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High detail underwater measurements are critical for underwater archaeologists when documenting history. These measurements help archaeologists date artifacts, helping them to determine the age and origin of a ship wreck and ultimately determine the name of the ship. In order to completely understand an artifacts geometry, many measurements are required, taking hours for the archaeologists to collect and there is still the potential that measurements can be missed. The ULS-100 Underwater Laser Scanner captures thousands of measurements per second of any underwater structure or object. These measurements create a complete 3D model of the item being scanned, digitally preserving the artifact for measurements to be taken virtually at any time and even allowing replicas to be accurately manufactured.

How the ULS-100 will help

2G Robotics teamed up with Dr. Simon Spooner, President and Principal Investigator for the nonprofit Anglo~Danish Maritime Archaeological Team (ADMAT), to demonstrate the capability of this technology for artifact modeling. Maritime archaeologists from the Team are using the laser scanner to produce highly accurate rendered 3D models of the concretions. Concretions are iron objects which have been under water and have formed a “concrete” like shell around the artifact as a result of the chemical reaction of iron and sea water. The “concrete” concretion masks the artifact and has to be removed by electrolysis which takes a long time. Therefore a scaled 3D model of the concretion prior to the removal of the concretion is extremely useful. Taking accurate measurements from this scanner is quick and accurate and once the concretion has gone, it gives total information as to what the artifact in the concretion was like originally. These models will be kept for future reference and can be used for comparison and measuring the reduction in the concretion during the conservation and electrolysis of the artifact. Most shipwrecks have thousands of iron concretions and normally it is just not possible to measure all of them in detail. Now with the use of this scanner it is quick, and accurate. One scan measures the entire item giving the unique ability to access thousands of measurements without having to actually measure them by hand. With the image being digitized it also can be sent around the world to leading experts for further analysis which is another benefit.

Technology Demonstration

2G Robotics, under the supervision of Dr. Spooner, scanned a concretion of an adzs which was recovered from the French wreck called the “Tile Wreck”. The wreck is situated in Monte Cristi on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. ADMAT has been working with the Dominican Government Oficina Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural Subacuatico (ONPCS) for years to document the many historic shipwrecks around Monte Cristi.

History of the Wreck

An adzs is a tool used in the shipyard for forming timbers from rough form to measured curved frames. From the scientific analysis of the ships constructions and remaining artifacts, ADMAT believes that this ship sunk between 1720-1723. The wrecking process is being investigated so that ADMAT can ascertain the exact chain of events prior to the final moments of this ship. The information from the thousands of artifacts, including cannons anchors and faienceware, rescued from this wreck, are helping ADMAT’s research in the French archives. ADMAT are near to identifying this ship which was probably built in the 1690’s. ADMAT’s work can be followed by viewing their web page www.admat.org.uk

We can see where the wooden handle of the adzs was and has since rotted away. In addition to the adzs, the bottom of an exposed ceramic plate or bowl is also trapped in the concretion visible toward the top of the image and between the handle hole and the blade of the adzs.