Prospects for using sonar for underwater archeology on the Yenisei: surveying a 19th century shipwreck

[摘要] Current progress in underwater archeology is based on a rich arsenal of high-tech appliances, among which sonar technology plays a key role; it enables scientists not only to detect submerged archeological objects, but to examine them in high definition without having to conduct diving operations or use expensive underwater unmanned vehicles. While the majority of sensational scientific discoveries using sonar have been made in saltwater environments, freshwater ones, rivers in particular, have seen limited activity. The river Yenisei in central Siberia contains an unrecorded number of shipwrecks that await being discovered and studied. In this article we focus on the peculiarities of using sonar for detecting archeological sites on the Yenisei. This article is based on the results of the 2016 expedition, which has determined the location of Thames, a 19thcentury British steam schooner which was wrecked on the Yenisei.

[发布机构] Reshetnev Siberian State Aerospace University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia^1

[学科分类] 航空航天科学

[关键词] echo sounding;fishfinder;Northern sea routes;shipwrecks;Side scan sonar;Thames;underwater archeology;Yenisei