#MAREMonday 44

On 02.02.2026 we present the 44th session of our online lecture series with a contribution of

Konstantinos Merkouris
(University of Patras)

Remote Sensing in Underwater Archaeology: Exploration, Identification, and Documentation of the submerged cultural heritage site of Grotta, Naxos, Greece

Abstract:

The Mediterranean basin hosts a large number of underwater archaeological sites, the result of long-standing human activity along its coastal zones. These environments, favorable for early settlement and the development of trade, preserve valuable information about the historical trajectories of past societies. However, despite their considerable archaeological significance, shallow-submerged areas remain a “blind spot” between terrestrial and deep-water environments, as a clear and comprehensive methodological framework for their systematic documentation and study has yet to be established.

Recent technological advances have enabled underwater cultural heritage research to enter a new era, enabling the detailed recording of these complex environments and offering new possibilities by overcoming the difficulties and limitations of traditional methods of previous decades, reaching areas that are difficult or hazardous for human divers and research vessels.

Applied to the semi-submerged site of Grotta on Naxos, in Greece, this study introduces a new perspective on the documentation of shallow water sites through the use of a tailor-made robotic vessel equipped with integrated geophysical and optical sensors. The results of this work reveal that this adaptive approach enables multi-level data acquisition with high metrical accuracy and enhanced operational efficiency, offering a promising methodological direction for future shallow-water archaeological research across coastal sites.