Surveying and monitoring submerged archaeological sites in inland waters through a multiproxy strategy: The case of Dolmen de Guadalperal and other sites from Valdecañas reservoir (Spain)

Abstract

The evolving dynamics of climate change and water resource management present unique challenges for the research and conservation of archaeological heritage, particularly within reservoirs. The Dolmen of Guadalperal in Spain and its surrounding archaeological sites exemplify such a scenario. This study is dedicated to the development and application of a comprehensive methodology for archaeological documentation and site detection, integrating an array of approaches including Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) from Sentinel-1, photogrammetric restitution using historical imagery and geometric recording of sites with diverse sensing equipment. A distinctive aspect of this research lies in juxtaposing multibeam sonar data, typically associated with underwater surveys, with standard land-based documentation methods like photogrammetry and LiDAR. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating data from these diverse techniques in detecting new archaeological sites and monitoring their alterations, which could be potentially harmful.