Deployment of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) during an expedition to the Aegean Sea in 2001 by the MIT Deepwater Archaeology Research Group. (Photo by David Mindell.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. David Mindell
Dr. Claire Calcagno
(Contributor)
MIT Course Number
STS.467
As Taught In
Spring 2002
Level
Graduate
Course Description
Course Description
STS.467 examines the intellectual foundations of archaeology in the deep sea. The course explores the current convergence of oceanography, archaeology, and engineering which allows scientists to discover, survey, and excavate shipwrecks in deep water with robots and submarines. The course seeks to address the following questions: How are new devices best employed for archaeological work? How do new capabilities (e.g. higher frequencies, higher resolution, all digital data output) change operations plans and research designs? What new technologies will be required? Area studies focus on the Aegean in Minoan times and western Sicily during Phoenician, Greek, and Roman hegemony.