Do fundo do mar... Sea bottom

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BBC
February 27, 2005

Indian divers have found more evidence of an ancient port city, apparently revealed by December's tsunami.


Divers have been scouring the site
for three years.

Stone structures that are "clearly man-made" were seen on the seabed off the south coast, archaeologists say.

They could be part of the mythical city of Mahabalipuram, which legend says was so beautiful that the gods sent a flood that engulfed six of its seven temples.

Other relics were revealed when the powerful waves washed away sand as they smashed into the Tamil Nadu coast.

'Clear pattern'
The Archaeological Survey of India launched the diving expedition after residents reported seeing a temple and other structures as the sea pulled back just before the tsunami hit.


Experts say a lion revealed by the tsunami
is from the 7th Century.

The new finds were made close to the 7th Century beachfront Mahabalipuram temple, which some say is the structure that survived the wrath of the gods.

"We've found some stone structures which are clearly man-made," expedition leader Alok Tripathi told the AFP news agency.

"They're perfect rectangular blocks, arranged in a clear pattern."

The ancient "gifts" of the tsunami are expected to be presented to an international seminar on maritime archaeology in Delhi next month.

Other discoveries made at Mahabalipuram earlier this month include a granite lion of a similar age to the temple that experts believe had been buried for centuries before the tsunami shifted the sand.

Archaeologists have been working at the site for the last three years, since another diving expedition discovered what appeared to be a submerged city, including at least one temple.

The myths of Mahabalipuram were first written down by British traveller J Goldingham who was told of the "Seven Pagodas" when he visited in 1798.


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New Kerala
February 26, 2005

[India News]: Chennai, Catastrophic tsunami could very well have uncovered an ancient settlement - officials have confirmed the findings of new structures off the Mahabalipuram coast in Tamil Nadu.

A three-month joint excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Indian Navy after the tsunami, has now led to the discovery of huge, cut, blocks and step-like stone structures, said Alok Tripathy, ASI's deputy superintendent.

"The search has thrown up promising evidence of man-made structures, buried about eight metres under water. Further search is on for more such structures", Tripathy said.

The initial search for an obsolete settlement was started after the Dec 26 tsunami exposed some structures off the Mahabalipuram coasts. Officials who confirmed the findings, said that more evidence was now required to date them.
In the 1590s, European travellers to India had reported of settlements here.

However, Tripathy said that the findings could even pre-date the Pallava era (between 1st century A.D. and 12th century A.D.).


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TCPalm
February 26, 2005

VERO BEACH, Fla.- Sumner Gerard, a New Yorker who became a Montana rancher and legislator before serving as a U.S. diplomat, has died at 88.

Gerard died of natural causes Thursday at a Vero Beach hospital, said his son, also named Sumner Gerard.

Educated at Groton School and Cambridge University, Gerard moved from New York to Montana in 1949, operated ranches in the Dillon and Ennis areas, and had business interests in Billings and Bozeman. He was a Republican in the Montana Legislature from 1956-60 and 1962-66.

He became a delegate to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1969. Gerard was named mission director in Tunisia for the U.S. Agency for International Development the following year. He was the U.S. ambassador to Jamaica from 1974 to 1977, appointed by President Nixon.

In 1977, Gerard moved to Florida to sponsor and participate in a number of underwater archaeology expeditions and marine studies. He became an adjunct professor of maritime archaeology at the University of Miami and was a benefactor of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce.

He also was survived by four daughters: Jenny Brown, Molly Gerard, Anne Gerard and Helen Gerard.

Services were scheduled Tuesday at the Smithsonian station and Thursday at St. Thomas Church in New York City.


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Daily Breeze
By Ian Gregor
February 27, 2005

Frank Jacobs was 12 when he saw an aircraft plunge near LAX. Could it have been WWII pilot Gertrude Tompkins and her P-51D?

Far out on the Manhattan Beach Pier, Frank Jacobs squinted into the bright afternoon light, his hands framing an imaginary spot in the dark blue water off LAX as he willed his mind to replay images that he saw more than 60 years ago.

"What I observed probably was right out there," Jacobs announced after scrutinizing the ocean for a short while, pointing to an area perhaps half a mile offshore. "I can picture it in my mind."

A few feet away from Jacobs, Pat Macha held a compass and got a rough heading on the area.

Macha, an aviation archaeology expert and retired Hawthorne High School history teacher, has hunted since 1996 for a P-51D Mustang fighter plane that he believes crashed and sank off LAX on Oct. 26, 1944, sucking its pilot, Gertrude Tompkins, to a watery grave. Jacobs thinks he witnessed the crash while fishing off the Manhattan Beach Pier for halibut when he was 12 years old.

Macha believes Jacobs' recollections confirm that he is searching in the right place for the plane.

"That's within the area where we're looking," Macha said after taking the compass reading.

Tompkins was a member of an elite group of about 1,100 Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs) who served during World War II, primarily ferrying planes for shipment overseas. The day she disappeared, she was among a trio of WASPs who were to fly brand-new P-51Ds from their manufacturing site to Palm Springs, where they would spend the night before continuing on a three-day journey to Newark, N.J.

Her takeoff was delayed by a canopy that wouldn't close properly; witnesses later reported seeing two P-51Ds buzzing east above Imperial Highway but never a third. She wasn't reported missing until the other pilots got to Newark because they had assumed that she had been unable to take off because of the mechanical problem.

Early next month, divers from a 40-foot San Pedro-based boat called the Ranger are scheduled to make the latest -- and quite possibly last -- in a series of searches for Tompkins' plane. Descending to the ocean bottom just off LAX, they'll examine and photograph two masses of metal that crews found during the last hunt for the wreckage in 2002.
Jacobs, a retired aerospace engineer from Redondo Beach, came forward after reading an account of the search two weeks ago in the Daily Breeze.

He said he had just arrived at the pier on a cloudy day in October 1944 when a loud engine noise prompted him to look north. He watched a fighter plane climb after taking off over the ocean from what is now Los Angeles International Airport's southern runway complex.

Suddenly, there was a sharp drop in the noise level and the plane's engine began sputtering. Then the plane angled over into a shallow, controlled dive that became steeper before it disappeared into the cloud bank that hung low just offshore.

Jacobs said he remembers that one of two adults nearby said something about a P-51 Mustang.

"This event left a very strong, vivid impression on me as a 12-year-old boy," Jacobs said. "I sensed that someone must have died."

Jacobs said he heard no sirens after the crash and was surprised to see nothing about it in the next day's newspaper.
Macha is certain that Jacobs witnessed Tompkins' plane go down, the only P-51 to crash into Santa Monica Bay.
Jacobs' description of the plane's sounds and movements mirror what a half-dozen P-51D pilots have told him could happen if the aircraft went into a low-speed stall, Macha said.

The area where Jacobs believes the plane hit the water is within the area where Macha is searching. Nobody realized Tompkins was missing for four days, which explains the lack of next-day newspaper coverage of the crash. And his memory of the weather matches the actual conditions on the afternoon of Oct. 26, 1944.

"It's certainly something we've been hoping for, to have another source that would indicate or say they saw the plane go in the bay at that time frame," Macha said. "What he described is completely consistent with what every P-51 pilot I talked to said."

Jacobs hopes his memories help.

"I hope that's what I saw," Jacobs said. "It was definitely that year. Definitely that month."


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Stonepages
February 27, 2005

Archaeologists are showing off a treasure trove they call one of the most significant discoveries of Mi'kmaq artifacts in Nova Scotia (Canada).

Hundreds of arrowheads and tools, some 8,000 years old, were discovered last summer along the Mersey River, near Kejimkujik National Park in the southwest region of the province.

Workers from Nova Scotia Power were doing repairs to generating stations on the river. As water levels dropped in some areas, the riverbed was exposed for the first time since dams were built 70 years ago. Suddenly hundreds of artifacts appeared in the mud.

"The quantity of material, the quality of material, the age range represented by the material, all is just fascinating for us," said archaeologist Bruce Stewart, who was hired to investigate.

Pottery fragments, spear points, knives and other items were found around 109 ancient campsites. One barbed harpoon was once used to spear salmon and eels 3,000 years ago, Stewart said. Since the artifacts were lying on the surface, the RCMP was brought in to control looting. Even the discovery was kept a secret.

Now the Mersey River encampments are once again under water, and the artifacts will be sent to the Nova Scotia Museum once Stewart and his team finishes sorting them.

Source: CBC News (22 February 2005)


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Odyssey Marine Exploration press release.

TAMPA, FL - February 25, 2005 - Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Amex: OMR) a leader in the field of deep ocean shipwreck exploration, has completed an extensive target development program for its 2005 search season.

Odyssey's research team has designated five shipwreck targets that will be the focus of upcoming search operations. According to company research, none are believed to be sovereign immune warships, nor in the territorial waters of any country. Because of this, archaeological documentation and excavation of each site can be started immediately upon discovery.

The company believes that only two of the five targets may have any potential insurance claimants, and it is anticipated that they would be resolved in a manner consistent with the resolution of the Republic insurance claims.

To facilitate this ambitious search program, Odyssey has signed a contract to acquire another ship, similar in size and sea-keeping capabilities to the Odyssey Explorer, as well as a new, advanced search system, which allows us to search areas at twice the speed of our previous system.

It is anticipated the entire area of possibility for these five sites, some of which overlap, can be searched completely during approximately 12 months of search operations, which are scheduled to begin in April 2005. The areas of highest probabilities for the primary targets are scheduled to be completed within 4 months. "We have invested a lot of money and resources into our shipwreck research program, and I believe that we are now going to see the payoff," commented Greg Stemm, Odyssey co-founder.

"One of the factors that makes these targets so attractive is that we believe that they are not subject to reasonable ownership claims by any government or private parties. Nevertheless, we will continue to adhere to our own high standards of archaeology and science."


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Townonline.com
By Christopher D. Roberson
February 23, 2005


Paul F. McCarthy stands on what is
believed to be the wreck of the "Emma"
on Damon's Point.
(Photo by Paul F. McCarthy)

While the identity of a wooden barge abandoned in the North River almost 90 years ago may never be known for sure, Marshfield resident Paul F. McCarthy is pretty sure he knows the vessel's name.

McCarthy, an amateur marine archaeologist, told a crowd of about 50 people at the South Shore Natural Science Center recently that the ship is likely the "Emma."

McCarthy discovered the wreck three years ago near Damon's Point, and thought it was an old wharf. Curiosity gave way when he learned that it was the outline of an old commercial sailing vessel.

His search for the vessel's identity, led McCarthy to question local residents, harbormasters, and wreck divers for any information they may have had concerning the ship. Preliminary indications were that the ship could have been a gundalow, a rum runner, a sub chaser, or a barge.

During his quest, McCarthy discovered a 1972 article published in the Marshfield Mariner describing an old sailing vessel which had been towed onto a mussel bed in the North River and burned to the waterline on the Fourth of July, 1915. In addition, he found the stump of a mast with burn marks still visible.

He said that the stump measured 23 inches across and originally held a 90-foot mast. After further study, McCarthy found that in 1960, the Town of Marshfield voted to remove the wreck. The vote was later overturned by the state and recorded as a protected site.

"One hundred years from now, this will be an artifact of great importance to people," he said.

Built in 1882 at the D. Brewer Shipyard in Portland, Maine, the "Emma" was constructed as a three-mast schooner before being rigged as a sloop barge in 1900. With a crew of three, the vessel was used for the local transportation of coal.

According to McCarthy, the ship, in its original state, measured 127 feet long by 31 feet abeam.

"I was very impressed with the size," he said.

After being towed into the North River in 1912 and abandoned, the barge was burned during the summer of 1915.

McCarthy, a Marshfield resident of 33 years, explained that it was a New England tradition to burn old hulks on the Fourth of July.

"These things would burn for a week if it didn't rain," he said.

However, three years passed before a wreck report was filed with the Collector of Customs for the Port of Boston.

McCarthy said that by law, all wrecks had to be reported to the state. Records indicated that the "Emma" was the only American wooden barge burned between 1912 and 1918, hence McCarthy's reason to suspect it.

In a postcard of Boston Sand and Gravel in Scituate, a barge can be seen in the background resting in the North River. McCarthy said the photograph was taken between 1912 and 1915.

"To break up a ship like that, you'd have to do it by hand," he said. "It's a massive job."

McCarthy added that the location of wreck, off Damon's Point in Marshfield, rests on the Marshfield/Scituate line. He said that the location was favorable as there was minimal activity on the river at that time.

"When you're looking for a wreck, it doesn't look like much," he said of the vessel, which is buried in 20 feet of mud. An oval-shaped series of planks, replaced now by dry-rotted stumps, are all that is visible.

"This thing was pretty well covered up," said McCarthy.

With the assistance of a few friends, he was able to take a number of measurements on the wreck. However, excavating the vessel proved to be difficult as well.

"The mud is like wet cement," he added.

During the Feb. 9 presentation at the science center, McCarthy also displayed a number of slides of old New England shipyards.

"This was a labor-intensive, low-paying occupation," he said of the shipbuilding trade. Workers were allowed three shots of rum each day for the aches and pains that accompanied such a physical job. Oak was brought in from Maine and the southern states to construct the ships while yellow pine was used for decking.

According to McCarthy, six months was required to build each ship. Noting the skilled craftsmanship, he said that the keel of each vessel was held together by copper and bronze, which would not be harmed by the ocean. "These wooden boats were subjected to incredible stresses in the water," he said. In terms of size, McCarthy added that the hulks of the decommissioned schooners would fill with water as the tide went in and out providing children with an ideal swimming area.

In addition to the Emma, other ships of the time included the Cora F. Cressy of Percy & Small Yards in Bath, Maine, the Luther Little of the Read Brothers Company in Somerset, and the Hesper of Crowninshild Shipbuilding in South Somerset.

To aid in his on-going search, McCarthy asked the crowd of more than 50 for any information or photographs pertaining to the wreck. Although the search has been a tedious process littered with dead ends, McCarthy still incorporated a fair amount of humor into his presentation.

"There's probably a good size anchor out there if anyone wants to go get it," he joked.

The slide show and presentation is part of the ongoing series sponsored by the North and South Rivers Watershed

Association, the South Shore Natural Science Center, and Mass. Audubon. Lectures will be held at the science center every Wednesday evening through March 30. Upcoming lectures include "Controlling The Canada Geese," "A Closer Look At Nature," "Reinterpreting The Life of Joshua James," and "The Invasive Plant Crisis In New England."

Anyone with additional information or photographs pertaining to this wreck are asked to contact McCarthy at (781) 834-7863.


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Odyssey Marine Exploration press release.

TAMPA, FL - February 24, 2005 - Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Amex: OMR) a leader in the field of deep ocean shipwreck exploration, has concluded current operations on the SS Republic shipwreck site and other sites in the Atlantic.

The company's 251' deep ocean archaeological platform, the Odyssey Explorer is now en route to the western Mediterranean to begin operations shortly after arrival.

The SS Republic was a paddlewheel steamer that sank during a hurricane in 1865 while en route from New York to New Orleans with post-war supplies and currency.

Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered the shipwreck in August of 2003 nearly 1700 feet below the surface of the Atlantic. Odyssey was awarded title and ownership to the SS Republic shipwreck and cargo in March 2004.

In October of 2003, during the pre-disturbance survey of the site, the shipwreck was positively identified as the SS Republic when the ship's bell was located.

Shortly after commencement of the archaeological excavation of the site, a substantial number of gold coins were revealed using Odyssey's Sediment Removal and Filtration (SeRF) system. More than 51,000 coins have been recovered including $20.00 Double Eagles, $10.00 Eagles, Half Dollars and a few Quarter Dollars.

Unlike other recently salvaged shipwrecks, a wide variety of dates and mints have been noted in this find. The collection includes many finest-known examples of United States gold and silver coins from the period.

According to John Albanese, Numismatic Marketing Strategist for Odyssey, the retail value of coins recovered to date is expected to exceed $75 million dollars.

Coins from the SS Republic have been professionally conserved by Numismatic Conservation Services, a leading authority in numismatic conservation, and graded and encapsulated by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.

In addition to the coins, approximately 14,000 artifacts have been recovered from the SS Republic. Artifacts recovered include more than 200 different bottle varieties, religious artifacts, ceramics, pottery and some personal effects.

Many artifacts and rare items of cargo will be kept in Odyssey's permanent collection for exhibit and study. Some of the cargo items and trade goods (bottles and other cargo) will be released for sale through http://www.ssrepublic.com/ .

During the SS Republic archaeological excavation, the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), ZEUS completed 262 dives to the shipwreck site and debris field, logging almost 3500 hours of bottom time. The longest dive made by ZEUS lasted 72.5 straight hours.

A database with over 60,000 records was created by the team as they recorded excavation and survey activities on the site. More than 13,000 underwater digital still photographs and over 3500 hours of high resolution video on DVDs and tape have been recorded while surveying and excavating the site.

A high definition video camera system was integrated into the ZEUS/Odyssey Explorer system which produced beautiful HD video of the shipwreck site as well.

"Our offshore team has been doing things that have never been done before and we are setting high standards for deep ocean archaeology," stated Greg Stemm, Odyssey co-founder. "The Explorer's work on the SS Republic site was a fantastic testing ground to prepare our equipment and our team for our next high profile projects.

Based upon the experience we gained through the Republic recovery, we believe that we could now perform an archaeological recovery on a similar vessel in substantially less time."

Odyssey's SS Republic project has been the subject of a one-hour National Geographic Ultimate Explorer television episode, Dateline NBC, a one-hour National Geographic Special, "Civil War Gold" that aired on PBS, and a feature article in National Geographic magazine.

The project has also been featured in hundreds of media stories around the world including coverage on the Oprah show, ABC's Good Morning America, CBS Early Show, NBC Today show, ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News and the New York Times.

The coins recovered from the SS Republic shipwreck site to date represent approximately 25% of the face value that research indicates was on board the Republic when it sank in 1865.

When the additional coins expected on the shipwreck site were not found within the main hull area, Odyssey began to search the debris field. The additional coins were not located in the recently completed debris field search, but Odyssey intends to return to the shipwreck site in the future with additional technology and equipment.

"We hoped that we could locate the remainder of the coins in the debris field, but it looks like we will have to come back at a later date." commented John Morris, Odyssey CEO. "In spite of some really nasty weather out there in January and February, we have completed a search of that area that could be efficiently covered by our current technology. A more thorough exploration of the debris trail can probably be done later given some additional time with some more advanced sensing technology, but it is time to move on to our next project and get started as soon as possible."

In addition to the work on the SS Republic shipwreck site, the Odyssey Explorer also mapped the shipwreck site known as the "Blue China" and did a preliminary excavation recovering 400 artifacts. An additional unidentified 18th Century shipwreck site was also explored and surveyed.


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Jamaica Gleaner
By Dennie Quill
February 25, 2005

THE COUNTRY is owed an explanation why after five years of exploration for underwater treasures, Admiralty Corporation of Atlanta, Georgia, has nothing to show us for their efforts. If indeed, treasure-laden ships swallowed up by the Caribbean Sea have dumped their payload in the waters off Jamaica's south coast, they are doing us no good simply resting on the ocean floor. This is our greatest museum yet, and I don't believe we should leave these artefacts to rust into oblivion. We need to exploit them and quickly.

Press reports indicate that there is some haggling between the Government and the salvors over alleged failure to honour aspects of the licence given to Admiralty. This is five years down the road. When did the Government realise that the salvors were in breach of their licence? And shouldn't there be remedy for such breaches? Is it time to revoke this licence as suggested by heritage expert Ainsley Henriques?

RICH MARITIME CULTURAL
Our rich maritime cultural heritage cannot be left to the whims of treasure hunters. All over the world, there are frenetic attempts to salvage these relics of historical significance. In our region we hear of it happening in Cuba, where Chinese pottery and gold crosses are among the finds unearthed, and other interesting artefacts have been found in St. Kitts and the Dominican Republic.

Most of these countries have insisted that archaeology be part and parcel of every salvage operation. They well understand that profit is the treasure hunter's only motive and that piracy is alive and well. Wreck sites are zealously monitored by their Coast Guards because these countries recognise that such sites are subject to plunder. Has the Jamaican Coast Guard been put on alert where these salvage operations are being carried out?

ARGUING ABOUT EQUIPMENT
So what has Admiralty Corporation been doing these five years? More appropriately did they have the requisite expertise to undertake this operation? They apparently passed the litmus test of the Contractor-General's Office, so they appear to have had the all-clear.

I have no problem with private sector salvors, because the capital input is enormous and without private sector's help, it would be left to the Government ­ that's you and me. But as with any contract we ought to carry out our due diligence to ensure that the parties are in a position to deliver. It is much too late in the day to be arguing about equipment, etc.

Salvage operations require access to very expensive high-tech underwater exploration technology in order to probe the treasure-drenched deep. It is because of the existence of such machinery that teams can now explore at once unimaginable depths.

Remote photographic technology also allows them to relay what has been sighted. So the Admiralty team should have long convinced Minister Henry-Wilson and the country that they have indeed located the wrecks and seen the goodies.

A project of such national importance, so invaluable in providing clues to our history, should have been properly communicated to the people of Jamaica. There ought to have been regular, at least annual, updates to Parliament. The public has a right to be informed because our Government is undertaking this project in our name.

Senator Noel Montieth who has been put in charge of the project should move quickly to see that things get on track and if Admiralty is not the one to do it, then terminate the contract and start again.

NOT THERE FOREVER
Let us not forget that bacterial decay, oxidisation and other factors ensure that these wreck sites, caught between the past and the present, will not be there forever.

Here is how the noted explorer Gary Gentile put it in 'Seafearers' Journal of Maritime History'.

"A shipwreck is a time capsule, a fragment of history buried in the sea, a temporary repository which hides remnants of a bygone age. The wood or steel hull is a transient storehouse. The artefacts it contains are not granted eternal life for the sea is ever changing, ever destroying."

Now if the preservationists win the day, they would be happy for everything to remain intact. And the Government may well decide that since these wrecks have reached equilibrium with their environment they should not be disturbed.

Then the other idea would be to court a rich investor who would be able to provide deep-sea diving expeditions to the sites.

This sounds like a big undertaking but Disney also had big dreams and look at Orlando today. Let's hope we see some action on this project.


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Wavy.com
February 23, 2005

(AP) - Scientists working to conserve the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley as well as the engine and turret of the Union ironclad Monitor will collaborate on preserving the historic vessels.

Officials from the USS Monitor Center in Newport News visited the lab in North Charleston, S.C., where the Hunley is being preserved on Tuesday to compare notes.

Their main concern is how to conserve the Civil War cast- and wrought-iron vessels.

"It's very appropriate," said Mike Drews, a Clemson University material science professor working to conserve the Hunley's iron hull. "These ships represent the technology of this country in the 1800s and the ingenuity on both sides."

The Hunley, the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship, went down after sinking the Union blockade ship Housatonic off Charleston in 1864. The sub was raised in 2000.

The Monitor was the Union Navy's first ironclad and in 1862 battled the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia, formerly the USS Merrimack, to a draw. The Monitor was lost in a storm later that year off North Carolina.

The Monitor was found in 240 feet of water in 1973. Its engine was raised in 2001 and its 140-ton turret was raised two years later.

John Broadwater, manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, hopes the scientists can develop a new faster, less expensive way to conserve corroded metals.

"There are plenty of opportunities to work together," he said. "Both the Monitor and Hunley are sitting in tanks waiting to be conserved. They are essentially contemporaries, made of cast and wrought iron and they've been in very similar conditions."

Paul Mardikian, the Hunley's senior conservator, said the Monitor's engine, like the Hunley, is made of various types of metal traditionally conserved using different methods.

To use such methods, the Monitor's engine, or the Hunley, would have to be taken apart.

"If you had to take it apart and put it back together again, it would not be the Hunley," Mardikian said. "We need a more holistic way to approach that kind of thing."


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IHT
February, 1905

The explosion which, as related in the Herald, took place on board a British submarine, the A5, while lying in Queenstown harbor on Thursday, February 16, and which resulted in the instant death of four men and the wounding of several others, has, like the well-remembered disaster to the A1 (which was run down off the Isle of Wight last year), aroused considerable discussion among naval men concerning this kind of craft.

The submarine, says the "Daily Telegraph," is a new craft, whose ways have to be learnt, and until the lesson has been completely mastered, no certain immunity from accident can be hoped for.

Science is continually discovering new engines of destruction, which turn and rend their inventors or users if, for one incautious moment, they relax their vigilance or are not sufficiently alert to guard against dangers but half-suspected or understood.

The construction of a submarine differs in almost every detail from that of an ordinary boat. As has been remarked by the British naval correspondent of the Herald, the accident of the A1 demonstrated that a very moderate blow on the conning tower is sufficient to disable and sink one of these vessels when submerged.


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NAS


The ship remains are located in Zone One of Horsea,
an area sport divers rarely have the opportunity to dive in.

Three special weekends of diving has been arranged for people to dive on the Elizabethan ships timbers submerged in Horsea Lake: 4th-5th June, 23rd-24th July and 3rd-4th Dec 2005. Spaces will be limited so book early for this rare opportunity. Use the booking form available here.

The Nautical Archaeology Society has taken ownership of parts of the hull of a ship dating to the 16th century and is now the the position to utilise them as a training aid for divers to practice recording shipwreck structures underwater.

The ship in question was wrecked in the Thames Estuary about 400 years ago. The timbers were found in spring 2003 during dredging operations and in November 2003 they were lifted because they constituted a hazard to navigation (Wessex Archaeology press statement June 2004).

The commercial archaeological contractor Wessex Archaeology has been recording the parts of the wreck that have already been recovered, and is currently working on developing a strategy for safeguarding the rest of the site.

Surveys using sidescan sonar, which creates an acoustic image of the site, indicate that large sections of the ship's hull still lie on the seabed. Archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology are currently diving on the site to gather further details about the extent and condition of the wreck (Wessex Archaeology press statement June 2004).

Tree-ring dating by Nigel Nayling, from the University of Wales, Lampeter, suggests that the ship was built soon after AD 1574, probably in East Anglia. This date places the construction of the vessel during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and just before the Spanish Armada of 1588. However the wreck is thought to be a merchant ship, as fragments of Spanish olive jars and numerous iron bars, thought to be a cargo, have been found on the site. Two iron cannons were also found during dredging operations. These cannons have now been given to the Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson, Portsmouth (Wessex Archaeology press statement June 2004).

The sections of hull were temporarily at Fort Cumberland until they were placed in Horsea Island lake. This saltwater lake in Portsmouth will not only allow the timbers to return to a more stable environment, but also allow divers to see them. NAS Training uses one section as a training aid on Part 1 courses and on specialty (Part 3) courses on survey, illustration, photography and video.


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Information for the 2005 North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) conference in Savannah, Georgia is now posted at: www.ecu.edu/nasoh/index.htm.

To be held: May 19-21, 2005 Savannah, Georgia University of Georgia's Continuing Education Centerlocated in the historic district next to the Visitors Center and the Savannah History Museum.

Sponsored by:

The Coastal Heritage Society

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources Underwater Archaeology

The Georgia Ports Authority

The Conference Program will be finalized shortly.


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Ships and Shipwrecks as National Icons - 10th - 16th October, Stockholm, Sweden

The Program Committee requests proposals relevant to the conference theme, especially: [a] The nature of iconic status and motives for the recovery/preservation of historic ships; [b Conservation/preservation of national icons; [c] Research potential into the iconic status of vessels which may help or hinder scientific research. Please submit abstracts to maria.sandstrom@maritima.se.


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The Selma Times
By Jean Martin
February 20, 2005

Senate Bill 128 and House Bills 125 and 116 are under consideration for passage by the Alabama Legislature, which is now in session. These pieces of proposed legislation are attracting a great deal of attention as well as verbal commentary.

On Wednesday morning, a delegation from Selma attended the Senate debate on Bill 128, carrying with them a Selma City Council Resolution that states:

"Whereas history is important to both the past and the future of the people of Selma, and the protection of our historic resources is important to our city and has long been guarded by city ordinances, andWhereas, when it was discovered that historic resources in the Alabama River were being plundered and removed from this jurisdiction, the Mayor and City of Selma took steps to stop these actions, and whereas, that the interests of the City of Selma are not served by Senate Bill 128 and house Bills 125 and 116, introduced in the 2005 session of the Legislature of Alabama, which would deny protection to important underwater resources across the state and within our jurisdiction.

Be it therefore resolved that the Mayor and the City Council of Selma want to go on record as opposing these bills.

"Much of the history of this area, and of this country, may be found in and along the rivers, creeks, inlets and bays where earliest inhabitants first settled. After every major flooding of the Alabama River, artifacts may be found giving evidence of the lifestyles and customs of Native American tribes.

Frequent surveys have been made by archaeologists and historians, many leading along the banks of the Alabama into Dallas County where it was hoped traces of two 16th century towns - Piache or Mauville - could be found.

Auburn University Archaeologist David Chase in 1974 with the support of Hammermill Paper Company, Southern Timberlands Division, began an investigation in a promising site found at the mouth of Whiteoak Creek, just north of the Wilcox County Line. Excavation (or "digs," as such projects are commonly known), followed a survey of the area between Pine Barren Creek to the south and Big Cedar Creek to the north, as well as most lands between these two tributaries of the Alabama River.

At the Whiteoak Creek site, at an overall depth of five feet, evidence of at least seven identifiable culture groups was recovered, 12 features involving pits, hearths and three burial sites were found of the historic village, which appeared to be the Alabamu Indian Town of Chuala, a Choctaw word meaning cedar tree.

Some early crude tools and notched stone points of a type associated with Early Archaic were found, in a date range from 6,000 to 5,000 B.C.

Along Whiteoak Creek, fragments of bowls made of soapstone were found and a very crude form of clay. At Whiteoak the Woodland Period involved three major culture groups of people who lived several hundred year on the site. Unique pottery, hand-decorated and small beautifully made triangles of flint and chert are among the finds.

Between 1200 and 1300 A.D. newcomers to the site left evidence of shell tempered pottery and incised scrolls. Possibly they were the ancestors of historic Choctaw and Alabamu speaking Indians whom DeSoto met in the area in 1540.

Many questions remain unanswered along Whiteoak Creek about prehistoric cultures and Chuala Village. If the area stays undisturbed by those whose only interest is commercial value of the artifacts, someday these questions about the long ago peoples who lived and hunted along Whiteoak Creek will be answered. (An exhibit of Chase's findings is on display at The Old Depot Museum, courtesy of Hammermill, now International Paper.)

The Alabama River, once used as a highway by the canoes of early Indian tribes, has been plundered from time to time, and the historic artifacts discovered have been removed and taken from the area.

It remains one of the most valuable sources for Civil War artifacts, in particular those from the Confederate Naval Ordnance Works at Selma. To prevent its products from falling into the hands of Union Troops during the Battle of Selma, workers at the foundries and the Selma Arsenal dumped shot and shells, even, it is said, a small locomotive.

From time to time, divers have recovered a number of these objects, and on occasion, placed them in local museums. Unfortunately, on other occasions, they have plundered the waters of our rivers and creeks and removed these traces of history.

On display at The Old Depot are objects that have been salvaged by those concerned with regional history. Among those pictured today is a Civil War calvary sword found by Jeff Ratcliffe (then age 13) on a sandbar of the Alabama River as a flood receded.

Preserving the artifacts that reveal the story of long ago peoples who lived, hunted and engaged in battle along our rivers and creeks is a responsibility we must bear. If you are concerned, get in touch with your Alabama Legislature representative.


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smh.com.au
By Jonathan King
February 23, 2005


The crew of the HMAS Sydney.

Some say the HMAS Sydney, sunk off the West Australian coast by a German cruiser in 1941, does not want to be found.

There have been "at least 20 searches led by approximately 50 different leaders since 1941", says Dr Mike McCarthy, a maritime archaeologist from the West Australian Maritime Museum who has joined several expeditions to find the wreck. None has found even a trace.

For months after the disaster the Australian navy and air force searched the area, before returning their attention back to the war.

Interest waned after the navy finally closed the file in 1945. Three decades passed before this classified file was released to the public.

In 1981, Michael Montgomery, the son of one of the lost sailors, mounted a search using the navy's main survey ship, HMAS Moresby. McCarthy, who was on board the Moresby, says they found nothing other than seismic anomalies.

The discovery of the Titanic in 1985 inspired McCarthy to mount another expedition in the Moresby in 1992. A wave of amateur expeditions in fishing boats followed throughout the 1990s - all without success.

In 1995, Carl Swanson led an expedition aboard The Knorr, the US Navy-owned survey vessel that discovered the Titanic.

There were other attempts, including naval patrol boats and RAAF Orions equipped with magnatometers, used to detect large metallic objects.

Most recently, John Begg, the chief executive of the oil and gas explorer Voyager Energy - and a member of the Finding Sydney Foundation - mounted a fruitless search over the 2002-03 summer.


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Navy News (extended article)
February 18, 2005

MORE than 50 Royal Navy warships will serve as the core of the fleet reviewed by the Queen this summer as Trafalgar commemorations begin in earnest.

Meanwhile, a fortnight before the review, the museum of naval firepower in Gosport will recreate the art of replenishing a first-rate ship of the line with ammunition during a gunpowder run.

A rowing crew from HMS Victory will re-enact the last stage of the gunpowder’s journey. Traditionally, gunpowder was brought from Waltham Abbey in Hertfordshire by road to Priddy’s Hard in Gosport, now home to the museum.

The powder was stored in barrels or charge bags and held in the Grand Magazine until required by ships. Then it was rolled down to the water’s edge along a walkway and loaded on to a powder hoy to be ferried to the waiting warship.

Naval establishments, sailing and rowing clubs in the Portsmouth/Gosport area are invited to enter teams to race against Victory’s rowers. Details from Bill Sainsbury on 023 9250 5603.


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Daily Great Lakes
February 22, 2005

A British man-of-war, the HMS General Hunter, that was captured by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's American fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 mayhave been found buried and largely preserved under a sandy beach in Canada.

The shipwreck lies on the shore of Lake Huron at Southampton, Ontario, slightly tilted to its starboard side.

There is some damage to the port bow and severe shattering of timbers about midship along the hull, according to a story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Researchers have found hundreds of ceramic pieces from bowls and plates, clay pipes, eating utensils, 36 buttons from U.S. and British military uniforms, four cannon balls, a musket bayonet, gunflints and parts of what appear to be pistols. The artifacts, which were recovered last summer, are at the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa, where they are being cleaned and preserved.

The ship was reburied last autumn to protect it. Researchers from the conservation institute will continue working with artifacts over the next several months. If the sunken vessel proves to be the General Hunter, it could be the oldest shipwreck ever located on the Great Lakes.

Canadian researchers and officials said in interviews this week that they are 99 percent certain the shipwreck was a fighting ship built in the age of sail. And the only currently known warship on Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior that closely matches the wreck's dimensions - about 70 feet long and 20 feet wide - was the two-masted brig that carried 45 sailors when it fought the fledgling U.S. Navy for control of the Great Lakes.

"We're not 100 percent sure, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty compelling we've got the General Hunter. You Americans captured it in 1813, but we've probably got it back as a wreck," said Pat Folkes, a Canadian marine historian studying the ship.

"There are two or three other possibilities, but the construction of the hull is for a naval, not a merchant, vessel. The timbers are very substantial," Folkes said. "And we've found a lot of military artifacts, including a cannon."


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Diário de Notícias
By Susana Pinheiro
February 21, 2005


Revelada. A aldeia esteve 35 anos escondida pelas
águas da barragem que herdou o seu nome.
DN-Ursula Zangger.

Em Terras de Bouro, no Gerês, não se fala de outra coisa a aldeia comunitária de Vilarinho das Furnas, submersa durante 35 anos, está de novo a descoberto devido à seca e à descida das águas na barragem.

O fenómeno está a atrair centenas de curiosos de todo o País, mas também despertou a nostalgia dos antigos habitantes.

É o caso de João Rodrigues, que não esquece o fatídico ano de 1970, quando o rio engoliu dezenas de casas e teve de procurar outro local para viver.

Enquanto assiste à romaria de carros e de pessoas a pé, de mochila às costas, rumo à aldeia submersa, lembra as 52 famílias que abandonaram as suas habitações e campos de lavoura por causa da construção da barragem de Vilarinho das Furnas. Na ocasião, foram indemnizados. Mas não o suficiente "estão três mil hectares de terreno debaixo de água", lembra António Barroso, outro antigo habitante.

António Barroso vive a poucos quilómetros, na freguesia de Campo. João Rodrigues foi residir para mais longe, em Vila Verde, também no distrito de Braga. "Éramos muitas famílias e havia espírito de interajuda nas tarefas diárias", lembra. António Barroso acrescenta que na aldeia comunitária existia democracia um juiz governava uma espécie de assembleia e o povo elegia seis homens que legislavam. Realizava-se uma reunião semanal para resolver os problemas da localidade. "Vivíamos do que a terra nos dava e à custa do nosso suor".

António Barroso estava emigrado no Canadá quando a aldeia foi submersa, e confessa que lhe "faltou a coragem" para vir à terra assistir aos preparativos. Mas soube que muitos conterrâneos levaram as telhas e a madeira das casas, deixando a pedra sobre pedra à mercê do rio.

Em 1985, nasceu a Associação dos Antigos Habitantes de Vilarinho das Furnas, actualmente com 140 sócios. João e António pertencem à direcção. Já criaram o Museu Etnográfico de Vilarinho das Furnas, construído com as pedras da localidade. E prometem para breve o primeiro museu subaquático da Europa para que quem quiser possa mergulhar literalmente nas ruínas.

Entretanto, quis a natureza que a aldeia voltasse temporariamente à superfície. Por estes dias, a visita faz-se a pé pelas habitações quase intactas. Primeiro há que pagar aos guardiões, junto à barragem, e caminhar durante meia hora até à aldeia. O cenário é único. Desde escadas, passando pelos orifícios de janelas e de portas, até mesmo os lagares estão visíveis para lembrar histórias de outros tempos.


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Mid-Day
By P C Vinoj Kumar
February 20, 2005


M. Lakshman, Associated Press
Indian naval divers walk from the sea near the Shore
Temple at Mahabalipuram after exploring what is
believed to be a newly discovered ancient city.

Chennai: A team of officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), aided by Navy divers, have begun a joint off shore exploration at the historic town of Mahabalipuram, near Chennai, to look for ‘submerged temples’ following the surfacing of some rock cut reliefs near the Shore Temple in the aftermath of the tsunami.

Experts, including underwater photographers, headed by marine archaeologist Alok Tripathi, have arrived from Delhi and are camping in Mahabalipuram. The exploration would go on till March end, Tripathi said.

Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram, located about 60 km from Chennai, was once a flourishing seaport during the time of the Pallava kings.

The tsunami washed away the topsoil on the beach and exposed some sculptures carved on boulders. These were located on the southern side of the Shore Temple, a World Heritage Monument, which is located very close to the sea.

Besides, the ASI staff had spotted rocks, which they suspect could have been submerged sculptures, or parts of any other structure, as the sea receded from the coastline after the tsunami. The spotting of rocks and the surfacing of buried sculptures has fuelled speculations whether there had been totally seven temples in Mahabalipuram, including the Shore Temple.

People over the centuries have believed that the other six temples had been submerged in the sea. Alok Tripathi said this belief had prevailed over the centuries, but as an archaeologist, he was not willing to believe it, unless he found evidence.

Tripathi said his team had been conducting explorations in the area for the last two years.“This time we have narrowed down the area of our operation. Besides, we would be conducting excavations along with exploration in both land and sea,” Tripathi said. An area of 500 square metres has been earmarked in land and sea for the operation.

The archaeologist said that the ASI had involved the navy in the exploration last year also. Since the commencement of the post tsunami operation two days ago, navy divers have been exploring the sea from 8 am to 3 pm daily.


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Sympatico.MSN.CBC
February 17, 2005

HALIFAX - Archaeologists are showing off a treasure trove they call one of the most significant discoveries of Mi'kmaq artifacts in Nova Scotia.

Hundreds of arrowheads and tools, some 8,000 years old, were discovered last summer along the Mersey River, near Kejimkujik National Park in the southwest region of the province.

Workers from Nova Scotia Power were doing repairs to generating stations on the river. As water levels dropped in some areas, the riverbed was exposed for the first time since dams were built 70 years ago.

Suddenly hundreds of artifacts appeared in the mud.

"The quantity of material, the quality of material, the age range represented by the material, all is just fascinating for us," said archaeologist Bruce Stewart, who was hired to investigate.

Pottery fragments, spear points, knives and other items were found around 109 ancient campsites.

One barbed harpoon was once used to spear salmon and eels 3,000 years ago, Stewart said.

Since the artifacts were lying on the surface, the RCMP was brought in to control looting. Even the discovery was kept a secret.

"I think this is vitally important," Mi'kmaq historian Daniel Paul said of the find.

"There was a real functioning civilization here when the Europeans began to come here en masse, but the proof has been virtually destroyed. And all of a sudden we are finding the proof."

The Mersey River encampments are once again under water.

The artifacts will be sent to the Nova Scotia Museum once Stewart and his team finishes sorting them.


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New International Master and PhD programs in Maritime Archaeology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim Starts in August 2005 !

The new full 2 years (four terms) Master Degree Program in Maritime Archaeology is aiming at training of high skilled specialists.

We foresee close co-operation with other programs around the world. The program will also build on NTNU`s ongoing research activities in Norway and abroad and will focus on the following aspects:

· Maritime Aspects of Culture; deals with the development and scope of the subject, current research, theoretical perspectives and central issues.

· Maritime Cultural Landscape in Comparative Perspectives interaction between land and sea in cultural development of the world.

· Boat and Shipbuilding Technologies - materials and procedures of construction, and the major building traditions of the world.

· Ship Science in Archaeology - recording, reconstruction and analysis of ancient hulls.

· Seafaring in the World; covering seafaring, navigation, anchorages, harbours, trade and exchange.

· Marine Natural Resources in cultural development - world comparative perspective.

· Underwater Cultural Heritage Management - deals with the priorities of assessing, protecting and managing underwater archaeological resources.

· Archaeological Oceanography.

· Underwater Archaeology - application of archaeological principles in underwater environments and associated skills - including marine archaeological field methods.

· Deep Water Archaeology a study program in deep water archaeology including use of technology and methods developed at NTNU.

· Conservation of Underwater Archaeological sites.

The PhD program in Maritime Archaeology will be based on NTNU`s general principles for PhD and will be offered to selected students.

STRUCTURE OF THE MASTER PROGRAM IN MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY AT NTNU
The program takes two years (four terms) and gives a total amount of 120 credits. The Master thesis and following thesis seminars constitute 60 credits.


COURSES

FIRST TERM:
MARITIME CULTURE I (15 credits)

· Development and scope of maritime archaeology, current research, theoretical perspectives and central issues

· Maritime archaeology in modern society

· Maritime cultural landscape

· Boat and shipbuilding technologies


MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD RESEARCH I (7.5 credits)

* Maritime archaeology on land

* Underwater Archaeology - application of archaeological principles in underwater environments and associated skills


SECOND TERM:
MARITIME CULTURE II (7.5 credits)

* Seafaring and maritime infrastructures of the world

* Marine natural resources and cultural development

* Maritime symbolism

MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD RESEARCH II (7.5 credits)

* Marine technology

* Deep water archaeology

* Remote sensing and investigations implications for archaeology

INTRODUCTION TO OCEANOGRAPHY (7.5 credits)

* Physics, chemistry and biology of the oceans

* Sedimentation and cultural heritage

* Obstruction processes and implications for archaeology


THIRD TERM:
MANAGEMENT OF MARITIME HERITAGE (7.5 credits)
* National and international management systems
* Maritime heritage and the public

MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE (7.5 credits)
* Preservation
* Dating
* Measurements and reconstructions

FOURTH TERM:
THESIS SEMINAR

For more information regarding NTNU have a look at www.ntnu.no

For information regarding Maritime Archaeology at NTNU look at www.hf.ntnu.no/maritime

Professor Dr. Marek E. Jasinski
Maritime Archaeologist
Institute of Archaeology and Studies of Religion
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
7491 Trondheim
Norwayphone: +47 73592170
direct line: +47 73592164
Fax: +47 73592238
mobile: +47 92612121
e-mail: marek.jasinski@vm.ntnu.nowww.hf.ntnu.no/maritime

Source: Subarch List


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Archaeologists excavate ancient city uncovered by tsunami ...China Post
Sat Feb 19 07:21:00 UTC 2005

Indian archaeologists excavating underwater ancient city, temple wall uncovered by tsunami ...North County Times
Sat Feb 19 06:46:00 UTC 2005

Tsunami Uncovered Underwater Ancient City ...News 4
Sat Feb 19 02:33:00 UTC 2005

Tsunami Uncovered Underwater Ancient City ...KUTV
Sat Feb 19 01:44:00 UTC 2005

Hidden City Uncovered By Tsunami ...CBS Now
Sat Feb 19 00:43:00 UTC 2005


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Keynoter.com
February 18, 2005


Queen of Nassau.

'Queen of Nassau' was Canada's first modern war ship. A crew associated with a best-selling author Clive Cussler's underwater exploration organization is expected to help explore a Keys shipwreck, beginning Monday.

The two-week expedition seeks to use digital photography to map the deepwater site of the Queen of Nassau shipwreck, on the ocean floor off Islamorada, nearly 230 feet below the surface.

The Maritime Archaeology Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration will lead the effort, along with the National Undersea Research Center run by the University of North Carolina-Wilmington (operators of the Aquarius lab).


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Boston News
February 17, 2005


Sidescan sonar image from the Steamship Portland.

BOSTON -- The wreck of the steamship Portland, located off the coast of Massachusetts, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The registry is the nation's list of places worthy of preservation.

The wreck was found in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and is already protected under federal law. Sanctuary superintendent Craig MacDonald said Thursday that the new designation could mean additional future protections and attract more research dollars by raising the wreck's profile.

The Portland sank in a vicious storm in November 1898 after its captain ignored ominous weather forecasts and set out on the 100-mile trip between Boston and Portland, Maine. The boat is believed to have tried to turn around about 14 miles off Gloucester before it was lost. The wreck killed 192 people and remains the worst maritime disaster in New England's history.

The Portland was found in August 2002, but researchers won't reveal its exact location for fear of scavengers.
It's the first shipwreck from the Stellwagen Bank sanctuary to be included on the register.

In order to qualify for the register, the Portland wreck had to meet three standards: it had to be associated with an event that contributed significantly to history; it had to have distinctive construction; its archaeological remains had to yield, or be likely to yield, significant historical information.

Since 2002, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have visited the wreck annually and used underwater robots to study its condition. NOAA officials say the wreck of the paddlewheel steamship is well preserved, and they expect further study to yield information about its passengers, crew and why it sank.

Know more in NOAA's page.


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dcmilitary.com
by Kellen Correia
February 18, 2005


Photo courtesy of Naval Historical Center
Civil War Confederate submarine Hunley
conservators Philippe de Vivies, left, and
Paul Mardikian remove the first section of
the crew's bench at the Warren Lash
Conservation Lab in the former Charleston
Navy Shipyard, S.C. Archaeologists and
conservators are hopeful that once the bench
is removed, they will discover new Hunley
artifacts.


Naval Historical Center Public Affairs
Scientists under the supervision of the Naval Historical Center (NHC) began work in February on the removal of the wooden bench the Civil War Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley's crew sat on to crank and propel it into world history.

Archaeologists and conservators are hopeful that once the bench is removed, they will discover new Hunley artifacts.
"I am pleased to see the project move into this phase of partial disassembly, both for what we may learn about the construction and operation of the submarine, but also because it allows for the conservation of the iron hull to move forward," said Dr. Robert Neyland, Underwater Archaeology Branch, NHC.

Neyland has supervised the recovery and conservation of the historic submarine since 1998. Storage space for the crew's personal belongings was extremely limited within the tight confines of the submarine. When the Hunley crew was preparing for their mission, the most logical place to store personal belongings while not interfering with the operation of the submarine was directly beneath the bench.

"Up until now, the area beneath the bench was almost inaccessible. This area is also heavily concreted, which masks any artifacts that may have been stored there and makes them very difficult to remove," said Sen. Glenn McConnell, chairman of the Hunley Commission.

"This is potentially a relic-rich region. I can't help but wonder what other items the crew may have decided to take with them on a mission they knew to be dangerous and life threatening.

"The possibilities are limitless on what other fascinating artifacts from the 19th century the Hunley has yet to reveal."

At this time, scientists have already identified two canteens located under the first section of the bench, and one canteen under the second section.

The bench removal is expected to be difficult and may take several weeks to complete. After being submerged in salt water for more than 140 years, the bench is waterlogged and extraordinarily fragile.

Additionally, approximately 50 percent of the bench is still covered with a clear lead-based paint.

"You are looking at the original paint from 1864," explained Paul Mardikian, senior conservator to the Hunley project. "The binder (oil) has disintegrated over the years, leaving the white pigments behind. The paint can literally just slide off, which makes this bench even more fragile to handle and conserve."

Still, conservators are hopeful to maintain the bench's original features as much as possible during excavation.

Removing the bench is the beginning of the final steps needed to prepare the world's first successful combat submarine for conservation.

Before conservators can begin a treatment to eliminate salts threatening the stability of the vessel, the bench and other artifacts must be removed from the submarine, so they are protected from the effects of the chemicals used in the conservation process.

The bench is almost 18 (17.85) feet long, about one inch thick, and is made of three distinct panels of wood bound together. ~

In order to remove the bench from the submarine, scientists are excavating the iron concretion that over time has built up around the various metal brackets holding the bench in place.

The front bench panel, approximately 6.5 feet in length, is in the forward section of the submarine and was the first to be excavated.

Archaeologists anticipated this section of the bench would be the least complicated to remove due to ease of access.
They also have completed removal of the second bench panel.

The third section of the bench will likely prove to be the most difficult to excavate since it is extremely difficult to access and in some places, is mounted within the submarine's aft pump mechanisms. Once the bench and other artifacts are removed, they will be analyzed and stabilized. On the evening of Feb. 17, 1864, H.L. Hunley became the world's first successful combat submarine by sinking USS Housatonic.

After signaling to shore that the mission had been accomplished, the submarine and its crew of eight vanished. Lost at sea for more than a century, Hunley was located in 1995.

The hand-cranked vessel was raised in 2000 and delivered to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, located on the former Charleston Navy Yard, S.C., where an international team of scientists is at work conserving the vessel and piecing together clues to solve the mystery of its disappearance.


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Jerusalem Post
February 18, 2005


Officials from the Archeological Survey of India
investigate an ancient artifact which was uncovered
by the Dec. 26 tsunami near the Shore Temple at
Mahabalipuram, 45 miles south of Madras, India,
Thursday Feb. 17, 2005. Archaeologists began
shoreline and underwater excavations of an ancient
port city and parts of a temple which was uncovered
by the receding waters of the recent tsunami that
struck south Asia on Dec. 26.
(AP Photo M. Lakshman)

MAHABALIPURAM, India - Archaeologists have begun underwater excavations of what is believed to be an ancient city and parts of a temple uncovered by the tsunami off the coast of a centuries-old pilgrimage town.

Three rocky structures with elaborate carvings of animals have emerged near the coastal town of Mahabalipuram, battered by the Dec. 26 Asian tsunami. As the tsunami's waves receded, the force removed sand deposits that had covered the structures, which appear to belong to a port city built in the seventh century, said T. Satyamurthy, a senior archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of India.

Mahabalipuram is already famous for ancient, intricately carved shore temples which have been declared a World Heritage site and are visited each year by thousands of Hindu pilgrims and tourists. According to descriptions by early British travel writers, the area was also home to seven pagodas, six of which were submerged by the sea.

The government-run archaeological society and navy divers began underwater excavations of the area on Thursday.
"The tsunami has exposed a bas relief which appears to be part of a temple wall or a portion of the ancient port city. Our excavations will throw more light on these," Satyamurthy told The Associated Press by telephone from Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu state.

The two-meter (six-foot) rocky structures that have emerged in Mahabalipuram, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Madras, include an elaborately carved head of an elephant and a horse in flight. Above the elephant's head is a small square-shaped niche with a carved statue of a deity. Another structure uncovered by the tsunami has a reclining lion sculpted on it.

According to archaeologists, lions, elephants and peacocks were common motifs used to decorate walls and temples during the Pallava period in the seventh and eighth centuries.

"These structures could be part of the legendary seven pagodas. With the waters receding and the coastline changing, we expect some more edifices to be exposed," Satyamurthy said.

At least 99 people were killed by the tsunami in Mahabalipuram and surrounding villages, and dozens of tourist shops near the temples were destroyed.


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Articles related.

Tsunami Uncovers Ancient City in India ...WTOP Radio
Fri Feb 18 12:05:00 UTC 2005

Indian archaeologists excavating underwater ancient city ...thestar.com.my
Fri Feb 18 11:28:00 UTC 2005

Ancient city uncovered off Indian coast ...IOL: Independent Online
Fri Feb 18 10:51:00 UTC 2005

Tsunami uncovers underwater ancient city ...Lexington Herald Leader
Fri Feb 18 10:41:00 UTC 2005

Tsunami uncovers underwater ancient city ...Bradenton Herald
Fri Feb 18 10:29:00 UTC 2005


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BBC News
February 15, 2005


The ship was probably owned by the Earl
of Warwick, known as The Kingmaker.

Long term cash to help preserve the medieval ship found in mud in the river Usk needs to be secured, Newport Council has warned.

Hundreds of timbers from the ship are being kept in clean water in special tanks at a warehouse in the city, with a multi-national of experts working on them.

But the council said it might have problems in finding the £300,000 needed each year, as part of the long-term
preservation project.

Council leaders have indicated that they wanted to start talks with the assembly government and would consider every option.

It could be 10 years before the ship is ready for display at a gallery in the Riverfront arts centre.
The 15th Century remains were uncovered by builders, during excavation work for the £16m centre in 2002.

Archaeologists believe the find could be more significant than the discovery of the Tudor ship, the Mary Rose.

The council said the project for this year was being funded from what remains of a £2.9m Welsh Assembly Government grant.

A council spokesman said that the grant had already funded a "significant part" of the work which has included archaeology, building the Riverfront gallery and removing and storing timbers.

"However there are on-going costs for recording and restoration work which will be at least £300,000 a year for several years to come," he added.


The timbers of the vessel are being
stored at a warehouse in Newport.

Charles Ferris, of Friends of the Newport Ship, said there needed to be a wider focus on the "international importance" of the ship, with a look beyond Newport - and even Wales - for funding.

"It's like being given the Mona Lisa and saying we can't afford to do anything with it.

"At £300,000 a year, that's £3m over the decade - but they've just agreed to £12m to preserve the Cutty Sark."

The local authority said it hoped to obtain up to 70% of the funding it needed from outside Newport.


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The Palladium Times
February 17, 2005

OSWEGO - Shipwreck explorers will have the opportunity to share their tales of adventure with the public at Great Lakes Underwater 2005 to be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 5 in Lanigan Hall on the SUNY Oswego campus. Sign-in begins at 8:30 a.m.

Great Lakes Underwater brings to central New York many of the foremost researchers and adventurers in Great Lakes shipwreck diving and exploration.

The annual shipwreck and diving symposium is hosted by the Oswego Maritime Foundation (OMF) and New York Sea Grant.

Feature presentations include the recent discovery of two shipwrecks in Lake Ontario by Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville of StealthDive in Rochester.

The team found the wrecks of the tall ship Etta Belle and a US Coast Guard Vessel and are in the process of surveying and documenting the sites. Built in 1852 in Canada and originally named Champion, the Etta Belle was 93 feet long. The oak-hulled schooner, Etta Belle, foundered suddenly during calm weather on Sept. 3, 1873.

The ship was on route from Little Sodus to Toronto, Canada, and was loaded with a full cargo of coal. Kennard and Scoville discovered the Etta Belle in approximately 200 feet of water.

Kennard and Scoville also discovered a 56-foot Coast Guard cable vessel, which was on route from Oswego to Niagara in 1977 when it was overcome by high waves and wind.

"The Great Lakes have become an emerging mecca for divers," said David White, program coordinator for New York Sea Grant. "Many Great Lake states have implemented shipwreck identification and buoying programs to further enable access by divers and historians to these historic and cultural resources. At Great Lakes Underwater, people can learn more about these great sites and how to access them from the experts!"

Other presentations include underwater photographer Tom Wilson; Shipwreck Preserves of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan by John Karl of Wisconsin Sea Grant; Lake Erie Shipwrecks by Dave Kelch of Ohio Sea Grant; and update on the Pennsylvania Underwater Preserve Project by Anne Danielski of Pennsylvania Sea Grant; Diving The Seaway Trail by Dave White of New York Sea Grant; and the Lake Ontario Dive Site Steward Project by Phil Church, Oswego Maritime Foundation.

Pre-registration is required before March 1, 2004. Registration includes presentations, buffet lunch and refreshments. To register, contact Sea Grant at 315-312-3042 or slm22@cornell.edu. Make checks payable to Cornell University and mail to New York Sea Grant, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126. MasterCard and VISA credit cards are also accepted.

For directions and more information, contact Sea Grant, or see the Great Lakes Underwater! 2005 Web site www.oswegomaritime.org .


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Herald Tribune
By Bruce Smith
February 17, 2005

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- On the anniversary of its sinking, a scientist said while it's still not known what sent the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley to the bottom, the vessel will eventually give up its secrets.

"There is no such thing as a smoking gun when you are conducting a forensic investigation," Maria Jacobsen, the senior archaeologist on the Hunley project, said Thursday.

"Archaeology is the perfect forensic discipline. But in our case we have a very cold case. It's not 10 years old. It's over 140 years old," she said. "I'm very confident we will know what happened but it's a matter of time."

Thursday was the 141st anniversary of the sinking of the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship.The 40-foot, hand-cranked Hunley rammed a spar with a black powder charge into the Union blockade ship Housatonic on Feb. 17, 1864.

But the Hunley also went down and was finally located off Sullivans Island in 1995. It was raised five years later and brought to a conservation lab at the old Charleston Naval Base where it sits in a tank of chilled water.

Thursday evening, Confederate re-enactors planned to march from Fort Moultrie on Sullivans Island to Breach Inlet, where the sub began its ill-fated mission. They planned to throw wreaths onto the water in memory of the sub's eight-man crew.

Earlier, journalists got a chance to see the wooden crew bench removed from the submarine. The 18-foot bench, fashioned of three sections of wood, is in remarkably good shape after the sub sat on the ocean floor for decades.

Jacobsen noted that there are few signs that worms ate away at the wood.That would indicate the submarine filled with sediment after the sinking. Water rushing through would have brought in more sea life, she suggested.

Paul Mardikian, the Hunley's senior conservator, focused a magnifying glass on the bench to reveal a human hair from one of the crewmen.

Scientists later found the faint imprint of fabric on the bench, which had been painted with an oil-based paint.

Since the paint probably took a long time to dry, the imprint could have been from the clothes of a crewman or perhaps a someone working on the sub before its voyage, said Kellen Correia, a spokeswoman for the Hunley project.

More clues about what happened after the sinking will be provided by examining the sediment excavated earlier, Jacobsen said.

Using Lead 210 dating, scientists can narrow down to decades when something happened in the sub. Beyond that, she said, scientists can get an even closer estimate by looking for pollen inside the sediment.

"We are looking at the pollen inside the layers. You can look at the pollen and that will give you an idea of how things changed in a year," she added.

Mardikian said that about 1,000 artifacts have been removed from the Hunley so far, including the shoes of the crew which were freeze-dried as part of the conservation process.

He said scientists are working three days a week on the sub itself and two days on conserving artifacts. Scientists think that they may find more artifacts in the heavy encrustations on the sub found beneath the crew bench.

The remains of the Hunley's eight-man crew were buried last year in a ceremony that attracted thousands and has been called the last Confederate funeral.Scientists are still determining the best way to conserve the Hunley itself.

The sub eventually will go on display in a museum in North Charleston.


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Fox Carolina
February 17, 2005

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Today is the 141st anniversary of the sinking of the Confederate submarine Hunley. But scientists still don't know exactly why the sub went down after sinking the blockade ship Housatonic off Charleston in 1864.

The senior archaeologist on the Hunley project, Maria Jacobsen, says there's no smoking gun. And, she says, scientists are working on a very cold case file as well. She says it will take time to put together dozens of clues.

Journalists today got a chance to see the crew bench removed earlier from the hand-cranked sub. Scientists say it's in good shape, likely meaning the sub for a time filled slowly with sand and that preserved the bench.

They say had water rushed in more quickly, sea worms likely would have entered the sub and eaten away at the wood.


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The Art Newspaper
By Rémy Boucharlat
February 17, 2005

Salvage operation will benefit from mistakes of the past.
Between Pasargadae, the first capital of the Persian empire, and Persepolis, a road leads through a narrow gorge through a little valley called Bulaghi. A dam is under construction, scheduled to be finished this year, which will flood 20 square kilometres of the valley, raising the water level in the river that flows through it by several metres.

The waters will rise to within six kilometres of the tomb of Cyrus, which is not itself at risk, nor are the palaces in the vicinity. At the request of the Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation (ICHTO), archaeologists carried out emergency surveys of this area in 2003 and 2004.

They mapped more than 100 sites of human activity, including two impressive 10-kilometre-long canals built in stone or carved out of rock. They found evidence of dwellings and shards from many different eras. Very few finds were prehistoric, most were Achaemenid or later, including up to the Modern Era.

The caves, some of which may have been occupied in the prehistoric era, are high up and therefore not directly threatened by the rising waters. Because of the valley’s modest dimensions and the relatively small size of its sites, its importance cannot be compared to other sites that have prompted salvage operations by international teams in Turkey, Syria and Iraq all along the Euphrates River.

However, the Bulaghi/Sivand region does merit archaeologists’ attention. It has occupied a strategic position through many different historical eras, and, if we do not act now, we may never know what archeological evidence it contains.

Archaeologists, and all those who take an interest in the past, must now confront the question of how to reconcile economic imperatives with the protection of cultural heritage. It is not a question of outlawing all modernisation in historical areas. If this were to happen, town centres, roads that correspond to ancient routes, and many other sites would remain frozen in time forever.

What historians and lovers of heritage demand is a knowledge of the past in all its forms, not the conservation at any cost of all historical remains. All traces of our history deserve to be studied, but few are worth conserving.

Consultation, time, legislation, and finance, this is what the archaeologists need. They already know how to adapt to economic constraints.

In Iran, the great excavations of the last 20 years show that Iranian archaeologists know how to respond effectively to the demands of modernisation: for example, in the centre of Hamadan which is the site of the ancient city of Ecbatana, in the west of Iran; or at Nishapur, the famous medieval town to the west of Meshed.

The Sivand dam project began in 1992, a difficult time for Iran, and there was probably not enough concern in the country about the consequences of the new project, but it is also the responsibility of archaeologists to inform contractors about the possible dangers of the necessary modernisation of the regions. It is also true that surveillance is extremely difficult in remote, inaccessible areas.

The archeological authorities should have the necessary political weight, backed up by Iran’s legislation on the protection of cultural heritage, to stand up to the big ministries (energy, communication, housing, etc.), a confrontation that will be familiar to archaeologists all over the world.

There are numerous sites and rock bas-reliefs in the Zagros chain, south-west of Iran, the ancient Elam of the Bible (second to first millennium BC) and Elymaïde from the beginning of the Christian era.

In this region, the construction of a series of hydro-electric dams on the river Karun, the biggest such project in Iran, was begun in the 60s and recently started up again. It seems that from the start of this project, archaeologists were never able to make their voices sufficiently heard, and this has been going on for years.

It is such a shame; the delays could have been used to carry out salvage excavations by Iranian or international teams. In the Bulaghi valley, the construction of the Sivand dam has been slow, but now there is talk that it will start to be filled later this year. The reaction in Iran, and abroad, has undoubtedly helped to bring about a prise de conscience and a dialogue about the potential threat; there have even been suggestions that the authorities may postpone the flooding of the valley until 2006.

Fortunately, the waters will rise very slowly, giving some time to investigate sites, many of which are several metres above the current height of the river.The dam, which is designed above all for irrigation, must not divert all the water from the Pulvar river, which is already used to irrigate hundreds of hectares of wheat and maize in the Sivand plain all the way to Persepolis.

The Iranian heritage authorities (ICHTO) called for international co-operation last autumn to survey, explore and excavate several sites.

It is not a question of excavating every square metre where artefacts have been found, or even of excavating a site in its entirety. The objective is to survey the different types of remains (villages, camps, farms, workshops, cemeteries, roads, etc.) and understand their chronology, in order to reconstruct the life of the human communities, undoubtedly very few in number, that once occupied this valley.

There is evidence of human life as far back as 2,000 years, and, according to the initial observations, possibly even Neolithic.

Time is running out, but much is still possible. ICHTO has devised a strategy to survey the entire area, giving priority to the areas most at risk of flooding. Several Iranian and international teams have responded to the appeal for help and will start work this month.

Finally, the threat of the dam could yet produce a positive outcome; in many industrial countries, the best known areas of archaeological record are those where teams of archaeologists have been called in before the construction of motorways, railway routes or new urban areas.

The salvage excavations along the Euphrates River have bought in an incredible harvest of new data.

The Bulaghi valley could one day prove to be an exception in Iran: a well-studied micro-region in the province of Fars, where, until now, only the most famous monuments, such as Persepolis, have been studied.

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The Art NewsPaper
By Lucian Harris
February 17, 2005

Archaeologists in the Bulaghi valley have been given more time to survey the site before it is submerged. Their colleagues elsewhere are not so lucky



The contrasting progress of two major archaeological salvage operations in Iran, where an ambitious programme of dam building has created a continuing threat to heritage sites, has highlighted the problems faced as this country attempts to reconcile necessary development and modernisation with the conservation and research of the rich remains of its historical past.

Last month, international archaeologists began to arrive in the Bulaghi valley in Fars Province, which is set to be flooded when a reservoir is created behind the newly constructed Sivand dam.

The valley, which is rich in archaeological remains, is located close to the ancient city of Pasargadae, capital of King Cyrus II, founder of the Achaemenid dynasty, and a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2004.

Over the next year, seven or eight small teams from France, Italy, Poland, Australia, Germany, and Japan, will assist Iranian archaeologists in excavating the most important of 130 sites identified in an initial survey of the valley, ranging from the prehistoric to the Achaemenid, and Sassanian periods.

Dr Mohammad Talebian, director of the Parse-Pasargardae Project which is co-ordinating the salvage operation, told The Art Newspaper that the Ministry of Energy had agreed to postpone the flooding of the valley for a year while excavations continued, but that funding, which had also been promised had yet to appear.

The salvage operation, he hoped, would provide a model for the future, as Iran continues its programme to harnass the power of its rivers.

Dr Massood Azarnoush, director of the Archaeological Research Centre in Tehran, part of the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organisation (ICHO), told The Art Newspaper that it was an important matter for Iran to be able to control its water resources, particularly in light of the eight year drought in the south-east.

He said that in a country where it is almost impossible to break the surface of the ground anywhere without finding some archaeological remains, the challenge was to raise public and governmental awareness of the need for proper archaeological research and conservation.

Dr Azarnoush said that the government had recently issued a declaration that all development projects should take archaeology into consideration, and that he had asked local authorities in all Iran’s provinces to give warning before any such projects are commenced.

If the Bulaghi valley operation does, as hoped, become a model for the handling of similar situations in the future, the converse is true of the archaeological salvage currently underway at the ancient site of Izeh in the Karun River valley in Khuzestan, where archaeologists have had neither sufficient time nor funding.

With only one month to go before the reservoir behind the Karun-III dam is fully filled, the director of excavations Dr Jafar Mehrkian told The Art Newspaper that his small team was working on the last of 21 important sites they had excavated.

He said little warning had been given over the reactivation of the long dormant dam project, and that his repeated appeals for international asssistance during the five month salvage operation had been to no avail.

Expertise was still greatly needed, he said, particularly in metallurgy and physical anthropology.Dr Mehrkian said that important archaeological sites were also threatened by the Karun-II and Karun-IV dams, the latter already under construction and expected to be operational in 2008.

With plans to build more dams on the Karun and its tributaries, a comprehensive plan for the rescue and conservation of the rich archaeological and cultural heritage of the area is extremely important.


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