The potential of seismic imaging in marine archaeological site investigations

Introduction Over the last decades marine acoustic techniques have become a successful investigation tool in archaeological studies, often focused on nearshore areas. The most commonly applied techniques involve side-scan sonar and multibeam systems, aimed to identify archaeological artefacts lying on the seabed. However, the main disadvantage of those techniques is that they cannot penetrate the subsurface. The marine seismic method, due to its penetration capacity, allows the detection and imaging of submerged archaeological objects. The steady development towards very high and ultra-high resolutions2 has made the seismic technique a major asset in site-specific archaeological research.