Digitising Wrecks on the Foreshore: The Case of a Seventeenth-Century Wreck in Brittany, France

Marine Jaouen (1, 2) , Olivia Hulot (2) , Eric Rieth (3) , Sammy Bertoliatti

1 TEMOS - Temps, Mondes, Sociétés
2 DRASSM - Département des Recherches Archéologiques Subaquatiques et Sous-Marines [Marseille]
3 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Studying archaeological sites on the foreshore gives rise to its own set of specific problems. Historical wrecks buried in the sands at intertidal zones usually come to our notice through natural erosion or human activities, or both. Such threats affecting the sites can also accelerate their deterioration, even their obliteration. Intertidal wrecks are evidently a precious and irreplaceable testimony of maritime heritage, and yet they are very fragile. It is a real challenge for researchers to find adequate ways to study them. One such study undertaken in France focused on the small tonnage ship known as Erquy-les-Hôpitaux on the Brittany coast. This was a small coaster, which carried mainly lime mortar and foundered in the seventeenth century. In 2015 DRASSM, France's Underwater Archaeology Research Department, conducted a special study of this wreck in order to define and assess various approaches to collecting archaeological data. The first phase of the study looked at three-dimensional digitisation techniques. Generating a 3D model of the wreck enabled the archaeologists to continue their studies after the excavation, and in greater detail. It also proved to be a valuable asset for presenting the project to the general public. Most foreshore sites of archaeological interest are subject to the action of the tide, a constraint which requires archaeologists to rethink their usual methods for working on land or underwater. They also have to define technological tools that allow them to document artefacts effectively and in a short period of time, in particular, the merits of 3D laser scanning compared to photogrammetry.

Mots clés: Wreck; coaster; 17th century; foreshore; digitisation

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Marine Jaouen, Olivia Hulot, Eric Rieth, Sammy Bertoliatti. Digitising Wrecks on the Foreshore: The Case of a Seventeenth-Century Wreck in Brittany, France. Internationaler Kongreß für Unterwasserarchäologie, 2016, Fremantle, Australia. ⟨hal-03212411⟩