Archaeological Exploration, Excavation, and Analysis for a Richer Interpretation of the Past Chola Heritage City- Poompuhar

Abstract

The article deals with the process of collecting underwater data from the historical area in South India and explicitly showcasing its ancient civilization. Various methods are used to investigate the environmental and structural variables that regulate the coastal structures. Geostatistical interpolation is a technique to predict the values of a spatially continuous bathymetry or depth of a submerged shoreline from a few sample data measurements. The bathymetric investigation of the submerged region surrounding the ancient port of Poompuhar consists of numerous processes conducted in stages. The survey was carried out with the use of an integrated measuring system developed by the National Institute of Technology, Chennai, which included various levels of Multi Beam Echo Sounder (MBES), GPS, sonar, and ROV. To discover continuous surfaces required for analyzing the morphology of the bottom of submerged Poompuhar, a suitable interpolation technique must be used to get estimated values in regions that were not physically surveyed. Bathymetric and topographic data, which typically are gathered independently for various purposes, were included in the spatial data used for elevation surface modeling. Data is gathered in multiple forms with varying resolutions and accuracy; as a result, a standard surface model that will allow for quick and accurate analysis is currently lacking. The major purpose of this study was to create a high-accuracy model of a coastal area's surface using input data from numerous sources. ArcGIS is a popular software platform for analyzing and visualizing geographic data, and it contains several geostatistical interpolation techniques. The research involves the erosion of the shoreline as well as the rise in water level. The study uncovered new scientific and methodological information on Poompuhar's bathymetric properties and submerged surface.