evidence? When conventional outputs are required, including plans, sections, profiles and other nautical-specific views, how can these be efficiently generated from the available photogrammetry and presented to provide comparable information to those who speak and require this type of visual language? This paper does not provide simple or definitive answers to these questions. However, the work undertaken so far on Ribadeo I can offer some contributions to current discussions and consider the challenges within the context of an internationally important shipwreck and work that is necessarily limited by available time and funds.

Keywords

• nautical archaeology
• photogrammetry
• methodology
• galleon
• 16th-century
• Spain