The Herakles project: Towards a minimum intervention methodology for the study of Underwater Cultural Heritage in harbour complex spaces

CEREZO, FELIPE; SOLANA RUBIO, SOLEDAD; GONZÁLEZ GALLERO, RAÚL; SALAS ROMERO, RAÚL; CIARLO, NICOLÁS C.; PÉREZ-REVERTE MAÑAS, CARLOTA; BETTENCOURT, JOSÉ; FERNÁNDEZ TUDELA, ELISA; ARÉVALO GONZÁLEZ, ALICIA

Gwangju

Congreso; 5th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage; 2023

The Museum of Underwater Archaeology

In recent years, several researchers are focusing their efforts on the development of documentation methods and techniques according to the principles of minimal and non-intrusive intervention on underwater cultural heritage (UCH), as advocated by the UNESCO 2001 Convention. These methods have been used successfully to locate and document some shipwrecks without excavation. However, few works have succeeded in investigating and extracting all available information from an underwater archaeological site with the minimum possible intervention. Within the framework of the Herakles project, we have developed a working methodology that aims to apply different non-intrusive techniques for the documentation and research of the UCH. We have developed a field workflow that has allowed us to document 35 shipwrecks in just one year, identify 151 archaeology sites and deepen our knowledge of a privileged nautical space such as the Strait of Gibraltar. We have used geophysical methods with USV survey, magnetometer, sub-bottom profiler, photogrammetry either with ROV or scientific diving, underwater GPS survey and in situ archaeological monitoring and drawing. All data have been processed in a geographic information system for management and risk analysis of this UCH. Finally, this work methodology has been useful for generating virtual resources such as 3D models or 3600 videos.