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Multi-Image Photogrammetry to Record and Reconstruct Underwater Shipwreck Sites

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Abstract

Methods to record shipwreck sites have evolved considerably in the past two decades. Digital technology and marine robotics regularly present faster and more precise ways to excavate, clean, tag, and record ship remains, while computers simplify many of the steps involved in the reconstruction of ships from their archaeological remains. At the same time, the internet is creating opportunities to share primary data in real time and on a wide scale. This paper presents a methodology used by the authors to record and reconstruct the wooden structures of a 19th-century shipwreck in southern Brazil (Lagoa do Peixe site) and of a 16th-century shipwreck in Croatia (the Gnalić shipwreck).

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to acknowledge the generous support of Dr. Peter and Nancy Amaral, longtime supporters of the ShipLAB, the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation, and the Croatian government, without whom these projects would not have been possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ship Reconstruction Laboratory, 105 Anthropology Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    K. Yamafune, R. Torres & F. Castro

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  1. K. Yamafune
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  2. R. Torres
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  3. F. Castro
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Correspondence to F. Castro.

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Yamafune, K., Torres, R. & Castro, F. Multi-Image Photogrammetry to Record and Reconstruct Underwater Shipwreck Sites. J Archaeol Method Theory 24, 703–725 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-016-9283-1

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