A LIVING SHIPWRECK: An integrated three-dimensional analysis for the understanding of site formation processes in archaeological shipwreck sites

Abstract

Since the birth of maritime archaeology in the mid-twentieth century, shipwreck archaeology has occupied a predominant role in the research undertaken in the field. Shipwreck sites have enabled further understanding of shipbuilding technologies and traditions, trade routes and traded goods, as well as life on board ancient vessels. Excavating, interpreting and preserving underwater sites is a complex endeavour that requires the analysis of multiple aspects, not least the environmental and biological characteristics affecting the site and the archaeological record. Wreck site formation processes (WSFPs) theory has been extensively employed in the approach to the excavation, documentation and interpretation of archaeological shipwreck sites, since its inception by Keith Muckelroy in 1978. WSFPs allow to better understand the preserved archaeological record and to clarify the course of events which have affected the shipwreck site in the full extent of its archaeological context. The present paper aims to present an innovative approach to better understanding these processes. Employing a multidisciplinary approach, the research has used three-dimensional recording and modelling techniques, together with archaeological and biological data, in order to model the amphora cargo mound of the 4th century BCE Mazotos shipwreck (Cyprus). 3D photogrammetric models of the shipwreck site have been paired with the 3D photogrammetric models of the lifted amphorae bearing sediment and biogenic horizons marks on their walls, in order to attempt a reconstruction of the environment and sedimentation processes at the site. While the combination of the 3D site and amphora reconstructions allow to create a model frozen in time (i.e. the time of excavation), the sedimentation and biological information adds to the model the fourth dimension (time), shedding light on the natural SFP dynamics that have affected the site. The sediment horizons and encrusting communities’ marks on the amphora surfaces account for dynamic processes of burial/exposure as well as artefacts dislocation, allowing to better characterize the initial model and better interpret the available archaeological record.