Geophysical Prospecting for the Detection of Buried and Shallow Submerged Archaeological Sites of Roman Period in the Lagoon of Venice (Italy)

Abstract

We present a study that combines several marine geophysical techniques to detect and map archaeological sites from the Roman period in the shallow waters of the Venice Lagoon, Italy. We employed marine electrical resistivity tomography (M-ERT), a drone-based unmanned surface vehicle (USV) multibeam sonar, and subbottom profiler technology to overcome the challenges posed by low visibility in the inland waters. These methods were particularly effective in the shallow lagoon environment, where traditional boat-based surveys are often impractical. The study focused on the northern part of the Venice Lagoon, successfully mapping both known and suspected archaeological sites. The effectiveness of this combined approach was subsequently verified through direct underwater investigations conducted by archaeologists, demonstrating the potential of these geophysical techniques for underwater archaeological research in challenging shallow water environments.