• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.312-321
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• 2021

Underwater archaeology relies heavily on photography and video image recording during surveillances and excavations like ordinary archaeological studies on land. All underwater images suffer poor image quality and distortions due to poor visibility, low contrast and blur, caused by differences in refractive indices of water and air, properties of selected lenses and shapes of viewports. In the Yellow Sea (between mainland China and the Korean peninsula), the visibility underwater is far less than 1 m, typically in the range of 30 cm to 50 cm, on even a clear day, due to very high turbidity. For photographing 1 m x 1 m grids underwater, a very wide view angle (180°) fisheye lens with an 8 mm focal length is intentionally used despite unwanted severe barrel-shaped image distortion, even with a dome port camera housing. It is very difficult to map wide underwater archaeological excavation sites by combining severely distorted images. Development of practical compensation methods for distorted underwater images acquired through the fisheye lens is strongly desired. In this study, the source of image distortion in underwater photography is investigated. We have identified the source of image distortion as the mismatching, in optical axis and focal points, between dome port housing and fisheye lens. A practical image distortion compensation method, using customized image processing software, was explored and verified using archived underwater excavation images for effectiveness in underwater archaeological applications. To minimize unusable area due to severe distortion after distortion compensation, practical underwater photography guidelines are suggested.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.60-77
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• 2021

From 2007 to 2011, four Goryeo Dynasty vessels, namely the Taean treasure ship, Taean Mado Shipwreck No.1, No.2, No.3 were discovered in Taean area, Chungcheongnam-do province. From the shipwrecks, 175 pieces of mokkan (wooden tablet) were excavated. These mokkans are the only case of Goryeo Dynasty and represent the unique usage of mokkan as cargo tags, after the paper replaced the wooden tablets as writing materials. The Taean mokkans provide details, such as the year, recipient, port of origin, types of the cargo, quantity and unit, the name of the responsible person for shipment. Thus, they enable us to speculate about the characteristics of the cargo. Furthermore, through studying the writing style, form, material and manufacturing method, researchers can extract which form and characteristics were favored at that time. The Taean mokkans have no preset style for writing. Therefore, they can be written selectively and freely. And since the mokkan were attached to cargos, mokkans with furrows on upper side were favored, and efficiency and simplification of the manufacturing process were priorities in making mokkans. The Taean mokkans can be compared to those from the Shinan ship and the Quanzhou ship because those are of the same era and use. On the writing styles and information, Chinese mokkans are focused on the cargo owners, while The Taean mokkan includes more detailed information, such as the recipients. In forms, Chinese mokkans have maximum thickness of 1.0 centimeter and have pointed edges in lower parts, while mokkans from Taean do not have fixed thickness or edges. Furthermore, Chinese mokkans and Korean mokkans have different styles from manufacturing methods and material selections. These differences between Chinese and Goryeo mokkan are related to the differences between littoral-transport Goryeo ships and ocean-transport Chinese ships, such as shipping distances, types of cargo, shipping systems, packing methods, and transport operators. At the moment, because there are only small amount of data and materials of Chinese mokkan, comparative studies regarding Goryeo and Chinese mokkan can only be fragmentary. However, this article can be a base from which to expand the scope of Goryeo mokkan studies.