Do fundo do mar... Sea bottom
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Ancient anchorage found at Netanya
_________________________________________________________________
The Jerusalem Post
By Etgar Lefkovits
October 31, 2006
A Netanya beach lifeguard who stumbled on an iron anchor while out for a swim has led marine archeologists to uncover the first evidence of an ancient anchorage for sailing vessels in Netanya, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.
The lifeguard, Ofer Harmoni, 37, summoned the archeologists to the scene after noticing the iron anchor near the Netanya shore during a swimming workout two weeks ago.
The authority's marine unit subsequently uncovered five large stone anchors dating back 4,000 years during an underwater survey at the site.
The anchors, which archeologists date to the late Middle Bronze Age, have a single perforation, are 0.9m high and 0.6m wide and weigh 150 kilograms each.
Two smaller stone anchors for small boats and two iron anchors which date to the Byzantine period (5th-7th centuries CE), were also removed from the seabed.
One of the smaller anchors was found in an upright position with one fluke embedded in the seabed, and the other anchor was found lying on the deck of a boat that had probably sunk there.
A small millstone that was probably used by the crew of the Byzantine boat was found nearby.
Kobi Sharvit, director of the Marine Unit of the Antiquities Authority, said that these were the first finds indicating the existence of an anchorage site for sailing vessels thousands of years ago in Netanya.
"The scattering of anchors along the seabed within such a limited area and the diversity of types and different periods demonstrates that this region was used as an anchorage for sailing vessels during antiquity," he said.
Harmoni, who has served as a lifeguard at the beach since he was 17 and has previously found antiquities there, said that he was just doing his job. "This will go down in the history books," he said.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
The Jerusalem Post
By Etgar Lefkovits
October 31, 2006
A Netanya beach lifeguard who stumbled on an iron anchor while out for a swim has led marine archeologists to uncover the first evidence of an ancient anchorage for sailing vessels in Netanya, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.
The lifeguard, Ofer Harmoni, 37, summoned the archeologists to the scene after noticing the iron anchor near the Netanya shore during a swimming workout two weeks ago.
The authority's marine unit subsequently uncovered five large stone anchors dating back 4,000 years during an underwater survey at the site.
The anchors, which archeologists date to the late Middle Bronze Age, have a single perforation, are 0.9m high and 0.6m wide and weigh 150 kilograms each.
Two smaller stone anchors for small boats and two iron anchors which date to the Byzantine period (5th-7th centuries CE), were also removed from the seabed.
One of the smaller anchors was found in an upright position with one fluke embedded in the seabed, and the other anchor was found lying on the deck of a boat that had probably sunk there.
A small millstone that was probably used by the crew of the Byzantine boat was found nearby.
Kobi Sharvit, director of the Marine Unit of the Antiquities Authority, said that these were the first finds indicating the existence of an anchorage site for sailing vessels thousands of years ago in Netanya.
"The scattering of anchors along the seabed within such a limited area and the diversity of types and different periods demonstrates that this region was used as an anchorage for sailing vessels during antiquity," he said.
Harmoni, who has served as a lifeguard at the beach since he was 17 and has previously found antiquities there, said that he was just doing his job. "This will go down in the history books," he said.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Monday, October 30, 2006
Har, me hearties! Excavating Blackbeard's ship
_________________________________________________________________
Scotsman.com
By Diane Bartz
October 30, 2006
An undated handout image of a urethral syringe
recovered off the Atlantic Ocean floor from
Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge.
REUTERS/Handout
BEAUFORT, North Carolina - Nearly three centuries ago, the notorious pirate Blackbeard ran aground in his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, off what is now a North Carolina beach town.
This month, a crew of 13 heads out to sea each day, hoping for clear-enough weather to dive the 20 to 25 feet (6 to 7.5 metres) to the ocean bottom to excavate what they believe is Blackbeard's ship.
The team has found cannons, a bell, lead shot of all sizes, gold dust, pewter cups and medical devices, like a urethral syringe used to treat syphilis with mercury.
"A saying at the time was 'a night with Venus and a month with mercury.' And mercury doesn't even cure you," lead archeologist Chris Southerly said in an interview.
In past years, Southerly and his team did spot digs to map the debris field measuring 150 feet by 70 feet (45 metres by 20 metres).
This year, divers are excavating the southern one-third of the site. They use PVC and aluminium pipe to measure five-foot (1.5 metre) squares and meticulously record where objects are found.
But, working 1 1/4 mile (2 km) off North Carolina, there are problems that landlubber archaeologists don't encounter.
"Once we excavate down 2, 3, 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 metres), because of the currents and sand, it falls back in," said Southerly.
This classic archaeology focuses on one of the most unusual men of an unusual era -- Blackbeard.
His real name, which may have been Edward Teach or Thatch, is the subject of speculation, as are his birthplace and birth date. He knew how to navigate, but there is only one sample of what could be his writing -- a ship's log entry.
"We don't know how tall (he was), but he seems to be taller than average for that period. One account calls him a 'spare' man. He certainly had charisma," says Lindley Butler, a retired history professor of Rockingham Community College, in Wentworth, North Carolina. Butler specialises in North Carolina history.
There were accounts that he tied slow-burning cannon fuses to his long black hair before going into battle.
18TH CENTURY PSYCHO OPS
"With the fuses in his hair and heavily armed, he's a frightening person," says Butler, who added that pirates preferred to take ships without a shot. "There were some psychopathic pirates out there, but Blackbeard was not one of them. We have no evidence that Blackbeard ever murdered anyone or ever tortured anyone.
Blackbeard at first fought with the British as a privateer, a kind of legal pirate, attacking Spanish and French ships in the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century.
With the war's end, Blackbeard and thousands of other unemployed sailors turned to piracy. His troop captured a French slaver called La Concorde in a brief skirmish in November 1717, says Butler.
He renamed the ship the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was probably 90 to 105 feet (27 by 32 metres) long. The band also had three smaller sloops, with about 400 men under arms.
In May 1718, Blackbeard's pirates sailed into the port of Charleston, South Carolina and, in a stunningly audacious move, blockaded the harbour. The ransom demanded, and paid, was a chest of medicine worth 400 pounds, says Butler.
"In a way, I guess it did sort of terrorise that port. Blackbeard at that time had a fleet of four vessels, with 60 cannons. This was the most powerful fleet in this hemisphere at this time," says Butler.
Shortly after terrorising Charlestown, Blackbeard lost his lead ship, running the Queen Anne's Revenge aground on one of the many shifting sandbars off North Carolina, says Butler.
After the wreck the governor granted him a royal pardon, and Blackbeard went into at least semi-retirement in June 1718, spending chunks of time in Ocracoke, a barrier island off North Carolina.
But Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood was apparently unconvinced Blackbeard had actually given up pirating.
"Gov. Spotswood was having nightmares about this pirate sitting down here in North Carolina," says Butler.
He sent troops to find Blackbeard, and the two sides battled it out on November 21, 1718 on tiny Ocracoke.
Blackbeard was killed in ferocious fighting. Casualty figures vary but at least eight other pirates were killed, and eight British seamen. Blackbeard's head was cut off and stuck on a stake. His body was tossed overboard.
ONE YEAR TO BECOME AN ICON
Blackbeard was probably in his 30s when he was killed, and had been a pirate captain for just about a year. During that time, his force had taken a town hostage and captured 40 ships.
"It's astonishing that he's had such an iconic role in such short a time. It's like a comet almost," says Butler.
With so little known about Blackbeard from primary sources, perhaps the best chance to get to know Blackbeard is through the wreck of the ship believed to be the Queen Anne's Revenge.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Scotsman.com
By Diane Bartz
October 30, 2006
An undated handout image of a urethral syringe
recovered off the Atlantic Ocean floor from
Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge.
REUTERS/Handout
BEAUFORT, North Carolina - Nearly three centuries ago, the notorious pirate Blackbeard ran aground in his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, off what is now a North Carolina beach town.
This month, a crew of 13 heads out to sea each day, hoping for clear-enough weather to dive the 20 to 25 feet (6 to 7.5 metres) to the ocean bottom to excavate what they believe is Blackbeard's ship.
The team has found cannons, a bell, lead shot of all sizes, gold dust, pewter cups and medical devices, like a urethral syringe used to treat syphilis with mercury.
"A saying at the time was 'a night with Venus and a month with mercury.' And mercury doesn't even cure you," lead archeologist Chris Southerly said in an interview.
In past years, Southerly and his team did spot digs to map the debris field measuring 150 feet by 70 feet (45 metres by 20 metres).
This year, divers are excavating the southern one-third of the site. They use PVC and aluminium pipe to measure five-foot (1.5 metre) squares and meticulously record where objects are found.
But, working 1 1/4 mile (2 km) off North Carolina, there are problems that landlubber archaeologists don't encounter.
"Once we excavate down 2, 3, 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 metres), because of the currents and sand, it falls back in," said Southerly.
This classic archaeology focuses on one of the most unusual men of an unusual era -- Blackbeard.
His real name, which may have been Edward Teach or Thatch, is the subject of speculation, as are his birthplace and birth date. He knew how to navigate, but there is only one sample of what could be his writing -- a ship's log entry.
"We don't know how tall (he was), but he seems to be taller than average for that period. One account calls him a 'spare' man. He certainly had charisma," says Lindley Butler, a retired history professor of Rockingham Community College, in Wentworth, North Carolina. Butler specialises in North Carolina history.
There were accounts that he tied slow-burning cannon fuses to his long black hair before going into battle.
18TH CENTURY PSYCHO OPS
"With the fuses in his hair and heavily armed, he's a frightening person," says Butler, who added that pirates preferred to take ships without a shot. "There were some psychopathic pirates out there, but Blackbeard was not one of them. We have no evidence that Blackbeard ever murdered anyone or ever tortured anyone.
Blackbeard at first fought with the British as a privateer, a kind of legal pirate, attacking Spanish and French ships in the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century.
With the war's end, Blackbeard and thousands of other unemployed sailors turned to piracy. His troop captured a French slaver called La Concorde in a brief skirmish in November 1717, says Butler.
He renamed the ship the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was probably 90 to 105 feet (27 by 32 metres) long. The band also had three smaller sloops, with about 400 men under arms.
In May 1718, Blackbeard's pirates sailed into the port of Charleston, South Carolina and, in a stunningly audacious move, blockaded the harbour. The ransom demanded, and paid, was a chest of medicine worth 400 pounds, says Butler.
"In a way, I guess it did sort of terrorise that port. Blackbeard at that time had a fleet of four vessels, with 60 cannons. This was the most powerful fleet in this hemisphere at this time," says Butler.
Shortly after terrorising Charlestown, Blackbeard lost his lead ship, running the Queen Anne's Revenge aground on one of the many shifting sandbars off North Carolina, says Butler.
After the wreck the governor granted him a royal pardon, and Blackbeard went into at least semi-retirement in June 1718, spending chunks of time in Ocracoke, a barrier island off North Carolina.
But Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood was apparently unconvinced Blackbeard had actually given up pirating.
"Gov. Spotswood was having nightmares about this pirate sitting down here in North Carolina," says Butler.
He sent troops to find Blackbeard, and the two sides battled it out on November 21, 1718 on tiny Ocracoke.
Blackbeard was killed in ferocious fighting. Casualty figures vary but at least eight other pirates were killed, and eight British seamen. Blackbeard's head was cut off and stuck on a stake. His body was tossed overboard.
ONE YEAR TO BECOME AN ICON
Blackbeard was probably in his 30s when he was killed, and had been a pirate captain for just about a year. During that time, his force had taken a town hostage and captured 40 ships.
"It's astonishing that he's had such an iconic role in such short a time. It's like a comet almost," says Butler.
With so little known about Blackbeard from primary sources, perhaps the best chance to get to know Blackbeard is through the wreck of the ship believed to be the Queen Anne's Revenge.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Retrieval of heavy cannons from Blackbeard ship likely delayed
_________________________________________________________________
International Herald Times
October 30, 2006
ATLANTIC BEACH, North Carolina Excavators of the sunken ship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard will have to wait to get the ship's cannons because of a lack of equipment.
Divers with the Queen Anne's Revenge Project say they may have to wait until spring because they do not have the right vessel to lift the cannon.
They have also determined that the 2,600-pound (1,170-kilogram) sternpost needs to come up at the same time as the cannons, and that the archaeology lab set to receive it is not yet ready, said Chris Southerly, project archaeologist.
The cannons weighs up to 2,500 pounds (1,125 kilograms), he said. Smaller cannons pulled from the shipwreck have weighed up to 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms).
Project officials said at the beginning of the six-week dive on Oct. 2 that they planned to recover up to four cannons this fall.
Blackbeard, whose real name was widely believed to be Edward Teach or Thatch, was tracked down at Ocracoke Inlet by volunteers from the Royal Navy and killed in a battle on Nov. 22, 1718. The Queen Anne's Revenge is believed to have sunk the same year.
The ship, discovered in November 1996, is the oldest shipwreck found off the North Carolina coast.
ATLANTIC BEACH, North Carolina Excavators of the sunken ship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard will have to wait to get the ship's cannons because of a lack of equipment.
Divers with the Queen Anne's Revenge Project say they may have to wait until spring because they do not have the right vessel to lift the cannon.
They have also determined that the 2,600-pound (1,170-kilogram) sternpost needs to come up at the same time as the cannons, and that the archaeology lab set to receive it is not yet ready, said Chris Southerly, project archaeologist.
The cannons weighs up to 2,500 pounds (1,125 kilograms), he said. Smaller cannons pulled from the shipwreck have weighed up to 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms).
Project officials said at the beginning of the six-week dive on Oct. 2 that they planned to recover up to four cannons this fall.
Blackbeard, whose real name was widely believed to be Edward Teach or Thatch, was tracked down at Ocracoke Inlet by volunteers from the Royal Navy and killed in a battle on Nov. 22, 1718. The Queen Anne's Revenge is believed to have sunk the same year.
The ship, discovered in November 1996, is the oldest shipwreck found off the North Carolina coast.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
October 30, 2006
ATLANTIC BEACH, North Carolina Excavators of the sunken ship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard will have to wait to get the ship's cannons because of a lack of equipment.
Divers with the Queen Anne's Revenge Project say they may have to wait until spring because they do not have the right vessel to lift the cannon.
They have also determined that the 2,600-pound (1,170-kilogram) sternpost needs to come up at the same time as the cannons, and that the archaeology lab set to receive it is not yet ready, said Chris Southerly, project archaeologist.
The cannons weighs up to 2,500 pounds (1,125 kilograms), he said. Smaller cannons pulled from the shipwreck have weighed up to 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms).
Project officials said at the beginning of the six-week dive on Oct. 2 that they planned to recover up to four cannons this fall.
Blackbeard, whose real name was widely believed to be Edward Teach or Thatch, was tracked down at Ocracoke Inlet by volunteers from the Royal Navy and killed in a battle on Nov. 22, 1718. The Queen Anne's Revenge is believed to have sunk the same year.
The ship, discovered in November 1996, is the oldest shipwreck found off the North Carolina coast.
ATLANTIC BEACH, North Carolina Excavators of the sunken ship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard will have to wait to get the ship's cannons because of a lack of equipment.
Divers with the Queen Anne's Revenge Project say they may have to wait until spring because they do not have the right vessel to lift the cannon.
They have also determined that the 2,600-pound (1,170-kilogram) sternpost needs to come up at the same time as the cannons, and that the archaeology lab set to receive it is not yet ready, said Chris Southerly, project archaeologist.
The cannons weighs up to 2,500 pounds (1,125 kilograms), he said. Smaller cannons pulled from the shipwreck have weighed up to 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms).
Project officials said at the beginning of the six-week dive on Oct. 2 that they planned to recover up to four cannons this fall.
Blackbeard, whose real name was widely believed to be Edward Teach or Thatch, was tracked down at Ocracoke Inlet by volunteers from the Royal Navy and killed in a battle on Nov. 22, 1718. The Queen Anne's Revenge is believed to have sunk the same year.
The ship, discovered in November 1996, is the oldest shipwreck found off the North Carolina coast.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Neptune yields tiny treasure
_________________________________________________________________
The Daily News
By Patricia Smith
October 28, 2006
ATLANTIC BEACH — Underwater archaeologists found something to crow about this week on the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck site.
Divers discovered a 1-inch-high brass rooster, the decorative top to something — but they don’t know what.
“On the base, you can tell where the metal broke off,” said Linda Carnes-McNaughton, a historical archaeologist with Fort Bragg who volunteered this week with the QAR Project.
Such finials adorned a wide variety of items in the 18th century, so it could have broken off of a weapon or even a personal box, Carnes-McNaughton said.
Divers found the cockerel in the same excavation unit of the shipwreck as an apothecary weight, so it may somehow be associated with measuring scales, possibly an ornament on the box where weights were kept, Carnes-McNaugton said.
The fixture features little eyes, a beak and a rooster tail.
“It’s made of cast brass,” Carnes-McNaughton said.
It would have been made in a mold, but it is well-crafted, she said. There are no marks identifying a maker.
“We’re not sure where the little cockerel came from,” Carnes-McNaughton said.
And that makes drawing any symbolic conclusions difficult since roosters had different meanings in different parts of the world in the 18th century, she said.
“In some cultures it could be associated with Christianity,” Carnes-McNaughtons said. In Germany, for instance, there were many cockerels on the tops of churches.
QAR archaeologists will need to research decorative arts of the period to find out more, said Dave Moore, nautical archaeologist with the N.C. Maritime Museum.
The QAR staff is also researching the marks on the apothecary weight to see what they mean, Moore said.
The weight is marked with a Roman numeral “XVII” on top, an Arabic numeral “8” on the left, a “1/2” on the bottom and a visible “R” on the right, which Moore said can be seen as “Rx” under a microscope.
The weight was found in the same general area of the shipwreck where other surgical instruments were found in earlier dives, the archaeologists said.
Archaeologists believe the shipwreck is that of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship, which ran aground in Beaufort Inlet in June 1718. Just weeks earlier Blackbeard had attacked Charleston, S.C., capturing gold and other valuables and demanding medical supplies.
Among other items recovered from the shipwreck this week were unidentifiable concretions, lead shot, gold dust and ceramic pieces.
One of the ceramic shards was not lead-glazed like the other pieces archaeologists have been finding for years, Carnes-McNaughton said.
It would have been part of an oil jar or olive jar, and though it is the first of its kind found at this site, it would certainly have not have been rare to find them aboard a pirate ship, Carnes-McNaughton said.
“These are the ones we call them cardboard boxes of the 18th century they’re so generic,” she said.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
The Daily News
By Patricia Smith
October 28, 2006
ATLANTIC BEACH — Underwater archaeologists found something to crow about this week on the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck site.
Divers discovered a 1-inch-high brass rooster, the decorative top to something — but they don’t know what.
“On the base, you can tell where the metal broke off,” said Linda Carnes-McNaughton, a historical archaeologist with Fort Bragg who volunteered this week with the QAR Project.
Such finials adorned a wide variety of items in the 18th century, so it could have broken off of a weapon or even a personal box, Carnes-McNaughton said.
Divers found the cockerel in the same excavation unit of the shipwreck as an apothecary weight, so it may somehow be associated with measuring scales, possibly an ornament on the box where weights were kept, Carnes-McNaugton said.
The fixture features little eyes, a beak and a rooster tail.
“It’s made of cast brass,” Carnes-McNaughton said.
It would have been made in a mold, but it is well-crafted, she said. There are no marks identifying a maker.
“We’re not sure where the little cockerel came from,” Carnes-McNaughton said.
And that makes drawing any symbolic conclusions difficult since roosters had different meanings in different parts of the world in the 18th century, she said.
“In some cultures it could be associated with Christianity,” Carnes-McNaughtons said. In Germany, for instance, there were many cockerels on the tops of churches.
QAR archaeologists will need to research decorative arts of the period to find out more, said Dave Moore, nautical archaeologist with the N.C. Maritime Museum.
The QAR staff is also researching the marks on the apothecary weight to see what they mean, Moore said.
The weight is marked with a Roman numeral “XVII” on top, an Arabic numeral “8” on the left, a “1/2” on the bottom and a visible “R” on the right, which Moore said can be seen as “Rx” under a microscope.
The weight was found in the same general area of the shipwreck where other surgical instruments were found in earlier dives, the archaeologists said.
Archaeologists believe the shipwreck is that of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship, which ran aground in Beaufort Inlet in June 1718. Just weeks earlier Blackbeard had attacked Charleston, S.C., capturing gold and other valuables and demanding medical supplies.
Among other items recovered from the shipwreck this week were unidentifiable concretions, lead shot, gold dust and ceramic pieces.
One of the ceramic shards was not lead-glazed like the other pieces archaeologists have been finding for years, Carnes-McNaughton said.
It would have been part of an oil jar or olive jar, and though it is the first of its kind found at this site, it would certainly have not have been rare to find them aboard a pirate ship, Carnes-McNaughton said.
“These are the ones we call them cardboard boxes of the 18th century they’re so generic,” she said.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Fisherman's find puts love sanctuary on the ancient tourist trail
_________________________________________________________________
The Scotsman
By Michael Theodoulou
October 19, 2006
A large number of ancient stone anchors have been found off the coast of Cyprus near a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, suggesting it was once one of the most commonly visited places in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Sanctuary of Aphrodite, nine miles east of the bustling resort of Paphos, was for centuries renowned as the centre of the cult surrounding the goddess.
It was probably the leading tourist attraction of the ancient world. The cache of anchors is likely to have been formed when they snapped free of their docked ships during storms.
A local spear fisherman alerted archaeologists last year to the anchors, most of which are in very good condition.
The construction of proper harbours began only in the fourth century BC, during the Hellenistic Period.
Herodotus, the ancient historian, recorded a custom by which every woman had to give herself once to the service of Aphrodite by waiting in her sanctuary until a stranger came to make love to her. The practice was regarded as a solemn religious duty, not an act of lustful indulgence.
Herodotus uncharitably claimed that while "tall, handsome" pilgrim women soon managed to get home again, "ugly ones" would have to wait for three or four years before fulfilling their duty.
But sailors had another reason to pay their respects to Aphrodite and bring offerings: she was the protector of seafarers for whom Cyprus was a trading centre linking east and west.
Archaeologists found some 120 anchors which have yet to be raised and dated but archaeologists are confident some are from the late Bronze Age, 1650 to 1100BC, and will cast new light on ancient trading patterns and settlements.
"This anchorage will also help us understand sea-borne trade between Cyprus and the countries of the Middle East," said Dr Sophocles Hadjisavvas, managing director of the Thetis foundation, which is committed to protecting Cyprus' underwater cultural heritage and sponsored the investigation.
The finds should also deepen knowledge of trade within the island itself, when the absence of roads meant goods were mostly transported by ships hugging the coast.
The project was directed by Duncan Howitt-Marshall, who is working on a PhD on Cypriot maritime archaeology at Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Because the anchors have yet to be raised, archaeologists are reluctant to give their precise location but say the nearest village is Kouklia, site of the ancient city of Palea Paphos.
Nearby is Petra tou Romiou, where a towering rock soars from the sea off a pebbly beach. This is Aphrodite's legendary birthplace where, according to the poet Hesiod, she emerged from sea foam whipped up by the sun-god Uranus.
The painter Botticelli celebrated her more decorously. His Birth of Venus shows her wafting to shore naked on a scallop shell, her hands well-placed to protect her modesty.
No evidence of construction has been discovered at the site of the anchors. "On land, there are some buildings probably related to this anchorage," Dr Hadjisavvas said.
The anchorage is likely to have declined as a trading hub as it silted up. Writers in the Roman period speak of pilgrims arriving at the sanctuary in a procession by land from Paphos, by then the site of a large man-made harbour.
Eighth wonder of the world?
THE temple of Aphrodite on Cyprus may have been a popular stopping-off point for travellers, but for some reason it failed to make the official tourist guide for the ancient world.
The Seven Wonders of the World was compiled in the 2nd century BC by Antipater of Sidon as a guidebook for early tourists.
The list was designed to tell people about the most extraordinary places to visit in the known world without travelling into potentially dangerous areas.
According to Antipater, the best sights on offer were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Walls of Babylon, the Temple at Ephesus and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, both in modern-day Turkey, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia in Greece and the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Later, the list was updated, with the Lighthouse at Alexandria replacing the Walls of Babylon. All apart from the Great Pyramid were destroyed by fire or earthquakes.
The idea has inspired other "Seven Wonders" lists, which have included landmarks such as the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal, as well as modern feats such as the Channel Tunnel and the Empire State Building.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
The Scotsman
By Michael Theodoulou
October 19, 2006
A large number of ancient stone anchors have been found off the coast of Cyprus near a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, suggesting it was once one of the most commonly visited places in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Sanctuary of Aphrodite, nine miles east of the bustling resort of Paphos, was for centuries renowned as the centre of the cult surrounding the goddess.
It was probably the leading tourist attraction of the ancient world. The cache of anchors is likely to have been formed when they snapped free of their docked ships during storms.
A local spear fisherman alerted archaeologists last year to the anchors, most of which are in very good condition.
The construction of proper harbours began only in the fourth century BC, during the Hellenistic Period.
Herodotus, the ancient historian, recorded a custom by which every woman had to give herself once to the service of Aphrodite by waiting in her sanctuary until a stranger came to make love to her. The practice was regarded as a solemn religious duty, not an act of lustful indulgence.
Herodotus uncharitably claimed that while "tall, handsome" pilgrim women soon managed to get home again, "ugly ones" would have to wait for three or four years before fulfilling their duty.
But sailors had another reason to pay their respects to Aphrodite and bring offerings: she was the protector of seafarers for whom Cyprus was a trading centre linking east and west.
Archaeologists found some 120 anchors which have yet to be raised and dated but archaeologists are confident some are from the late Bronze Age, 1650 to 1100BC, and will cast new light on ancient trading patterns and settlements.
"This anchorage will also help us understand sea-borne trade between Cyprus and the countries of the Middle East," said Dr Sophocles Hadjisavvas, managing director of the Thetis foundation, which is committed to protecting Cyprus' underwater cultural heritage and sponsored the investigation.
The finds should also deepen knowledge of trade within the island itself, when the absence of roads meant goods were mostly transported by ships hugging the coast.
The project was directed by Duncan Howitt-Marshall, who is working on a PhD on Cypriot maritime archaeology at Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Because the anchors have yet to be raised, archaeologists are reluctant to give their precise location but say the nearest village is Kouklia, site of the ancient city of Palea Paphos.
Nearby is Petra tou Romiou, where a towering rock soars from the sea off a pebbly beach. This is Aphrodite's legendary birthplace where, according to the poet Hesiod, she emerged from sea foam whipped up by the sun-god Uranus.
The painter Botticelli celebrated her more decorously. His Birth of Venus shows her wafting to shore naked on a scallop shell, her hands well-placed to protect her modesty.
No evidence of construction has been discovered at the site of the anchors. "On land, there are some buildings probably related to this anchorage," Dr Hadjisavvas said.
The anchorage is likely to have declined as a trading hub as it silted up. Writers in the Roman period speak of pilgrims arriving at the sanctuary in a procession by land from Paphos, by then the site of a large man-made harbour.
Eighth wonder of the world?
THE temple of Aphrodite on Cyprus may have been a popular stopping-off point for travellers, but for some reason it failed to make the official tourist guide for the ancient world.
The Seven Wonders of the World was compiled in the 2nd century BC by Antipater of Sidon as a guidebook for early tourists.
The list was designed to tell people about the most extraordinary places to visit in the known world without travelling into potentially dangerous areas.
According to Antipater, the best sights on offer were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Walls of Babylon, the Temple at Ephesus and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, both in modern-day Turkey, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia in Greece and the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Later, the list was updated, with the Lighthouse at Alexandria replacing the Walls of Babylon. All apart from the Great Pyramid were destroyed by fire or earthquakes.
The idea has inspired other "Seven Wonders" lists, which have included landmarks such as the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal, as well as modern feats such as the Channel Tunnel and the Empire State Building.
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www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Viking ship found in Larvik
_________________________________________________________________
Aftenposten
October 17, 2006
Archaeologists found the remains of a ship from the Viking Age on Tuesday, in a burial mound on a farm outside the coastal city of Larvik.
The discovery was made during archaeological examinations of the Nordheim Farm, which is near the Hedrum Church in Larvik. The examinations were ordered in connection with the pending expansion of the cemetery around Hedrum Church, which is located a few hours' drive south of Oslo.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that archaeologists also found indications that another ship is buried in the same area.
Archaeologist Knut Paasche has been examining the area around Nordheim Farm, near Hedrum, for Vestfold County officials. He called Tuesday's discovery "important and interesting," but said it was too early to say whether the ship could be excavated intact.
He said that so many traces of the vessel were found that it should at least be possible to describe exactly how the ship looked.
Archaeologists were quick to point out that the discovery of the Viking ship wasn't comparable to the famous Oseberg or Gokstad discoveries. The Oseberg ship, which has long been on display in Oslo, had been buried in a valley and covered with clay, which helped keep it so well preserved.
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www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
October 17, 2006
Archaeologists found the remains of a ship from the Viking Age on Tuesday, in a burial mound on a farm outside the coastal city of Larvik.
The discovery was made during archaeological examinations of the Nordheim Farm, which is near the Hedrum Church in Larvik. The examinations were ordered in connection with the pending expansion of the cemetery around Hedrum Church, which is located a few hours' drive south of Oslo.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that archaeologists also found indications that another ship is buried in the same area.
Archaeologist Knut Paasche has been examining the area around Nordheim Farm, near Hedrum, for Vestfold County officials. He called Tuesday's discovery "important and interesting," but said it was too early to say whether the ship could be excavated intact.
He said that so many traces of the vessel were found that it should at least be possible to describe exactly how the ship looked.
Archaeologists were quick to point out that the discovery of the Viking ship wasn't comparable to the famous Oseberg or Gokstad discoveries. The Oseberg ship, which has long been on display in Oslo, had been buried in a valley and covered with clay, which helped keep it so well preserved.
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www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Monday, October 16, 2006
Viking ships on the move
_________________________________________________________________
Aftenposten
October 16, 2006
Norway's famed Oseberg is among the Viking ships
that would be moved to a new museum at Bjørvika
in Oslo. PHOTO: ERIK THORBERG/SCANPIX
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www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Aftenposten
October 16, 2006
Norway's famed Oseberg is among the Viking ships
that would be moved to a new museum at Bjørvika
in Oslo. PHOTO: ERIK THORBERG/SCANPIX
They won’t exactly be setting sail again, but the centuries-old Viking ships that have been housed in a museum on Oslo’s Bygdøy Peninsula look set to be moved to a new museum planned for a renovated waterfront area.
The board of Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History has agreed to move the historic Viking ships, one of Norway’s top tourist attractions, from Bygdøy to a new museum it will open at Bjørvika in 2015.
Bjørvika is the waterfront area east of Oslo’s downtown, where the capital’s new Opera House is under construction.
The board believes the ships, considered a national treasure, can be moved without them sustaining serious damage. They also contend that the current museum where the ships have been on display for decades, called Vikingshipshuset, has a number of security, preservation and crowd capacity weaknesses.
The board also thinks that a new museum at Bjørvika will help spur a new tourist stream to the east. Board members also point out that Bjørvika is close to the central train station, existing cruise and ferry piers and public transport.
As many as 500,000 persons visit the existing Viking ships museum every year. A new museum would be able to receive many more, under more secure conditions.
A move remains controversial, however, and newspaper Aftenposten reports that museum personnel oppose it. Historic preservation officials, meanwhile, recently proposed putting the existing Vikingshipshuset on the national preservation list.
It also remained unclear how much a move would cost.
The board of Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History has agreed to move the historic Viking ships, one of Norway’s top tourist attractions, from Bygdøy to a new museum it will open at Bjørvika in 2015.
Bjørvika is the waterfront area east of Oslo’s downtown, where the capital’s new Opera House is under construction.
The board believes the ships, considered a national treasure, can be moved without them sustaining serious damage. They also contend that the current museum where the ships have been on display for decades, called Vikingshipshuset, has a number of security, preservation and crowd capacity weaknesses.
The board also thinks that a new museum at Bjørvika will help spur a new tourist stream to the east. Board members also point out that Bjørvika is close to the central train station, existing cruise and ferry piers and public transport.
As many as 500,000 persons visit the existing Viking ships museum every year. A new museum would be able to receive many more, under more secure conditions.
A move remains controversial, however, and newspaper Aftenposten reports that museum personnel oppose it. Historic preservation officials, meanwhile, recently proposed putting the existing Vikingshipshuset on the national preservation list.
It also remained unclear how much a move would cost.
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www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Friday, October 13, 2006
Past revealed as museum opens 330 year old coffin
_________________________________________________________________
The Local
By Paul O'Mahony
October 13, 2006
A 330 year old coffin salvaged from the Royal Ship Kronan has just been opened at Kalmar County Museum.
Professional tools sealed for centuries behind the coffin door offer clues as to the identity of the deceased man.
"We found that the coffin belonged to a glassmaker. For example we located lead that is used for making windows, as well as a ruler and a glass cutter with a diamond at the end," project manager Lars Einarsson told The Local.
It is likely that the man was a civilian employed to repair any broken windows on the ship.
His services would have been of little use, however, when the ship capsized and exploded during the Battle of Öland on June 1 1676.
The ship set had sail with an 800-strong crew. Only 50 survived the catastrophe. The wreck of the Kronan was eventually recovered in 1980.
The museum's decision to open the coffin revealed more than just a professional portfolio.
"We also found personal belongings such as pewter flasks, pewter plates, a small cup, clay pipes and an egg-shaped snuff box," said Einarsson.
The name Hans Tursen was engraved on a pewter cup. This is the probable identity of the ship's glassmaker, who would have been just one of many civilians working hand in hand with the military on the ship.
Earlier finds from the Kronan include a trumpet, gold coins and a German-made cannon cast in 1514. In all 20,000 artefacts have been recovered from the wreck.
The Local
By Paul O'Mahony
October 13, 2006
A 330 year old coffin salvaged from the Royal Ship Kronan has just been opened at Kalmar County Museum.
Professional tools sealed for centuries behind the coffin door offer clues as to the identity of the deceased man.
"We found that the coffin belonged to a glassmaker. For example we located lead that is used for making windows, as well as a ruler and a glass cutter with a diamond at the end," project manager Lars Einarsson told The Local.
It is likely that the man was a civilian employed to repair any broken windows on the ship.
His services would have been of little use, however, when the ship capsized and exploded during the Battle of Öland on June 1 1676.
The ship set had sail with an 800-strong crew. Only 50 survived the catastrophe. The wreck of the Kronan was eventually recovered in 1980.
The museum's decision to open the coffin revealed more than just a professional portfolio.
"We also found personal belongings such as pewter flasks, pewter plates, a small cup, clay pipes and an egg-shaped snuff box," said Einarsson.
The name Hans Tursen was engraved on a pewter cup. This is the probable identity of the ship's glassmaker, who would have been just one of many civilians working hand in hand with the military on the ship.
Earlier finds from the Kronan include a trumpet, gold coins and a German-made cannon cast in 1514. In all 20,000 artefacts have been recovered from the wreck.
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www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Spot on historic register sought
_________________________________________________________________
Newszap.com
By Drew Volturo
Newszap.com
By Drew Volturo
October 11, 2006
Diver Matt DeFelice emerges from the water after
scouring the wreck believed to be British commercial
vessel the Severn, which sank in 1774. Helping him out
of the water are Justin McNesky, left, and Mike Murray.
LEWES — Delaware’s underwater “big dig” has resumed and numerous new artifacts from the state’s oldest-known shipwreck have surfaced.
The Roosevelt Inlet shipwreck, which archaeologists have been studying for nearly two years, is believed to be British commercial vessel the Severn, which sank in May 1774.
Archaeologists and beachcombers have recovered more than 45,000 artifacts from the vessel and more are being unearthed each day.
Additionally, the state has applied to list the shipwreck on the National Register of Historic Places.
“This is an exciting chapter in Delaware’s maritime history,” Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor said Wednesday during a briefing on the resumption of recovery efforts.
Mrs. Windsor marveled at how far the state has come since announcing the discovery of the buried ship.
“We know basically her name and her mission,” she said.
The Severn, Mrs. Windsor said, was a three-mast, 80-foot vessel bound for Philadelphia from Bristol, England, in late April and early May 1774 when it encountered what likely was a nor’easter.
“The captain of the Severn, James Hathorn, apparently ran the ship aground because he wanted to save the crew, and did,” she said.
Daniel R. Griffith, one of the project leaders, said many ships facing severe storms would hide behind Cape Henlopen, a natural barrier, in the Harbor of Refuge.
The ship remained undisturbed until November 2004 when beachcombers began finding pieces of pottery, ceramics and metal military miniatures along a section of beach that had been built up through a replenishment project that fall.
After researching the area, archaeologists discovered that a dredge had churned up the artifacts after sucking sediment from the edge of the wreck site and throwing it onto the beach.
Archaeologists were able to approximate the date of the vessel through the various ceramics, earthenware and glass from the ship, pinpointing a range of 1769-75.
Mr. Griffith said he is “90 percent sure” that the wreck is the Severn, noting that three other vessels that sank in the area have been ruled out due to the cargo or news reports at the time of the sinking.
The vessel easily predates the HMS DeBraak, a shipwrecked British brig found off the Lewes coast 20 years ago, by nearly a quarter-century.
The DeBraak sank in 1798.
Diving at the Roosevelt Inlet wreck site resumed Sept. 27 and will continue throughout October, senior underwater archaeologist Jason Burns said.
Mr. Burns hopes to learn more about the vessel by exploring its hull and excavating more artifacts.
Visibility, he said, is limited to about 6-10 inches on most days, and divers are expected to cover about 30 percent of the site, which is 15 feet underwater.
Wednesday, divers brought sifted sediment aboard a dredge, where archaeologists meticulously searched for hidden treasures.
Even the tiniest piece of German stoneware was set aside for cataloging.
The new dig already has yielded artifacts that have not been seen in Delaware previously, Mr. Griffith said, such as a pewter plate warmer and a glass linen smoother.
“We’re hoping to see what life was like on an 18th century British commercial ship,” Mr. Griffith said.
Although the on-site research is expected to wrap up this year, there is plenty of work to be done on land.
Mr. Griffith noted that project members have learned that Capt. Hathorn of the Severn died in 1795 and was buried in Philadelphia.
Archaeologists have the names of the 15-20 crewmembers and will see if any of them remained in Lewes after the wreck.
If the state’s application to have the vessel added to the National Register of Historic Places is successful, it would be the first Delaware shipwreck to be placed on the list.
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www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
LEWES — Delaware’s underwater “big dig” has resumed and numerous new artifacts from the state’s oldest-known shipwreck have surfaced.
The Roosevelt Inlet shipwreck, which archaeologists have been studying for nearly two years, is believed to be British commercial vessel the Severn, which sank in May 1774.
Archaeologists and beachcombers have recovered more than 45,000 artifacts from the vessel and more are being unearthed each day.
Additionally, the state has applied to list the shipwreck on the National Register of Historic Places.
“This is an exciting chapter in Delaware’s maritime history,” Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor said Wednesday during a briefing on the resumption of recovery efforts.
Mrs. Windsor marveled at how far the state has come since announcing the discovery of the buried ship.
“We know basically her name and her mission,” she said.
The Severn, Mrs. Windsor said, was a three-mast, 80-foot vessel bound for Philadelphia from Bristol, England, in late April and early May 1774 when it encountered what likely was a nor’easter.
“The captain of the Severn, James Hathorn, apparently ran the ship aground because he wanted to save the crew, and did,” she said.
Daniel R. Griffith, one of the project leaders, said many ships facing severe storms would hide behind Cape Henlopen, a natural barrier, in the Harbor of Refuge.
The ship remained undisturbed until November 2004 when beachcombers began finding pieces of pottery, ceramics and metal military miniatures along a section of beach that had been built up through a replenishment project that fall.
After researching the area, archaeologists discovered that a dredge had churned up the artifacts after sucking sediment from the edge of the wreck site and throwing it onto the beach.
Archaeologists were able to approximate the date of the vessel through the various ceramics, earthenware and glass from the ship, pinpointing a range of 1769-75.
Mr. Griffith said he is “90 percent sure” that the wreck is the Severn, noting that three other vessels that sank in the area have been ruled out due to the cargo or news reports at the time of the sinking.
The vessel easily predates the HMS DeBraak, a shipwrecked British brig found off the Lewes coast 20 years ago, by nearly a quarter-century.
The DeBraak sank in 1798.
Diving at the Roosevelt Inlet wreck site resumed Sept. 27 and will continue throughout October, senior underwater archaeologist Jason Burns said.
Mr. Burns hopes to learn more about the vessel by exploring its hull and excavating more artifacts.
Visibility, he said, is limited to about 6-10 inches on most days, and divers are expected to cover about 30 percent of the site, which is 15 feet underwater.
Wednesday, divers brought sifted sediment aboard a dredge, where archaeologists meticulously searched for hidden treasures.
Even the tiniest piece of German stoneware was set aside for cataloging.
The new dig already has yielded artifacts that have not been seen in Delaware previously, Mr. Griffith said, such as a pewter plate warmer and a glass linen smoother.
“We’re hoping to see what life was like on an 18th century British commercial ship,” Mr. Griffith said.
Although the on-site research is expected to wrap up this year, there is plenty of work to be done on land.
Mr. Griffith noted that project members have learned that Capt. Hathorn of the Severn died in 1795 and was buried in Philadelphia.
Archaeologists have the names of the 15-20 crewmembers and will see if any of them remained in Lewes after the wreck.
If the state’s application to have the vessel added to the National Register of Historic Places is successful, it would be the first Delaware shipwreck to be placed on the list.
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www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Ancient Canoe Found by Wichita State University Professor on Belize Research Dig
_________________________________________________________________
AScribe
____
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AScribe
October 10, 2006
WICHITA, Kan.-- An ancient canoe -- more than likely the oldest canoe ever uncovered in Mesoamerica -- was discovered this summer in a cliff-top cave in Belize by an excavation team being led by Wichita State University archaeologist Keith Prufer.
Prufer estimates that the canoe very likely dates to 200 to 800 AD, based on previous findings in the area. Carbon testing is currently being wrapped up to confirm that the canoe is indeed the oldest found in Mesoamerica, the geographical region from around central Mexico extending down through Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and part of Costa Rica.
It's also the first pre-Columbian canoe ever found in a Mayan area, Prufer said. The cave appeared to have been used as a royal burial crypt and has the remains of an ancient tomb.
"It's unlikely it was a canoe just being stored in a cave that we had to use 200 feet of climbing rope to get to," said Prufer, about the canoe's placement.
Mayan ancient religious beliefs involve travels over water in the underworld. Canoes also were associated with celestial patterns, Prufer said, referring to a Mayan myth involving "paddler gods" who travel through the Milky Way.
In visiting with local villagers, who have helped Prufer and his research team in the excavations, Prufer was told they had seen the canoe more intact and filled with organic matter in the past. Looters had damaged the canoe and tomb by the time Prufer's team arrived.
Prufer has been conducting archaeological research in southern Belize for more than 13 years, but in recent years he's been concentrated at Uxbenka, an important but rarely studied ruin in the remote rainforest of southern Belize.
The Uxbenka project is part of Belize's mandate to "expand investigations in parts of the country where there have been few archaeological studies," according to Jaime Awe, director of the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Prufer recently was awarded nearly $124,000 from the National Science Foundation to continue his work at Uxbenka, which has a rich history despite being discovered just 30 years ago.
Prufer's interest in studying the political history of the rise and fall of smaller Mayan cities and how they interacted with larger, more powerful urban centers is evident as he relates some of what has been uncovered at Uxbenka.
According to Prufer, ancient carved monuments at the site describe a relationship with Tikal, Guatemala, one of the most powerful states in the entire Mayan world when Uxbenka was first developing. Among Prufer's discoveries are ancient stone ballcourt markers. These immense, round markers were the equivalent of a goal or field marker in a game played with a weighted solid rubber ball. The game was a sort of ancient form of soccer, but in addition to showing athletic prowess among the Mayan villages, it also had political and religious ramifications.
With the new NSF grant, Prufer hopes to set up a field school for WSU students to join him and his team for five weeks a year during the next three years. One of the items on his to-do list for next year is to recover the canoe and excavate the cave, which will be no small feat.
"This will be a big deal," said Prufer, "since parts of the canoe are very fragile. Parts of it do have a lot of integrity, too."
The canoe will be packed in a snug cocoon of foam, lowered by a boom down the 200-foot cliff and walked out of the rainforest by laborers and then picked up by helicopter.
Some of Prufer's past archaeological finds -- a wooden bench and large wooden figurine used as a royal scepter -- are now on display in the Belize National Museum after having been restored. The canoe will eventually land there as well.
In addition to the archaeological excavations, Prufer's team is also working with local Mayan villages around Uxbenka to make sure that local people, who are descendants of the ancient Maya, benefit from the research.
Along with cultural anthropologist Rebecca Zarger from the University of South Florida, Prufer has been working to set up educational and tour guide training programs in the nearby village of Santa Cruz.
"These people are living in the midst of an ancient site so it's a benefit for them to know what it is that we're doing," he said.
"Uxbenka is located in a stunning park-like setting. It's the kind of location ecotourists would find perfect," Prufer said.
WICHITA, Kan.-- An ancient canoe -- more than likely the oldest canoe ever uncovered in Mesoamerica -- was discovered this summer in a cliff-top cave in Belize by an excavation team being led by Wichita State University archaeologist Keith Prufer.
Prufer estimates that the canoe very likely dates to 200 to 800 AD, based on previous findings in the area. Carbon testing is currently being wrapped up to confirm that the canoe is indeed the oldest found in Mesoamerica, the geographical region from around central Mexico extending down through Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and part of Costa Rica.
It's also the first pre-Columbian canoe ever found in a Mayan area, Prufer said. The cave appeared to have been used as a royal burial crypt and has the remains of an ancient tomb.
"It's unlikely it was a canoe just being stored in a cave that we had to use 200 feet of climbing rope to get to," said Prufer, about the canoe's placement.
Mayan ancient religious beliefs involve travels over water in the underworld. Canoes also were associated with celestial patterns, Prufer said, referring to a Mayan myth involving "paddler gods" who travel through the Milky Way.
In visiting with local villagers, who have helped Prufer and his research team in the excavations, Prufer was told they had seen the canoe more intact and filled with organic matter in the past. Looters had damaged the canoe and tomb by the time Prufer's team arrived.
Prufer has been conducting archaeological research in southern Belize for more than 13 years, but in recent years he's been concentrated at Uxbenka, an important but rarely studied ruin in the remote rainforest of southern Belize.
The Uxbenka project is part of Belize's mandate to "expand investigations in parts of the country where there have been few archaeological studies," according to Jaime Awe, director of the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Prufer recently was awarded nearly $124,000 from the National Science Foundation to continue his work at Uxbenka, which has a rich history despite being discovered just 30 years ago.
Prufer's interest in studying the political history of the rise and fall of smaller Mayan cities and how they interacted with larger, more powerful urban centers is evident as he relates some of what has been uncovered at Uxbenka.
According to Prufer, ancient carved monuments at the site describe a relationship with Tikal, Guatemala, one of the most powerful states in the entire Mayan world when Uxbenka was first developing. Among Prufer's discoveries are ancient stone ballcourt markers. These immense, round markers were the equivalent of a goal or field marker in a game played with a weighted solid rubber ball. The game was a sort of ancient form of soccer, but in addition to showing athletic prowess among the Mayan villages, it also had political and religious ramifications.
With the new NSF grant, Prufer hopes to set up a field school for WSU students to join him and his team for five weeks a year during the next three years. One of the items on his to-do list for next year is to recover the canoe and excavate the cave, which will be no small feat.
"This will be a big deal," said Prufer, "since parts of the canoe are very fragile. Parts of it do have a lot of integrity, too."
The canoe will be packed in a snug cocoon of foam, lowered by a boom down the 200-foot cliff and walked out of the rainforest by laborers and then picked up by helicopter.
Some of Prufer's past archaeological finds -- a wooden bench and large wooden figurine used as a royal scepter -- are now on display in the Belize National Museum after having been restored. The canoe will eventually land there as well.
In addition to the archaeological excavations, Prufer's team is also working with local Mayan villages around Uxbenka to make sure that local people, who are descendants of the ancient Maya, benefit from the research.
Along with cultural anthropologist Rebecca Zarger from the University of South Florida, Prufer has been working to set up educational and tour guide training programs in the nearby village of Santa Cruz.
"These people are living in the midst of an ancient site so it's a benefit for them to know what it is that we're doing," he said.
"Uxbenka is located in a stunning park-like setting. It's the kind of location ecotourists would find perfect," Prufer said.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Bronze Age canoe makes its first journey in more than 3,000 years
_________________________________________________________________
The Times
October 05, 2006
A Bronze Age canoe discovered during work on a gas pipeline made its first journey for more than 3,000 years yesterday when it was moved from west Wales to Newport for restoration.
Stonehenge was in its infancy when the one-tonne artefact, formed from a single trunk of oak and believed to be a dug-out canoe — but which may possibly be a cooking trough — last saw the light of day.
It was spotted by an archaeologist monitoring construction work on a National Grid gas pipeline between Milford Haven and Aberdulais. Surveys had identified the area near Milford Haven as a likely site for Bronze Age activity.
The artefact was lifted in a custom-built crate on to a lorry for the journey to Newport, where it was submerged in a tank of water to protect the ancient wood from the ravages of oxygen.
Neil Fairburn, a National Grid archaeologist, said he hoped that the canoe would be exhibited near Milford. “It is an awesome find,” he said.
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www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
The Times
October 05, 2006
A Bronze Age canoe discovered during work on a gas pipeline made its first journey for more than 3,000 years yesterday when it was moved from west Wales to Newport for restoration.
Stonehenge was in its infancy when the one-tonne artefact, formed from a single trunk of oak and believed to be a dug-out canoe — but which may possibly be a cooking trough — last saw the light of day.
It was spotted by an archaeologist monitoring construction work on a National Grid gas pipeline between Milford Haven and Aberdulais. Surveys had identified the area near Milford Haven as a likely site for Bronze Age activity.
The artefact was lifted in a custom-built crate on to a lorry for the journey to Newport, where it was submerged in a tank of water to protect the ancient wood from the ravages of oxygen.
Neil Fairburn, a National Grid archaeologist, said he hoped that the canoe would be exhibited near Milford. “It is an awesome find,” he said.
____
www.dofundodomar.blogspot.com
Monday, October 02, 2006
Sonar may have found sunken WWII sub
_________________________________________________________________
Adn.com
By Jeannette J. Lee
October 02, 2006
Adn.com
By Jeannette J. Lee
October 02, 2006
A sonar image shows what may be the USS Grunion.
Underwater sonar images of a black shape against a background of grainy monochrome are safely stored on two computer hard drives at Bruce Abele's home in Newton, Mass.
Blurred by odd shadows and striations, the silhouettes are the biggest clues in more than 60 years to the fate of his father's World War II submarine, the USS Grunion, which sank near the remote islands at the tip of Alaska's Aleutian chain.
For decades, relatives of the Grunion's 70 lost crewmen had no information beyond fragmented U.S. Navy records, and a few rumors, about where and why the sub went down.
They knew the Grunion had sunk two Japanese submarine chasers and heavily damaged a third in July 1942 near Kiska, one of two Aleutian islands occupied by the Japanese. They knew her last official radio message to the sub base at Dutch Harbor, on July 30, 1942, described heavy enemy activity at Kiska Harbor. They knew she still had 10 of her 24 torpedoes during that communication. They knew Dutch Harbor responded with an order to return to the base, but they don't know if Grunion ever received it.
Until a few years ago, the clues were too sparse to justify a search, said Abele, whose father, Mannert Abele, was the Grunion's commander.
"We really didn't do anything about it because there was nothing, no information," Abele said. "What were we going to do?"
Abele and his two brothers all married and had children. Bruce, the oldest, started working in computers in the late 1950s and later invested in Boston-area real estate. Brad, the middle son, owned a management recruiting business and John helped found the multibillion dollar medical equipment company Boston Scientific Corp.
Four years ago, a man who had heard about the Grunion's disappearance e-mailed Bruce the links to several Grunion Web sites.
One site held an entirely new clue, a note from a Japanese model ship builder who said he thought he knew what had happened to the Grunion.
John Abele contacted the man, Yutaka Iwasaki, who translated and sent him a report written in the 1960s by a Japanese military officer who served in the Aleutians. A maritime magazine had recently reprinted the report.
It described a confrontation between a U.S. submarine and the officer's freighter, the Kano Maru, on July 31, 1942, about 10 miles northeast of Kiska -- the Grunion's patrol area.
The sub dispatched six or seven torpedoes. All but one bounced off the boat without exploding, or missed, the officer wrote, although the hit knocked out his engines and communications. He said he returned fire with an 8-centimeter deck gun, and believed he had sunk the sub.
Japanese troops took over Kiska and Attu in early June 1942, just as the Allies were winning the battle of Midway. The U.S. Navy was shoring up its defenses in the central Pacific, but managed to assign more than a dozen submarines to the waters around Kiska at the end of the month, according to declassified Navy orders.
The Abeles began investigating the identity of the sub in the Kano Maru officer's report.
They contacted Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic. He declined to participate in a search, but briefed the Abeles on the complications of searching for deep-sea wrecks. Geological formations sometimes conceal a vessel; it could be perched precariously on an undersea cliff; the water pressure and landing impact could have broken the Grunion into small pieces, making it harder to find.
They also hired a marine survey firm, Williamson and Associates, for an expedition to Kiska in August. The Seattle-based company focuses on mapping ocean and river bottoms for oil and cable companies, government agencies and academic institutions and occasionally explores for wrecks.
Williamson at first told the Abeles that surveying the tip of the Aleutian archipelago would be too expensive, Bruce Abele said, but after six months of negotiating, the firm agreed to send sonar technicians and equipment aboard a Bering Sea crab boat to the frigid waters at the base of Kiska volcano.
The U.S. Navy, citing lack of resources, is not involved in the search and the Abeles prefer to keep the cost to themselves.
The Aquila, carrying more than a dozen crew members and sonar surveyors, set out from Dutch Harbor on Aug. 6, said Pete Lowney, a family friend from Newton who joined the crab fishing fleet in Dutch Harbor more than a decade ago. Lowney has fished king and snow crab for years under the Aquila's captain, Kale Garcia.
The conical volcanoes of the far western Aleutians seem to drop straight into the sea. Even in summer, rain, fog and vicious winds envelop the tiny islands.
Near the end of July 1943, for instance, the fog clung so thick around Kiska that 5,183 Japanese troops and civilians evacuated from the harbor without drawing fire from any of the surrounding U.S. battleships. The military realized a distant three weeks later that Kiska was deserted, but only after 35,000 Allied troops had spent eight days searching the fog-cloaked island, with 24 killed by friendly fire, according to the National Park Service.
For more than two weeks, the Aquila carefully towed a sonar cable from east to west and back again inside a 240-square-mile grid that the survey team had plotted using information from naval archives and the Kano Maru officer's account. The crew worked in shifts to keep the search going 24 hours a day, Lowney said.
Sonar images can deceive even those who interpret them for a living. Elongated boulders look like submarines; outcrops resemble ship's prows.
"It's a rocky seascape," said Art Wright, survey manager for Williamson. "We went over the areas several times to differentiate between rock and ship and look at things from three to four different aspects."
They looked first for the Japanese destroyer Arare, sunk by the U.S. submarine Growler, to test the sonar and see what a known wreck would look like against the seafloor. The sonar captured shapes that appeared to be two halves of the Arare, Wright said.
There were several false "eureka" moments, Lowney said.
"We put down the sonar and I thought I saw two destroyers and got excited," he said ruefully. "After that point, I stopped jumping to conclusions."
In mid-August, the sonar picked up a 290-foot-long object with the sharp angles and jutting shadows of something man-made wedged into a terrace on the steep underwater slope of the volcano.
The Grunion, however, was 312 feet long. The Williamson team believes the bow may have plowed beneath a mat of thick sediment, hence the apparent shortage of about 20 feet. Skid marks show the vessel slid to rest about 1,000 meters from the surface, Wright said. Over the years, earthquakes along the tectonic subduction zone could have piled on more debris, he said.
Wright, a retired Navy captain who has worked with Williamson since 1986, is 95 percent sure the shadowy images are those of the vanished sub. The Grunion is the only known sunken vessel in the area and the sonar captured the distinct outline of a submarine conning tower, he said.
"If our target is not the Grunion, where is she?" Wright said.
The Abeles remain circumspect about the find, saying they need more proof of the vessel's identity.
"Although it's very encouraging at the moment, it's dangerous to say, 'Absolutely, we have it,'" Bruce Abele said in August. But they have enough faith in the wreck to send out a second expedition next summer, this time with a remote-controlled underwater camera to identify the vessel and try to reconstruct her sinking.
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www.schnorkel.blogspot.com
Underwater sonar images of a black shape against a background of grainy monochrome are safely stored on two computer hard drives at Bruce Abele's home in Newton, Mass.
Blurred by odd shadows and striations, the silhouettes are the biggest clues in more than 60 years to the fate of his father's World War II submarine, the USS Grunion, which sank near the remote islands at the tip of Alaska's Aleutian chain.
For decades, relatives of the Grunion's 70 lost crewmen had no information beyond fragmented U.S. Navy records, and a few rumors, about where and why the sub went down.
They knew the Grunion had sunk two Japanese submarine chasers and heavily damaged a third in July 1942 near Kiska, one of two Aleutian islands occupied by the Japanese. They knew her last official radio message to the sub base at Dutch Harbor, on July 30, 1942, described heavy enemy activity at Kiska Harbor. They knew she still had 10 of her 24 torpedoes during that communication. They knew Dutch Harbor responded with an order to return to the base, but they don't know if Grunion ever received it.
Until a few years ago, the clues were too sparse to justify a search, said Abele, whose father, Mannert Abele, was the Grunion's commander.
"We really didn't do anything about it because there was nothing, no information," Abele said. "What were we going to do?"
Abele and his two brothers all married and had children. Bruce, the oldest, started working in computers in the late 1950s and later invested in Boston-area real estate. Brad, the middle son, owned a management recruiting business and John helped found the multibillion dollar medical equipment company Boston Scientific Corp.
Four years ago, a man who had heard about the Grunion's disappearance e-mailed Bruce the links to several Grunion Web sites.
One site held an entirely new clue, a note from a Japanese model ship builder who said he thought he knew what had happened to the Grunion.
John Abele contacted the man, Yutaka Iwasaki, who translated and sent him a report written in the 1960s by a Japanese military officer who served in the Aleutians. A maritime magazine had recently reprinted the report.
It described a confrontation between a U.S. submarine and the officer's freighter, the Kano Maru, on July 31, 1942, about 10 miles northeast of Kiska -- the Grunion's patrol area.
The sub dispatched six or seven torpedoes. All but one bounced off the boat without exploding, or missed, the officer wrote, although the hit knocked out his engines and communications. He said he returned fire with an 8-centimeter deck gun, and believed he had sunk the sub.
Japanese troops took over Kiska and Attu in early June 1942, just as the Allies were winning the battle of Midway. The U.S. Navy was shoring up its defenses in the central Pacific, but managed to assign more than a dozen submarines to the waters around Kiska at the end of the month, according to declassified Navy orders.
The Abeles began investigating the identity of the sub in the Kano Maru officer's report.
They contacted Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic. He declined to participate in a search, but briefed the Abeles on the complications of searching for deep-sea wrecks. Geological formations sometimes conceal a vessel; it could be perched precariously on an undersea cliff; the water pressure and landing impact could have broken the Grunion into small pieces, making it harder to find.
They also hired a marine survey firm, Williamson and Associates, for an expedition to Kiska in August. The Seattle-based company focuses on mapping ocean and river bottoms for oil and cable companies, government agencies and academic institutions and occasionally explores for wrecks.
Williamson at first told the Abeles that surveying the tip of the Aleutian archipelago would be too expensive, Bruce Abele said, but after six months of negotiating, the firm agreed to send sonar technicians and equipment aboard a Bering Sea crab boat to the frigid waters at the base of Kiska volcano.
The U.S. Navy, citing lack of resources, is not involved in the search and the Abeles prefer to keep the cost to themselves.
The Aquila, carrying more than a dozen crew members and sonar surveyors, set out from Dutch Harbor on Aug. 6, said Pete Lowney, a family friend from Newton who joined the crab fishing fleet in Dutch Harbor more than a decade ago. Lowney has fished king and snow crab for years under the Aquila's captain, Kale Garcia.
The conical volcanoes of the far western Aleutians seem to drop straight into the sea. Even in summer, rain, fog and vicious winds envelop the tiny islands.
Near the end of July 1943, for instance, the fog clung so thick around Kiska that 5,183 Japanese troops and civilians evacuated from the harbor without drawing fire from any of the surrounding U.S. battleships. The military realized a distant three weeks later that Kiska was deserted, but only after 35,000 Allied troops had spent eight days searching the fog-cloaked island, with 24 killed by friendly fire, according to the National Park Service.
For more than two weeks, the Aquila carefully towed a sonar cable from east to west and back again inside a 240-square-mile grid that the survey team had plotted using information from naval archives and the Kano Maru officer's account. The crew worked in shifts to keep the search going 24 hours a day, Lowney said.
Sonar images can deceive even those who interpret them for a living. Elongated boulders look like submarines; outcrops resemble ship's prows.
"It's a rocky seascape," said Art Wright, survey manager for Williamson. "We went over the areas several times to differentiate between rock and ship and look at things from three to four different aspects."
They looked first for the Japanese destroyer Arare, sunk by the U.S. submarine Growler, to test the sonar and see what a known wreck would look like against the seafloor. The sonar captured shapes that appeared to be two halves of the Arare, Wright said.
There were several false "eureka" moments, Lowney said.
"We put down the sonar and I thought I saw two destroyers and got excited," he said ruefully. "After that point, I stopped jumping to conclusions."
In mid-August, the sonar picked up a 290-foot-long object with the sharp angles and jutting shadows of something man-made wedged into a terrace on the steep underwater slope of the volcano.
The Grunion, however, was 312 feet long. The Williamson team believes the bow may have plowed beneath a mat of thick sediment, hence the apparent shortage of about 20 feet. Skid marks show the vessel slid to rest about 1,000 meters from the surface, Wright said. Over the years, earthquakes along the tectonic subduction zone could have piled on more debris, he said.
Wright, a retired Navy captain who has worked with Williamson since 1986, is 95 percent sure the shadowy images are those of the vanished sub. The Grunion is the only known sunken vessel in the area and the sonar captured the distinct outline of a submarine conning tower, he said.
"If our target is not the Grunion, where is she?" Wright said.
The Abeles remain circumspect about the find, saying they need more proof of the vessel's identity.
"Although it's very encouraging at the moment, it's dangerous to say, 'Absolutely, we have it,'" Bruce Abele said in August. But they have enough faith in the wreck to send out a second expedition next summer, this time with a remote-controlled underwater camera to identify the vessel and try to reconstruct her sinking.
____
www.schnorkel.blogspot.com
