Telepresence-Enabled Maritime Archaeological Exploration in the Deep

Telepresence-enabled exploration of deep sea environments has developed over the past 30 years, providing access to archaeologists, scientists, and the general public to sites otherwise inaccessible due to depth. Pioneered through the inception of the JASON Project in the late 1980 s, telepresence missions have expanded to two dedicated ships of exploration, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer and exploration vessel Nautilus, and has been implemented on a series of opportunistic missions on other vessels. This paper chronicles the history of the use of telepresence for the exploration of shipwrecks in deep water as well as how this capability has allowed the public to engage with such missions. Broadening the scope of who can explore the deep sea, telepresence has also expanded what is observed and documented in the deep, which speaks to humanity’s use of the maritime world and an archaeology of discard through our material disposed of into the deep sea.     

An empirical evaluation of copper procurement and distribution: elemental analysis of Scioto Valley Hopewell copper

In prehistoric North America, artifacts of copper occupy a position of prominence in the Hopewell societies of Ohio’s Scioto Valley. These artifacts also represent the social contacts and long-distance interactions that brought copper to the Scioto Valley. Yet, our understanding of Hopewell copper acquisition, and the movement of copper artifacts within the social networks of the Scioto Valley and beyond, has been limited due to the limited availability of geochemical data concerning provenance and variability. We begin to develop the foundation for understanding these important social issues by analyzing the elemental variability of Hopewell copper through the use of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We analyze 24 samples from four known copper source regions and 52 samples from 6 prominent sites in the Scioto Valley. Results suggest that a majority of the artifacts are consistent with sources in the Great Lakes, with a plurality classified as Isle Royale. However, 21% of Scioto Hopewell copper artifacts were most consistent with southern Appalachian sources. High elemental variability argues against simple models of copper acquisition and suggests that different social groups had access to a variety of copper sources through varying social networks. Native copper regardless of source seems to have been channeled along similar social and symbolic pathways. Our results suggest that instead of being derived from the struggle to access a specific source, value is derived from the social relationships represented by the copper and the connotation of exotic connection embodied in both style and material.     

The Use of Menthol as Temporary Consolidant in the Excavation of Qin Shihuang's Terracotta Army

Temporary consolidation is widely used to protect delicate artefacts or other fragile relics in art conservation. Although cyclododecane is extensively accepted, the safety‐related issues have become an increasing concern and its short working time is always annoying. Inspired by its low melting point, polar structure, well‐established safety profile, easy local availability and low cost, we propose menthol as a new temporary consolidant on the new excavation site of Qin Shihuang's Terracotta Army. In this paper, we offer a preliminarily exploration of the kinetics of menthol sublimation on two different matrices, its residue after volatilization, its penetrability and distribution in simulated terracotta samples, as well as other important properties in the laboratory. The results obtained from these tests reveal that the sublimation of menthol can be a zero‐ or a first‐order process, depending on the porosity of the matrices, and its best operational temperature resides in the range of 60–80°C. Finally, two field cases at the archaeological site of Qin Shihuang's Terracotta Army are presented to show that menthol is a very effective temporary consolidant.     

Laser scanning for the documentation and management of heritage sites within the Emirate of Fujairah,United Arab Emirates

The Emirate of Fujairah in the UAE has many important cultural and archaeological sites. These include the Fujairah and Al‐Bithnah forts and the Al‐Bidyah Mosque. With increasing tourism patronage and development of major infrastructure projects in and around Fujairah, these sites are increasingly under threat. Their present condition requires careful mapping for proper management and future preservation efforts. This paper presents a research project that is developing a method for surveying and recording important archaeological sites. Using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), a number of surveys were undertaken in and around the emirate. These surveys enabled a documentation of their present condition and will form an ongoing baseline study to monitor the impact of increased tourist patronage and climate change at these sites. We also investigate and make basic comparisons between our approach and the Structure from Motion (SfM) technique.     

Multiphase flow simulation through porous media with explicitly resolved fractures

Accurate simulation of multiphase flow in fractured porous media remains a challenge. An important problem is the representation of the discontinuous or near discontinuous behaviour of saturation in real geological formations. In the classical continuum approach, a refined mesh is required at the interface between fracture and porous media to capture the steep gradients in saturation and saturation‐dependent transport properties. This dramatically increases the computational load when large numbers of fractures are present in the numerical model. A discontinuous finite element method is reported here to model flow in fractured porous media. The governing multiphase porous media flow equations are solved in the adaptive mesh computational fluid dynamics code IC‐FERST on unstructured meshes. The method is based on a mixed control volume – discontinuous finite element formulation. This is combined with the P_N+1DG‐P_NDG element pair, which has discontinuous (order N+1) representation for velocity and discontinuous (order N) representation for pressure. A number of test cases are used to evaluate the method's ability to model fracture flow. The first is used to verify the performance of the element pair on structured and unstructured meshes of different resolution. Multiphase flow is then modelled in a range of idealised and simple fracture patterns. Solutions with sharp saturation fronts and computational economy in terms of mesh size are illustrated.