The campaign for the digital mapping of the back of Capo Graziano’s dryer in Filicudiin the Aeolian Islands, one of the most important divers archaeological contexts of the Mediterranean. The project, created by the Superintendency of the Sea of the Sicilian Region in collaboration with the immersed technological startup, will allow to create a three -dimensional model of the area and the wrecks that are found in it. The intervention is part of a long -time strategy aimed at combining technological innovation, scientific research and protection of the cultural heritage submerged through a new paradigm: archaeological oceanography.
For some years, the Superintendence of the Sea has made a cultural itinerary submerged in the seabed around the dry of Capo Graziano, which can be visited by tourists in possession of a underwater patent and accompanied by authorized diving centers. On a seabed ranging from 5 to 30 meters deep, the itinerary allows you to admire numerous amphorae, lead and lithic anchors and even a wing of hydrofoil wrecked in the area, testifying to the danger, over the centuries and up to recent times, of dry. This form of traditional use will therefore soon be accompanied by the digital one allowing you to know above all the very deep wrecks, precluded to divers with a sports patent.
“This activity represents the first piece of a multi -year project – said the commissioner for cultural heritage and to the Sicilian identity Francesco Paolo Scarpinato – which aims to make the dry of Capo Graziano a laboratory pilot of preventive conservation and intelligent use of the submerged heritage. A place where science meets history and technology opens new horizons to knowledge and protection “.
The ultra detailed three -dimensional mapping of the seabed, the objective of the campaign, will take place through advanced underwater photogrammetric surveying techniques and integrated positioning. The digital model will be built starting from the images of 3D 360 ° stereoscopic rooms with very high resolution, combined with underwater navigation systems based on Dead Reckoning, a method for determining the underwater position based on route and speed, supported by environmental modules such as multiparametric probes and geochimic sensors.
The result will be a georeferential three -dimensional model of the seabed which represents a permanent and constantly updated scientific infrastructure. Within this map, in fact, the already known wrecks will be gradually located and digitized, as well as any new finds, accompanied by digital cards containing archaeological, geomorphological and environmental data. The system will be able to analyze over time the environmental and physical-chemical conditions of the finds, correlating them with data to process predictive risk and conservation models.
“In this way it will be possible to anticipate degradation scenarios, optimize monitoring strategies and support targeted protection and intervention decisions – adds Councilor Scarpinato – it is a pioneering approach in Europe, which defines new operational standards for the intelligent management of the underwater archaeological heritage”.
The area facing Capo Graziano has been known since the seventies thanks to the pioneering campaigns conducted by Luigi Bernabò Brea and Nino Lambogliawhich brought to light an extraordinary concentration of wrecks of different eras, in a limited but strategic area for ancient routes; Among the best known, the so -called Scogi wreck, which became famous for the suggestive “Piramide of amphorae” now exhibited at the Eooian Regional Archaeological Museum. After fifty years, the scientific activity resumes on this site with new tools with very high technology, capable of revealing the submerged potential in cultural, naturalistic and landscape terms. Capo Graziano preserves numerous wrecks who have stratified over the centuries, making study and documentation in the past. The new technology will allow you to create an updated and realistic map of the archaeological context of the Eolian seabed.