Studying woodworking technology on ancient shipwrecks through digital photography and photogrammetry

Abstract

Traceology is the discipline that studies anthropogenic, biological or use traces on any kind of material. This science through the study of wood used in shipbuilding offers the rare opportunity to study woodworking technology and so to apprehend the skills of past shipbuilders. Usually, traceology studies take place in laboratories, and only rarely are entire hulls or parts of them are extracted from the seabed. Therefore, a methodology for in situ documentation of woodworking was designed and applied to two Croatian shipwrecks:the Bronze Age shipwreck of Zambratija and the Roman barge of Kamensko.