European Research Program for the Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Mediterranean www.imareculture.eu

The Maritime Archaeological Research Laboratory (MareLab) of the Department of History and Archeology of the University of Cyprus, is participating in a three-year research project worth 2.7 M €, entitled iMareCulture, coordinated by Dr. Dimitris Skarlatos, Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering and Geoinformatics Engineering of the Cyprus University of Technology. This proposal was submitted for the H2020 CULT-COOP-08-2016 call: Virtual museums and social platform on European digital heritage, memory, identity and cultural interaction, under the Research and Innovation (RIA) actions.

 

iMareCulture focuses on strengthening the European identity, by emphasizing its underwater cultural heritage. Shipwrecks and harbours, irrefutable witnesses to the rich maritime activity that has brought together all Mediterranean people, during their long history, are usually remotely located and inaccessible to the general public. The aim of the program is to develop innovative virtual and augmented reality methods to bring underwater archaeological sites closer to non-experts. Web applications as well as applications at museums will give visitors the opportunity to tour the site of an underwater wreck. An underwater Tablet device using augmented reality will be developed to facilitate underwater visits to the sites themselves.

 

MareLab's role in the program is multi-faceted. It includes the validation and verification of the archaeological data used in the applications regarding ancient ships, routes and trade and also of the underwater archaeological research and excavation methods. The underwater excavation of the Mazotos shipwreck will play a key role, as it will be used as a point of reference for the digital applications related to ancient shipwrecks. The selection criteria were in fact the pioneering methods of documentation and excavation implemented at the site from the beginning of its investigation.

 

Further to CUT and the University of Cyprus, the scientific team comprises of other universities, foundations and small and medium-sized enterprises from eight European and American countries, with experience in a variety of submarine recordings and documentation:

 

MASARYKOVA UNNIVERZITA (CZ),

 

The program is supported by the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), CIPA Heritage Documentation, TEXAS A&M University, CONCODRIA University, National Technical University of Athens, International Council of Monuments and Sites CY (ICOMOS), Europeana Hellas.