Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Marine Archeology

In collaboration with: the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities (Greek Agency for Marine Archaeology), the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (Greek Oceanographic Center), and the National Technical University of Athens)

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) are being extensively developed today for ocean exploration and surveillance in several countries around the world. Marine Archaeology can benefit from these developments, since AUV offer unprecedented capability for mapping the ocean floor, at any depth, over large areas, for long periods of time, and at relatively small expense. In particular, the development of multiple-vehicle systems and AUVs with outstanding positioning capabilities will provide increased ability to map the ocean floor and retrieve objects and artifacts from the ocean floor.

Two cruises (2001, 2004) were conducted in the Aegean Sea, as a collaborative effort by MIT, HCMR, the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and the National Technical University of Athens The use of Odyssey-class vehicles for marine archaeology produced excellent results in identifying objects in the ocean floor and mapping archaeological marine sites.