Archaeological Impact Assessments (AIA) in underwater environments. A case study from the Lagoon of Venice

'City of waters’, Venice represents a unique example of the challenges to be met in order to reconcile the conflicting demands of heritage preservation, infrastructural development and environmental management. This paper expands on the strategic value of Archaeological Impact Assessments (AIA) – studies initiated in re - sponse to development proposals that will potentially disturb or alter archaeological sites – by presenting a case study related to an AIA undertaken in Venice prior to the construction of a pipeline stretching across the central and south parts of its lagoon (Fusina Integrated Project). The morphology of this area is very complex and di verse, and it is characterised by the presence of numerous canals, shallows and shoals, a landscape (or, rather, a water - scape) shaped by countless natural and anthropogenic modifications that occurred over the past centuries. The AIA involved the analysis of a variety of datasets acquired through historical, archaeological, geomorphologic and palaeo-environmental investigations coupled with information retrieved by remote sensing imagery analysis and interpretation, and direct survey. The analysis of these datasets led to the identification of a new, large archaeological site located along the planned pipeline track. The elevated ‘archaeological sensitivity’ of this area caused a change in the project plan, resulting in the relocation of the original pipeline track at an early stage of the work.