PRESERVING UNDERWATER CULTURAL HERITAGE: COMBINING SATELLITE IMAGES WITH A NOVEL FLASH LIDAR PLATFORM

Abstract

Les Argilliez, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps,” is in Lake Neuchâtel (Switzerland) and dates to the Classical Cortaillod (3841-3817 BC) and Late Cortaillod (around 3500 BC) cultures. Among other artifacts, it consists of 4,834 wooden piles found over a 7000 m2 area ranging from 2 m to 3 m depth below the water surface. Two dangers threaten the preservation of the site: erosion and the proliferation of invasive mussel species: Dreissena rostriformis bugensis (quagga mussel) and Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel), which pose the specific threat risk of degrading the wooden piles.