PROJECT 3D-Q8 | Kuwait. February 2025.

Archaeologists, heritage workers, marine scientists, scuba divers, and university students will gather in Kuwait in mid-February to discuss the archaeology of the sea, underwater excavation methods, and the use of 3D technologies in underwater archaeological research.

Under the rubric “3D-Q8,” the project serves as a platform for education, training, and exchange that includes a lecture series, a half-day workshop, and an interactive virtual reality seminar led by underwater archaeology specialists from Malta.

This multi-day initiative arises from a collaboration between the University of Malta, Kuwait’s National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, and the Department of Marine Science at Kuwait University.

Professor Timmy Gambin, an associate professor of maritime archaeology in the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Malta, heads the Maltese team. Gambin is joined by John Wood, a 3D underwater photogrammetry expert and technical rebreather diver who consults for the university. Talal Al-Muhanna, a filmmaker and postgraduate student of maritime archaeology at the University of Malta, manages the multi-institutional effort.

Underwater Archaeology in Kuwait

To date, Marine-based archaeology in Kuwait has been limited to identifying and examining archaeological features along the shore, primarily on Failaka Island. From 2013 to 2019, the Kuwaiti-Polish Archaeological Mission (KPAM) conducted coastal surveys around Failaka Island, identifying numerous archaeological features such as stone tidal weirs (fish traps). The KPAM archaeological team, which included Polish marine archaeologist Magdalena Nowakowska from the University of Warsaw, determined that some of the studied features were built during the Early Islamic Period, while specific fishing practices related to these features continued to be used by island inhabitants into the early 20th century.