Non-invasive remote sensing techniques, such as shallow seismic acoustic imaging methods, are frequently used to explore palaeo-landscapes hidden below seabed, to survey and map underwater archaeological sites. This includes identification of buried archaeological artefacts, such as shipwrecks or artificial constructions from the past.
A parametric multi-transducer sub-bottom profiler was applied to image the archaeological site of the medieval harbour of Puck, one of the largest medieval harbours in the Baltic Sea. The acquired high-resolution 3D shallow seismic dataset allowed the identification of a previously unknown and buried wooden shipwreck, to outline the harbour boundary of the medieval port and to trace the palaeo-channel of the local Plutnica River in the Puck Bay.
This case study focuses on the results of the sub-bottom profiler survey, but data were fused with results from other remote underwater sensing surveys at the heritage site of Puck during an extensive investigation, such as multibeam and photogrammetric surveys.
