The contribution of marine geophysical methods to Underwater archaeology: A chronicle of their application in Greece

Abstract

THIS paper highlights the significance of Underwater archaeology in solving issues that generally concern the scientific community such as the role played by coastal geomorphology in the evolution and dispersal of humankind and the development of cultural complexity, the commercial and cultural interaction, marine routes and the development of navigation in antiquity. However, answering such questions becomes difficult and time-consuming by conventional Underwater archaeology research methods. Over the last decades, the contribution of marine geophysical methods has been widely accepted as very important or even utterly essential, as these can be applied to all fields of underwater archaeological research. This paper summarises the different types of marine remote sensing techniques, as well as the advantages of their application. Finally, attention is focused on presenting a brief chronicle of the application of marine geophysical methods to Underwater archaeology in Greece.