|
|
Tritech's camera technology helps to map a Roman shipwreck
Created on
05 September 2008 by host
0 Comments | Categories: Industry News
A 3rd century AD Roman shipwreck site, off the coast of Sicily has been inspiring archaeologists with its array of historical treasures.
RPM Nautical Foundation has worked in partnership with the Superintendent's Office of Maritime Archaeology of Sicily for several years exploring the waters of the Egadi Islands off the North West coast of Sicily.
The wreck site was first discovered in May 2006 under 92 meters of water during a survey of the Sicilian coast. It was an enormous find with an artefact distribution suggesting it was once a vessel 15 - 20 meters long, possibly larger.
The postulated hull timbers that run in parallel along the central axis of the wreck site.
Objects recovered from the wreck site included ceramics, concretions and possibly hull timbers. These artefacts are currently undergoing extensive study to identify the date and further detail of the ship and its final journey. It is thought that the ships last port was in North Africa but it failed to ever reach its destination in Italy.
The merchant ship carried a mixed cargo probably including foodstuffs such as olive oil and grain, along with architectural building materials.
Dr. Jeff Royal, Archaeological Director of RPM commented:
"As these waters are deeper than can be effectively investigated by divers, RPM is constantly seeking the best technologies to accomplish archaeological surveys and excavations at such depths."
"One of our primary tasks this season was to make a high-quality photo-mosaic and subsequent site plan of the shipwreck. For this we experimented with the Tritech Typhoon Video Measuring System. The system incorporates a colour video camera and a laser measuring capability to obtain precise frame grabs which allowed us to build a mosaic. In this way we were able to successfully map the entire site."
Intriguing concretions found on the wreck site.
The archeologists were able to start their analysis and interpretation work as soon as the Typhoon images and data was received and this work will continue for several months.
RPM Nautical Foundation will present preliminary results on its website www.rpmnautical.org and detailed reports will be published by Dr. Royal and Dr. Sebastiano Tusa, Superintendent of Underwater Archaeology for Sicily, in archaeological journals.
Print this Article
Post Comment:
Rating:
Comments:
There are currently no comments, be the first to post one.