3D RECORDING OF UNDERWATER ANTIQUITIES IN THE SOUTH EUBOEAN GULF

Abstract

An underwater archaeological survey was initiated in 2006 by the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology in collaboration with the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of Greece, in the South Euboean Gulf. The survey is being conducted under the direction of the archaeologist Dr G. Koutsouflakis and in the course of the project important shipwrecks of Classical, Roman, and Byzantine periods have been brought to light, adding tangible evidence on ancient seafaring and maritime trade. The South Euboean Gulf archaeological survey has presented many challenges to the documentation team of H.I.M.A, and has served as a case-study for 3D recording applied on ancient wrecks, found at medium depths (22-47m) and under the conditions that are imposed during an archaeological survey of a certain geographical region. This paper focuses on the implementation of photogrammetric and geodetic techniques used for acquisition and processing of collected data, in order to generate 3D models for six different wrecks, resulting in a fast, reliable and cost efficient method to record underwater archaeological sites.