The devils boat

This year, thanks to Prof. Tiziano Camagna, we had the opportunity to prove our methodologies during a particular archaeological expedition, focused on the localization and documentation of the "devils boat". 

This strange wreck consists in a small boat built by the Italian soldiers, the "Alpini" of the battalion "Edolo" (nicknamed the "Adamello devils"), during the World War 1, near the mountain hut J. Payer (as reported by the book of Luciano Viazzi "I diavoli dell'Adamello"). 

The mission was a derivation of the project "La foresta sommersa del lago di Tovel: alla scoperta di nuove figure professionali e nuove tecnologie al servizio della ricerca” ("The submerged forest of lake Tovel: discovering new professions and new technologies at the service of scientific research"), a didactic program conceived by Prof. Camagna for the high school Liceo Scientifico B. Russell of Cles (Trentino - Italy).

As already mentioned, the target of the expedition has been the small boat currently lying on the bottom of lake Mandrone (Trentino - Italy), previously localized by Prof. Camagna and later photographed during an exploration in 2004. The lake is located at 2450 meters above see level. For this reason, before involving the students into such a difficult underwater project, a preliminary mission has been accomplished, in order to check the general conditions and perform some basic operations. This first mission was directed by Prof. Camagna and supported by the archaeologists of Arc-Team (Alessandro Bezzi, Luca Bezzi, for underwater documentation, and Rupert Gietl, for GNSS/GPS localization and boat support), by the explorers of the Nautica Mare team (Massimiliano Canossa and Nicola Boninsegna) and by the experts of Witlab (Emanuele Rocco, Andrea Saiani, Simone Nascivera and Daniel Perghem).
The primary target of the first mission (26 and 27 August 2016) has been the localization of the boat, since it was not known the exact place where the wreck was laying. Once the boat has been re-discovered, all the necessary operations to georeference the site have been performed, so that the team of divers could concentrate on the correct archaeological documentation of the boat. Additionally to the objectives mentioned above, the mission has been an occasion to test for the first time on a real operating scenario the ArcheoROV, the Open hardware ROV which has been developed by Arc-Team and WitLab.
Target 1 has been achieved in a fast and easy way during the second day of  mission (the first day was dedicated to the divers acclimation at 2450 meters a.s.l.), since the weather and environmental conditions were particularly good, so that the boat was visible from the lake shore. Target 2 has been reached positioning the GPS base station on a referenced point of the "Comitato Glaciologico Trentino" ("Galciological Committee of Trentino") and using the rover with an inflatable kayak to register some Control Points on the surface of the lake, connected through a reel with strategical points on the wreck. Target 3 has been completed collecting pictures for a post-mission 3D reconstruction through simple SfM techniques (already applied in underwater archaeology). The open source software used in post-processing are PPT and openMVG (for 3D reconstruction), MeshLab and CloudCompare (for mesh editing), MicMac (for the orthophoto) and QGIS (for archaeological drawing), all of them running on the (still) experimental new version of ArcheOS (Hypatia). Unlike what has been done in other projects, this time we preferred to recover original colours form underwater photos (to help SfM software in 3D reconstruction), using a series of command of the open source software suite Image Magick (soon I'll writ  a post about this operation). Once completed the primary targets, the spared time of the first expedition has been dedicated to secondary objectives: teting the ArcheoROV (as mentioned before) with positive feedbacks, and the 3D documentation of the landscape surrounding the lake (to improve the free LIDAR model of the area).
What could not be foreseen for the first mission was serendipity: before emerging from the lake, the divers of Nautica Mare team (Nicola Boninsegna and Massimiliano Canossa) found a tree on the bottom of the lake. From an archaeological point of view it has been soon clear that this could be an import discovery, as the surrounding landscape (periglacial grasslands) was without wood (which is almost 200 meters below). The technicians of Arc-Team geolocated the trunk with the GPS, in order to perform a sampling during the second mission.
For this reason, the second mission changed its priority an has been focused on the recovering of core samples by drilling the submerged tree. Further analysis (performed by Mauro Bernabei, CNR-ivalsa) demonstrated that the tree was a Pinus cembra L. with the last ring dated back to 2931 B.C. (4947 years old). Nevertheless, the expedition has maintained its educational purpose, teaching the students of the Liceo Russell the basics of underwater archaeology and performing with them some test on a low-cost sonar, in order to map part of the lake bottom.
All the operations performed during the two underwater missions are summarized in the slides below, which come from the lesson I gave to the student in order to complete our didactic task at the Liceo B. Russell.

Aknowledgements

Prof. Tiziano Camagna (Liceo Scientifico B. Russell), for organizing the missions

Massimiliano Canossa and Nicola Boninsegna (Nautica Mare Team), for the professional support and for discovering the tree

Mauro Bernabei and the CNR-ivalsa, for analizing and dating the wood samples

The Galazzini family (tenants of the refuge “Città di Trento”), for the logistic support

The wildlife park “Adamello-Brenta” and the Department for Cultural Heritage of Trento (Office of Archaeological Heritage) for close cooperation

Last but not least, Dott. Stefano Agosti, Prof. Giovanni Widmann and the students of Liceo B. Russel: Borghesi daniele, Torresani Isabel, Corazzolla Gianluca, Marinolli Davide, Gervasi Federico, Panizza Anna, Calliari Matteo, Gasperi Massimo, Slanzi Marco, Crotti Leonardo, Pontara Nicola, Stanchina Riccardo

Mandrone WW1 Project - the Trailer

We have recorded hours of movies during our diving project in the Mandrone lake.
Later this year we will publish a video illustrating us while we are working over and under the water surface.
In the meantime we want to whet your appetite with just a few pictures...
Enjoy!

Mandrone WW1 Project

On August 25th and 26th 2016 a team of divers and archaeologists has explored the bottom of lake Mandrone (2.409 m.a.s.l.), Adamello Alps/Italy. Under the direction of prof. Tiziano Camagna, the team has localized and documented the wrack of a boat build there during World War I.

Team-leader Tiziano Camagna was supported by the archaeologists of Arc-Team Ltd. (Cles/Sexten – Italy), Alessandro Bezzi, Luca Bezzi and Rupert Gietl. Massimiliano Canossa and Nicola Bonisegna, underwater-experts from NauticaMare DiveTeam, have realized high-resolution videos and photos.

The main target of the mission was the localization and documentation of the wooden remain on the ground of lake Mandrone. The boat was build between 1916 and 1918 and sank some years after the end of WW1. Pictures and videos taken by the divers will now be processed by the archaeologists in order to extract a detailed 3D model using Computer Vision technologies like SfM (Structure from Motion) and MVS ( Multiple View Stereovision).

Tiziano Camagna first localized the remain in 2003, comparing it with two historical photos published by Luca Viazzi in the volume "I diavoli dell'Adamello - 1915 -1918 La guerra a quota tremila". The first shot is showing Italian mountain troops (Alpini) building a boat near the “Julius Payer” refuge, situated about 800m northeast from lake Mandrone. The second Capt. Castelli rowing on the lake.

The Adamello Alps have been one of the highest war theaters of WW1. In the area around lake Mandrone and the refuge “Città di Trento” we can still find lots of archaeological remains of that period: Trenches, barracks, observation positions and a small military cemetery.

Austro-Hungarian and Italian troops had not only to fight against each other, but primarily against the harsh climate on altitudes up to 3.900 m.a.s.l., 10-12 meters of snow in the winter and temperatures right down to -30°C (-10°F).

Thanks to the support of the wildlife park “Adamello-Brenta” and the Gallazzinis, tenants of the refuge “Città di Trento”, the equipment of our expedition was transported on site with the goods cable lift of the refuge. The team went up by foot, walking about three hours starting at the head of “Genova” valley. On the last stage, from the refuge to the lake, the gear was carried on the back.

In order to facilitate the transport, divers choose light equipment like the sidemount system.

During the dive our photographer Nicola Boninsegna localized a wooden trunk on the ground, a discovery that gives rise to some new research questions, considering the total absence of trees on that altitudes. 

The find will be analyzed soon, in order to get dating and identification of the species.

This mission was also an opportunity for a high altitude test of our ROV prototype (Remotely Operated Vehicle), named ArcheoROV developed by WitLab laboratories from Rovereto, in collaboration with Arc-Team.

Last but not least the team wants to thank the Department for Cultural Heritage of Trento (Office of Archaeological Heritage) for close cooperation.

Archaeologist: A 360° Profession

Following this blog, it may seem that modern archaeology consists mostly of hacking, compiling software and staring blankly at the computer-screen.

But fortunately it's not always like that!

Maintenance of cultural goods, for example, is a big challenge.
Arc-Team is proud to contribute to that on numerous occasions.
Like in this video: Two of us are members of the board of trustees "Schloss Welsperg". The castle was build in the 12th century and is cared by that association since 1989.

Watch us doing forestry work along the curtain wall of the Castle Welsperg:

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WW1: High Alpine Survey Data - Work in Progress

Last summer we've had the possibility to survey along the first Italian front-line of WW1 on the ridge between the the two strategically important summits of Mt. Quaternà (2.503m) an Col Rosson (2.305m).
(Commissioned by the Algudnei-Mueseum in Dosoledo) 
They are situated in the north of the Italian region of Veneto, near to the Austrian and Tyrolean border.

The project area. Pay attention to the trenches in the middleground.

It took several weeks to document an unexpected amount of military remains built between May 1915 and November 1917.

Trenches at the foot of Col Rosson

The central part of our approach was an intensive and very accurate DGPS-survey of every visible structure on the surface, attended by sfm-documentation of objects of special interest. Also underground structures, first of all caverns of different typology, were recorded with 3d-pointclouds.

Commemorative inscription of a machine-gun detachment.

Furthermore we've made several thousands of pictures with recorded position of the photographer and viewing direction.

Overview of the survey results

At this moment we've competed the postprocessing of the approx. 80.000 GPS points, prising out 4.194 features with an individual ID number and a description in English, Italian and German language.

High density of remains around of Mt. Rosson.

The next step will be the archaeological interpretation of the results, incorporating documents and maps of different military archives.

First and second Italian line.

The fieldwork was crucially supported by our colleagues Michele Mazzurana and Gianluca Fondriest.
The whole project would not have been possible without the direction of Daniela Zambelli and the confidence of Algudnei's director Arrigo De Martin Mattiò.
All images in this article are free, following the terms of CC-BY-4.0 Creator: Arc-Team Archaeology

Glacial Archaeology: About the challange to work in extreme conditions

The logistic challenges and alpine terrain make any archaeological research performed in the mountains more difficult than in the valley.

In the central Alps we can find human vestiges from prehistory until the 20th century.

The archaeological remains along the Austro-Italian front of WW1are among the best preserved of the whole conflict, reaching altitudes up to 3900 m.asl.

The glaciers of the Ortler and Adamello Alps have facilitated the creation of a number of time capsules, containing an unmodified material situation since the first days of November 1918. 

The Austro-Hungarian Positions on Punta Linke (3632 m by courtesy of the Department of Archaeology of the Autonomous Province of Trento)

For example the Austro-Hungarian positions on Punta Linke (Video in Italian language) or those on Corno di Cavento (Video in Italian language).

The northern face of the Königspitze / Gran Zebrù (3,851 m / 12,635 ft)

Since several years, the Department of Archaeology of the Autonomous Province of South-Tyrol is documenting and rescuing various archaeological remains in high alpine environment.

The highlight of 2015 was the documentation of the highest and best preserved wooden barrack of the whole frontline on top of the Königspitze/Gran Zebrù (3,851 m / 12,635 ft)

The summit of the Königspitze /Gran Zebrù seen from west. The black dot on the left of the highest point is the snow-covered barrack.

Some technical considerations:

• Logistics: 
• Due to erosion and rockfall caused by climate change, the summit of the Königspitze is not longer reachable by foot during the summer months. That implies the continuous employment of helicopters for material and passenger transportation. Beyond that, the altitude causes a reduced helicopter performance and increases the total amount of needed flights.

  

  Removal of the equipment by Helicopter
  

  

• The Ortler Alps are forming a weather divide with very changeable conditions and the permanent danger of strong winds, clouds or thunderstorms which can suddenly impede the use of the helicopter. For that reason an emergency bivouac on site is indispensable.

  

  Luca Bezzi interviewed by Thomas Hainz and Werner Laner. In the backgound the Königspitze / Gran Zebrù covered by clouds.

  
  

  
  

 

The helicopter is trying to carry the equipment on the summit. Without success: Clouds and fall winds are thwarting the action.

• High altitude reduces the performance of every combustion engine (like generators, gas burners,...) and makes them easier prone to failure.
  

  

  Moving on the crest.

• The topographic situation of the summit of the Königspitze, with it's narrow crest, affects on the work-flow of all operations, due to permanent space problems.

  

  Working in the north face

• Working Safety:
• The northern face of the Königspitze is about 1.200m high and the WW1 barrack is situated on top of this precipice. For that reason one needs effective and permanent security measures (Fixed ropes, ice screws,...).

  

  Working fixed by two ropes. In the background Mt. Ortler (3.905 m)

• Surveying:
• We are using DGPS for the positioning of the site. Like in many other regions, South-Tyrol disposes of a public positioning service (STPOS "South Tyrolean Position Service") substituting the usage of own base stations.

  

  Alessandro Bezzi mounting the GPS base station on a known point on 2.800 m. Communication with the rover by radio signal.

  But in our case we are still applying our own base, build above a known fix point and in continuous radio contact with the rover on the summit. This guarantees independent surveying without regarding to the quality and stability of the cell reception.

  

  DGPS survey on the summit while weather is becoming bad.

• Documentation:
• The topographic situation and reduced mobility on site conditions also the speed and completeness of data acquisition. Methods like structure from motion would ideally need a total photographic coverage of the object of interest and constant light conditions.

  

  Structure from motion without the possibility to regard for people, equipment or shadows on the pictures

  Both requirements are not guaranteed and this may affect on the quality of documentation.
   
•  Conservation:
•  The glacier ice inside and outside of the barrack has conserved different organic materials like paper, leather, faeces, textiles,...

  

  Recovering organic material

  Once uncovered, that materials need to be handled instantly in a appropriate way, preparing them for the transport to the conservation laboratories.