Do fundo do mar... Sea bottom

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Times Online
December 31, 2007


For centuries the harbour of Ancient Constantinople, modern Istanbul, was the inlet of the Golden Horn, running north between the peninsula on which the city’s core stands and the commercial and foreign quarter of Galata and Pera to the east. A boom across the inlet protected the city from attack, although the Ottoman troops of Mehmet II stormed across the Golden Horn in 1453 to end the Byzantine Empire.

A second, mainly commercial, harbour, in use from the 5th-10th centuries AD, has been found on the south shore of the peninsula, on the Sea of Marmara. Yenikapi was discovered four years ago during construction of a rail link between Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus: it had become filled in with silt and forgotten.

Now one of the largest archaeological investigations in Europe, Yenikapi has produced waterlogged finds ranging in date from 7,000 years ago to the Ottoman age. Two dozen or so Byzantine ships are among the most important, says James Delgado of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) at Texas A&M University.

“This is one of the greatest nautical archaeological sites of all time, a repository of forgotten Byzantine shipbuilding,” he says. “After analysis, the work at Yenikapi should rewrite the book on Byzantine shipbuilding, and the role of maritime trade in the history of Constantinople.”

Some of the vessels are merchantmen, with cargoes preserved by the thick mud, while others may be warships. One ship, Hull 6, dates from the 7th century and will allow important comparisons with the coeval Yassiada ship. Excavated more than 40 years ago, this is an example of nautical technology at the pinnacle of Byzantine power.

Yenikapi has ushered in a new age of nautical archaeology, hitherto concentrated on shipwrecks and upstanding harbour works. “Dry excavations of silted harbours are poised to tell us more about naval technology and hull construction than we might ever learn from a single shipwreck”, says Deborah Carlson of the INA. An on-site museum is planned, which will add an extra strand to the rich culture of modern Istanbul and the understanding of its Greek precursors.


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The Independent
By Graham Keeley
December 29, 2007

Gazing from the beaches of southern Spain into the blue waters of the Mediterranean, few tourists have any idea what really lies beneath the waves.

Aside from jellyfish, the occasional whale and the usual flotsam and jetsam, at the bottom of one of the world's busiest waterways lies something many a holidaymaker would love to get their hands on.

Maritime historical experts say that, scattered around the Spanish coastline, lies more gold and silver than in the vaults of the Bank of Spain. There are said to be the 700 shipwrecks, from Roman barges, to Spanish Golden Age galleons and British aircraft carriers.

Many of the galleons were laden with a fortune in gold, silver and bronze plundered from colonies between the 16th and 19th centuries when Spain's empire stretched from the Americas to the Philippines.

Freak storms, the gall of audacious pirates or the guns of rival navies all sent them to the bottom while they sailed the perilous India Run, bringing treasures from Spain's colonies in the Philippines and the Americas. Marine archaeologists believe that lying under the waves in the Mediterranean alone could be sunken treasure worth 100bn (73bn), but all acknowledge the real value will probably never be known. Elsewhere, scattered around parts of the globe, in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific, lie more sunken millions. Now, hundreds of years after the gold baubles and silver ducats went to the bottom of the briny, there is an international battle to lay claim to this treasure.

Centuries on from the Spanish conquistadores, their modern descendants are determined the millions in gold and silver will not be claimed by 21st-century pirates who employ hi-tech gear to retrieve the treasures.

The Spanish Ministry of Culture has commissioned the marine archaeologists Nerea Arqueologia Subacuatica (NAS) to draw up a treasure map, listing all the sunken galleons around the world to stop others "stealing their heritage".

Spanish officials were angered after the US salvage company, Odyssey Marine Explorations, spirited away hundreds of gold and silver coins worth a reputed 250m from a "secret" wreck said to lie off the Spanish coast.

Odyssey, based in Tampa, Florida, would name the wreck only as the Black Swan, adding to Spanish fears that their precious treasure was being taken from under their noses. Odyssey Explorer, the company's salvage vessel, was boarded by the Spanish navy to stop it leaving Spanish waters with its cargo, but she was later released.

Spain has claimed the coins and other loot was in Spanish seas; the Nasdaq-listed company insists it was discovered in international waters.

But Odyssey's row with the Spanish over the Black Swan has led to speculation that the salvage company had actually found the wreck of the British ship Merchant Royal, which sank in bad weather off the Isles of Scilly in 1641. As the dispute plays out in a courtroom in Tampa, Spain is determined it will not be outwitted by treasure-hunters again. Javier Noriega, the head of NAS, shows a determination, bordering on evangelical, to stop the treasure-hunters exploiting historically important sites for personal gain.

"What has occurred already is as if someone had carried off the Giralda [Seville's landmark cathedral tower]," he says. "Spanish archaeologists do not see the goods on board a wreck as something to make money out of. We don't talk in terms of treasure. We are interested in research and what research can tell us about the past."

So far, Mr Noriega's map includes vessels previously pin-pointed. They include Nuestra Señora La Mercedes, laden with gold, silver and other valuables, which was sunk by a British warship off Portugal in 1804.

Spanish law forbids the trade of anything considered part of the country's heritage. But legally, there is a grey area when it comes to foreign companies being allowed to search for sunken galleons, in return for a share of the booty.

Odyssey has struck a deal with the Spanish and British governments to excavate the site of HMS Sussex, which went down in the Gulf of Cadiz in 1694 with gold and silver worth a reputed 2.94bn. The salvagers will get a share of anything excavated, but archaeologically significant artefacts will stay in the hands of the British Admiralty.

The Spanish plan suggests attitudes have changed towards preserving its underwater treasures. For many years, archaeologists and academics complained that the treasure-hunters always got there first because of lack of interest and resources employed by the authorities to protect their heritage.

Greg Stemm, co-founder of Odyssey, defends the company's approach to archaeology, insisting that treasure-hunting, scientific investigation and making a profit are compatible. "It is all very well that Spain is talking about protecting its sunken treasures, but if it doesn't do anything about them, they will just remain at the bottom of the ocean, where they are likely to be destroyed," he says.

In 1983, Spain abandoned the wreck of the galleon Santa Margarita. It was gleefully claimed by the American treasure-hunter Mel Fischer.


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RIA Novosti
By Nikolai Lukashov
December 27, 2007


An international archeological expedition to Lake Issyk Kul, high in the Kyrgyz mountains, proves the existence of an advanced civilization 25 centuries ago, equal in development to the Hellenic civilizations of the northern coast of the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea) and the Mediterranean coast of Egypt.

The expedition resulted in sensational finds, including the discovery of major settlements, presently buried underwater. The data and artefacts obtained, which are currently under study, apply the finishing touches to the many years of exploration in the lake, made by seven previous expeditions. The addition of a previously unknown culture to the treasury of history extends the idea of the patterns and regularities of human development.

Kyrgyz historians, led by Vladimir Ploskikh, vice president of the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences, worked side-by-side with Russian colleagues, lead by historian Svetlana Lukashova and myself. All the Russians involved were experienced skin-divers and members of the Russian Confederation of Underwater Sports. We were responsible for the work done under water. Scuba divers ventured into the lake many times to study its bottom.

Last year, we worked near the north coast at depths of 5-10 metres to discover formidable walls, some stretching for 500 meters-traces of a large city with an area of several square kilometers. In other words, it was a metropolis in its time. We also found Scythian burial mounds, eroded by waves over the centuries, and numerous well preserved artifacts-bronze battleaxes, arrowheads, self-sharpening daggers, objects discarded by smiths, casting molds, and a faceted gold bar, which was a monetary unit of the time.

Lake Issyk Kul has played a tremendous role since the inception of human history due to its geographic location at the crossing of Indo-Aryan and other nomadic routes. Archeologists found traces of many religions here-Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Somewhere in the vicinity was Chihu, the metropolitan city of a mighty state of Wusung nomads, which ancient Chinese chronicles mentioned on many occasions.

The Great Silk Road lay along the lake's coast until the 18th century. Even today, the descendants of caravan drivers recollect their ancestors' stories about travelling from Asia to Europe and back.

Tamerlane built a fortress on one of the lake islets to hold aristocratic captives and keep his treasures. The famous Asian expeditions of Russian explorers Dmitry Przhevalsky and Pyotr Semyonov-Tianshansky started from that spot.

The latter left us an enticing mystery. When he visited Venice in 1850, he looked at the Catalan Atlas of 1375 and came across a picture of a lakeside monastery with the caption: "The spot is named Isikol. Here is a monastery of Armenian brethren, which is rumored to possess the relics of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist."

Semyonov-Tianshansky embarked on a relentless but vain search for the shrine. To all appearances, the monastery was engulfed by water. Hydrologists have not to this day sufficiently studied the unique lake with regular shifts in its water level. Some changes are gradual, others sudden and disastrous since they are caused by earthquakes and torrents of water rush from lakes higher up in the mountains. Floods recede sooner or later, and people come back to the shores-only to become the victims of other floods 500-700 years later.

Throughout the years of their partnership, Russian and Kyrgyz archeologists discovered and examined more than ten major flooded urban and rural settlements of varying ages. Their ample finds generously add to present-day ideas of everyday life in times long ago.

Some artifacts are stunning. A 2,500 year-old ritual bronze cauldron was found on the bottom of the lake. The subtlety of its craftsmanship is amazing. Such excellent quality of joining details together can be presently obtained by metalwork in an inert gas. How did ancient people achieve their high-tech perfection? Also of superb workmanship are bronze mirrors, festive horse harnesses and many other objects. Articles identified as the world's oldest extant coins were also found underwater-gold wire rings used as small change and a large hexahedral goldpiece.

Side by side with the settlements are remnants of ritual complexes of times immemorial, dwellings and household outbuildings. Later expeditions will study them.

The information collected there allows us to conjecture that local people had a socio-economic system hitherto unknown to historians. As a blending of nomadic and settled life, it either gradually evolved into something different or-more likely-was destroyed by one of the many local floods. Legends confirm the latter assumption.

Nikolai Lukashov, a member of the Russian Confederation of Underwater Sports, took part in the the Issyk Kul expedition.



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The Standard
By Samantha Craggs
December 27, 2007


The last time anyone touched the artifacts Elizabeth Greene is after, Rome was a new empire and climate change had just pushed the Scandinavians into Europe.

An assistant professor at Brock University, Greene hopes to plunge deep into the Mediterranean Sea this summer to excavate a shipwreck from the Iron Age. Her work will make Brock the first Canadian university to tackle a wreck in the Mediterranean.

The unexplored wreck sank between 700 and 450 BC. For Greene, who has assisted in a handful of shipwreck dives, it will also be the first in which she takes the lead.

“It’s exciting. It’s also a little scary,” said Greene from her tiny office in Brock’s Department of Classics. “It’s a fascinating wreck that will answer a lot of questions.”

A trade hub in ancient times for Greece and Turkey, the Mediterranean has thousands of ancient shipwrecks, “more than we’ll ever be able to excavate,” Greene said. They are so old that most of the actual ships are gone, eaten by underwater creatures or dissolved after thousands of years. But the remaining cargo provides an unhindered glimpse of how goods were transported then.

It answers important questions about trade and economy before money existed, she said.

Greene’s wreck consists mainly of ceramics from the Turkish coast, Greek mainland, Cyprus or the coast of Syria, she said. A team of 20 to 40 will work over three summers, doing deep water dives to examine, map and eventually recover the artifacts. Her team will include photographers, technical experts and archeologists like herself. She also hopes to take a couple of Brock graduate students to have supervisory roles.

The American-born professor’s interest in shipwrecks began as a student at Princeton University, where she received a doctorate in classics. She spotted a New York Times article on a shipwreck project in Greece, ripped it out and took it to her professor, saying “this is what I want to do,” she recalled.

Her professor connected her with George Bass, a founding father of American archeology, who took Greene under his wing. By summer, she was assisting Bass with the Greek shipwreck and he was encouraging her to attend his graduate program in Texas.

Greene and Bass have worked together several times since, co-authoring accounts of their adventures. The most recent was Pabuc Burnu, a Turkish shipwreck in 2003 on which Greene was the assistant director.

“About once in a decade, I’ll identify a student to put in charge of a project,” Bass said from his Texas home office this month. “It’s multidisciplinary. You have to be a scholar, diver and organizer.”

Greene’s greatest challenge with the new wreck is funding.

Last month, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation announced $81,514 for her project and one by Kevin Kee, a Brock history professor developing interactive games to teach the War of 1812. One season of excavating costs about $100,000, Greene said. She is ardently applying for grants.

Ancient Mediterranean wrecks are often found through accounts from divers, she said. Professional sponge divers have been extensively interviewed by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the accounts often overlap.

Artifacts brought up from shipwrecks remain the property of Turkey.

Most of the studied wrecks rest 40 to 50 metres below the surface, slightly deeper than sport divers venture. At that depth, divers can only stay down for 20 minutes a day, so they go down with to-do lists written on plastic plates and work quickly, she said. A pipe fed from a hose at the surface — a sort of underwater vacuum cleaner — sucks sand away from the artifacts.

Once the artifacts are brought to the surface, Greene said, it is an even more complex matter. Simply bringing them out of salt water and letting them dry would cause the salt in the artifacts to expand and contract until the object shattered.

Researchers must steadily move them, phase by phase, from sea water to fresh water, she said, a process that takes about two years.

Most of the wrecks likely sank when shifting winds caused the boats to hit rock, she said. One shipwreck off the coast of Cyprus, however, had spearheads in what was left of the hull, indicating pirates.

For Bass, now retired from teaching after seven years at Texas A&M, it is exciting to see new generations taking over from their mentors.

“I can just sit back now,” he said, “because it’s all in such good hands.”


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BBC
By Quentin Sommerville
December 21, 2007

Chinese archaeologists have raised a merchant ship which sank in the South China Sea 800 years ago while transporting a cargo of precious porcelain.

The Nanhai 1 treasury ship, built during the Song dynasty which ruled China from 960-1279, is believed to contain one of the biggest discoveries of Chinese artefacts from that period.

"It's the biggest ship of its kind to be found," said professor Liu Wensuo, and archaeologist from Sun Yat-sen University.

"It lay in about 25m (82ft) of water and was covered in mud - perfect conditions for preservation. Both the ship and its contents are in exceptionally good condition."

The salvage team began building a massive steel cage around the 30m (98ft)-long vessel in May in order to raise it and the surrounding silt.

The cage was made up of 36 steel beams, each weighing around 5 tons. Together with its contents, the cage weighed more than 3,000 tons.

The heavy lifting began a day earlier than expected at 0900 on Friday due to favourable weather conditions. It was completed two hours later and placed on a waiting barge.

As many as 6,000 artefacts have already been retrieved from the 13th Century vessel, mostly bluish white porcelain, as well as personal items from crew members, including gold belt buckles and silver rings.

A further 70,000 artefacts are believed to be still on board, many still in their original packing cases.

Valuable cargo

Underwater archaeology is a new field in China.

In the mid-1980s a number of ships, containing enormous hoards of Chinese porcelain, gold and silver, were found by foreign treasure hunters.

Their valuable cargoes were sold at auction houses in the West. At the time, China was too poor to bid for the artefacts.

The loss of such an important part of its history spurred the government into action.

Nanhai 1 will be the first major project to be undertaken by Chinese underwater archaeologists.

Professor Liu is confident that the salvage will be a success.

"This really is only the beginning, there are so many shipwrecks in this area, fishermen often snag artefacts in their nets, sometimes they even wash ashore," he said.

Reclaiming history

It will also give historians much-needed information on a time when China was trading with the world.

During the Song dynasty, most of the country's trade was with India and the Middle East. Later that trade would shift westwards.

"People often think of ancient China as being a closed society, but in the Tang and Song dynasties, China traded with the world - much like today," Professor Liu added.

The Nanhai 1 will eventually be moved to a new purpose built museum near Yangjiang in Guangdong province.

The dramatic building - still far from completion - is being built on the beach.

The ship will be stored underwater in a massive tank, in which the water temperature, pressure and other conditions will be identical to where it lay on the seabed, allowing visitors to watch as archaeologists uncover its secrets.

China has invested about $40m in this project, in the hope of reclaiming a part of the country's history, and this time ensuring it stays in Chinese hands.


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The Gazette

December 20, 2007

A shipwreck off the south coast may provide valuable information about the nautical and economic history of the region, according to the Department of Antiquities.

The shipwreck at Mazotos is the first underwater research project to be exclusively run by Cypriot institutions.

The project was undertaken by the Research Unit of Archaeology of the University of Cyprus in agreement with the Department of Antiquities.

According to a statement from the Department of Antiquities, the shipwreck seems to have been a commercial vessel of the Late Classical period.

Part of the cargo of the ship lies on the sea bottom and consists of amphorae, most probably from Chios.

No other ceramic types were identified for the time being or any other parts of the ship (such as anchors) but the spatial distribution of the amphorae may indicate that the hull of the ship is buried under the sand.


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The New Zealand Herald

December 20, 2007

About 150 ships have been wrecked on the 100km Ripiro Beach on the Kaipara's west coast but for the first time, one of the shipwrecks has been salvaged.

The Askoy II was tossed on to the sand about 2km south of Baylys Beach on the night of July 7, 1994, as it battled a huge storm.

The solo yachtsman at the helm when the historic Belgian-built boat hit the beach, Lindsay Wright, credits the vessel's steel construction with saving his life.

Mr Wright was one of about 150 people who watched what was left of the Askoy II emerge from the sand that has gripped it for the past 13 years.

It was an emotional day for Mr Wright, who had not stopped thinking about his "dream boat" since that fateful night off the stormy west coast.

He's delighted he won't be "the last owner who took her to her grave" and that the Askoy II will be restored.

The 18m ketch is an icon in Belgium, having been owned by superstar singer and actor Jacques Brel, and another well known Belgian, Hugo Van Kuyk.

And it's thanks to the efforts of two Belgian brothers, Staf and Peter Wittevrongel, that the Askoy II is emerging from the sand.

Staf Wittevrongel, who made new sails for the ketch when Brel owned it, was also there to see the efforts of the body he helped set up - Save The Askoy Foundation - come to fruition.

Mr Wittevrongel said the entire operation to recover the Askoy II and ship it to Belgium for restoration would likely cost more than $1.3 million, but it was money well spent on preserving an important part of Belgian maritime history.

"The idea came together three years ago when we came here to have a look at her. We went home and started the foundation and with the help of people like Noel Hilliam it's now a reality," he said.

A team of heavy diggers moved hundreds of tonnes of sand from around the wreck this week so steel cables could be attached. Two efforts to pull the Askoy II from the sand failed, but Mr Hilliam was confident the ketch would be freed.

A sand wall was built around the freshly dug hole to protect the site from again being covered by the tide. Mr Hilliam said there were 110 recorded wrecks along Ripiro Beach, but his research had uncovered at least 40 more.

The historian was in his element as he oversaw the operation to extract the Askoy II from the sand that had held it for 13 years.

"This is really exciting for me," he said. "There's been a lot of planning and frustration along the way to get to this point.

RESTORATION

* The Askoy II ran aground in a storm in 1994.

* The 18m ketch is an icon in Belgium. It was once owned by singer and actor Jacques Brel.

* The operation to recover it and ship it to Belgium for restoration is likely to cost more than $1.3 million.


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Yahoo! News
By Bruce Smith
December 14, 2007



CHARLESTON, S.C. - When scientists opened the watch belonging to the H.L. Hunley commander three years ago, they thought they had the key clue to why the Confederate submarine sank off Charleston.

But the 18-karat gold watch now seems to raise even more questions even though scientists announced Friday it did not slowly wind down but stopped quickly — perhaps the result of a concussion or rushing water.

"All of us were thinking the watch pointed to the crucial moment," said state Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, chairman of the state Hunley Commission. "But I would say instead of the smoking gun, it's more of the smoke that keeps you from seeing."

The hand-cranked Hunley rammed a black powder charge into the Union blockade ship Housatonic on Feb. 17, 1864, becoming the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship.

The Hunley also sank that night with its eight-man crew. It was found 12 years ago off Charleston, raised in 2000 and brought to a conservation lab.

The watch owned by Lt. George Dixon was opened in 2004. It read 8:23, tantalizingly close to historical accounts that the Housatonic sank about around 9 p.m.

McConnell said experts from the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors said the damp on the Hunley could have made the watch run slow.

So concussion of the explosion might have stopped the watch and sank the Hunley.

But McConnell also said there is no way to tell if the watch was even working that night. It may have been broken but Dixon may have continued to carry the expensive watch.

And if the time on the watch was right, it doesn't explain how Confederate soldiers on shore reported a blue light signaling from the Hunley about 45 minutes after the attack on the Housatonic, he said.

McConnell said the fate of the Hunley may be revealed by other clues. In the coming months, scientists will X-ray valves on the pumping system that are encrusted with sediment.

The position may tell whether the sub was taking on water.

When scientists start removing encrusted sediment from the hull, they may find evidence of a rope showing the Hunley was anchored waiting for the tide to turn, McConnell said.

One theory is that the sub took on water while waiting to return.


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The ACUA Underwater Archaeology Proceedings from the 2007 SHA-Williamsburg conference is now available. The volume is composed of seventeen chapters by twenty-four authors and covers a broad spectrum of topics and locales.

The last time the proceedings was published was 1999 as Underwater Archaeology. The high cost of production and made its continuation economically questionable. Since 1999, many have asked for the Proceedings to be re-established in some manner. In an effort to meet this demand, the ACUA made the decision to re-institute them with this past conference as an on-demand publication. The volume is available as both a hard copy (printed, perfect bound) for $20 and as a one-time downloadable full-color PDF file for $10. It is hoped that this more flexible format will make it possible to obtain a copy.

If you would like to purchase the ACUA Underwater Archaeology Proceedings 2007, edited by Victor Mastone, please visit one of the two websites below and follow the links:

http://www.acuaonline.org/ OR http://www.lulu.com/content/1593028 (the publisher)

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Newswise.com

December 13, 2007

Resting in less than 10 feet of Caribbean seawater, the wreckage of Quedagh Merchant, the ship abandoned by the scandalous 17th century pirate Captain William Kidd as he raced to New York in an ill-fated attempt to clear his name, has escaped discovery -- until now.

An underwater archaeology team from Indiana University announced today (Dec. 13) the discovery of the remnants. IU marine protection authority Charles Beeker said his team has been licensed to study the wreckage and to convert the site into an underwater preserve, where it will be accessible to the public.

Beeker, director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs in IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, said it is remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location, just 70 feet off the coast of Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic, and because it has been sought actively by treasure hunters.

"I've been on literally thousands of shipwrecks in my career," Beeker said. "This is one of the first sites I've been on where I haven't seen any looting. We've got a shipwreck in crystal clear, pristine water that's amazingly untouched. We want to keep it that way, so we made the announcement now to ensure the site's protection from looters."

The find is valuable because of the potential to reveal important information about piracy in the Caribbean and about the legendary Capt. Kidd, said John Foster, California's state underwater archaeologist, who is participating in the research.

"I look forward to a meticulous study of the ship, its age, its armament, its construction, its use, its contents and the reconstructed wrecking process that resulted in the site we see today," Foster said. "Because there is extensive, written documentation, this is an opportunity we rarely have to test historic information against the archaeological record."

Historians differ on whether Kidd was actually a pirate or a privateer -- someone who captured pirates. After his conviction of piracy and murder charges in a sensational London trial, he was left to hang over the River Thames for two years.

Historians write that Kidd captured the Quedagh Merchant, loaded with valuable satins and silks, gold, silver and other East Indian merchandise, but left the ship in the Caribbean as he sailed to New York on a less conspicuous sloop to clear his name of the criminal charges.

Anthropologist Geoffrey Conrad, director of IU Bloomington's Mathers Museum of World Cultures, said the men Kidd entrusted with his ship reportedly looted it, and then set it ablaze and adrift down the Rio Dulce. Conrad said the location of the wreckage and the formation and size of the canons, which had been used as ballast, are consistent with historical records of the ship. They also found pieces of several anchors under the cannons.

"All the evidence that we find underwater is consistent with what we know from historical documentation, which is extensive," Conrad said. "Through rigorous archeological investigations, we will conclusively prove that this is the Capt. Kidd shipwreck."

The IU team examined the shipwreck at the request of the Dominican Republic's Oficina Nacional De Patrimonio Cultural Subacuático.

"The site was initially discovered by a local prominent resident of Casa De Campo, who recognized the significance of the numerous cannons and requested the site be properly investigated," said ONPCS Technical Director Francis Soto. "So, I contacted IU."

Beeker and Conrad have worked closely with ONPCS for 11 years since they began conducting underwater and land-based archaeological research related to the era when the Old World and New World first met.

"It continues our work down there from the age of discovery to the golden age of piracy, the transformation of both the native and introduced cultures of the Caribbean," Conrad said.

Much of their work is focused in the area of La Isabela Bay, the site of the first permanent Spanish settlement established by Christopher Columbus. The Taino were the first indigenous people to interact with Europeans. Beeker said much of the history of this period is based on speculation, something he and Conrad are trying to change.

The IU research in the Dominican Republic typically involves professors and graduate students from various IU Bloomington schools and departments, including the School of HPER, the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and the departments of anthropology, biology, geology and mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Anthropology doctorate student Fritz Hanselmann, who teaches underwater archaeology techniques in HPER, said there have only been a few pirate ships ever discovered in the Americas, and that IU's multi-disciplinary research will make a significant contribution to the field.

HPER Dean Robert M. Goodman accompanied the most recent expedition to learn more about this successful interdisciplinary and international research collaboration. He also went to explore potential public health linkages between the School of HPER and the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, founded in 1538. It is the largest university in the country and the oldest in the Americas.

"Indiana University is working to increase its international presence," Goodman said. "Earlier this month, the IU Board of Trustees was presented a strategic plan that calls for increased student and faculty participation in study abroad and international service learning programs, as well as the development of strategic international partnerships that support overseas study, global research and the recruitment of international students.

"The archeological work being done by IU in the Dominican Republic affords us tremendous entrée for wider areas of collaboration," he said.

"Because of the network that Mr. Beeker and Dr. Conrad have established, the Universidad Autonóma de Santo Domingo is eager to establish a formal agreement with IU. We met with the secretary of state for environment and national resources, the dean of faculties of health sciences at the university, representatives from USAID, and the president of the hotel association, all of whom are eager to foster relationships between IU and agencies of the Dominican Republic. This was an incredibly productive trip for IU."

Beeker and his students have conducted underwater research projects on submerged ships, cargo and other cultural and biological resources throughout the United States and the Caribbean for more than 20 years. Many of his research projects have resulted in the establishment of state or federal underwater parks and preserves, and have led to a number of site nominations to the National Register of Historic Places.

To learn more about the Underwater Science program visit http://www.indiana.edu/~scuba.

To learn more about Beeker and Conrad's search for Columbus' sunken ships, read http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/3790.html.

Editors: For a Spanish version of the release, visit http://info.iu.edu/news/page/normal/7038.html.

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EARTHtimes.org

December 09, 2007


Cologne, Germany - Excited archaeologists are raising part of a Roman barge that sank near the wharf nearly 2,000 years ago in the German riverside city of Cologne. Cologne, which derives its modern name from the town's Latin name, Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, is full of Roman remains including a largely intact aqueduct.

But the oaken boat, found 12 metres below the surface during excavations a few days ago for an underground mass-transit line, is something special, offering scientists a new window into life in this cold northern Roman province.

A piece of the vessel's flat bottom, about 8 square metres in size, with huge iron nails poking out of it, is still in the mud between modern building machinery and materials.

"We archaeologists are sparing with the word 'sensational'," said the city's top official for subsurface history, Gerd Hellenkemper, as he showed it to the media. "Let's just say everyone wants to know more about this.

"There's a genuine possibility this could turn out to be the oldest Roman transport vessel left in central Europe.

"It's an exciting find that will tell us a lot about the history of boatbuilding and transport."

The Rhine river was the main highway of the Roman province and the boat's site was a river port.

University of Cologne have already been counting tree rings and have dated samples from the oak, establishing that the tree began its growth in 142 BC. "That does not tell us when the barge was built though," said Hellenkemper.

"The evidence so far is that the tree grew in the highlands east of Cologne, so it seems plausible the barge was built here."

The entire flat-bottomed vessel, a standard Roman type, would have been 22 to 23 metres long and would have had a beam of 3.5 metres and a capacity of 20 to 30 tons, suitable for cattle, stone and bricks, firewood or construction timber.

"Whether it had a mast and was wind-powered, we just don't know," the archaeologist said.

The piece of ship is to be raised in four sections and stored in fluid, with restoration scheduled by 2011.

Unfortunately a foundation trench for the rail line has already been cut through part of the ship and filled with concrete.

"We are absolutely sure the rest of the barge is in the ground on the other side of the concrete," said another archaeologist, Rudolf Nehren, wistfully. "But it could be many long years before we figure out how to get the rest of it out."



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J. Richard Steffy, who made his living as an electrical contractor until he was 48, then cast security aside to pursue his passion, studying shipwrecks, and become a leading a expert in the field, died Thursday in Bryan, Tex. He was 83.

The cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, Jennifer Steffy, his daughter-in-law, said.

Mr. Steffy helped make shipwreck analysis a scientific discipline. Beginning at his dining-room table manipulating pieces of wood, he thought of new ways to reconstruct ancient boats and ships in three dimensions. He then added what he learned from historical archives to interpret partly preserved shipwrecks.

His enthusiasm, talent and scholarship would eventually make him a full professor at Texas A&M University, despite never having graduated from college. In 1985, he would win a “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. His book, “Wooden Ship Building and the Interpretation of Shipwrecks,” (1994) became a standard in the field.

He pioneered the arcane art of examining wood fragments and myriad lumpish remains of amphora containers, and of reconstructing entire ships and cargoes — sometimes conceptually and sometimes in reality. He reveled in the mission.

“I like to think that shipbuilding was the most important early everyday technology,” he said in an interview with The New York Times in 1992. “The Greeks and Romans built big and beautiful temples, but I think there’s really nothing like a ship, their ships.”

Mr. Steffy set sail on his personal voyage in 1963, when he wrote a letter to George Bass, an underwater archaeologist, about an article Dr. Bass had written in National Geographic about a shipwreck in Turkey. Mr. Steffy asked if he could build a model to help in the research, specifying that he meant a serious scientific representation, not a model for a mantelpiece.

Soon, Mr. Steffy was delivering an annual lecture to graduate students on ancient seafaring at the University of Pennsylvania, where Dr. Bass taught. He got a grant to go to Cyprus to rebuild a ship from thousands of soggy wooden fragments; it took from 1972 to 1974. Around then, he bid farewell to the family business he had run for 22 years. He had little savings and two teenage sons.

“You’re crazy,” Dr. Bass remembered telling him. “You’ll starve.”

The two men joined with Michael L. Katzev, a noted underwater archaeologist, to form what became the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. Dr. Bass gambled, too, giving up a tenured professorship at Penn for the new endeavor. The institute began in Mr. Steffy’s home in Denver, Pa.

His talent shone early when a woman called to say that a Viking vessel had washed up on a New Jersey beach. The scientists drove over to take a look. Mr. Steffy said that it came from Maine and estimated the date it was built. Newspaper clips proved him exactly right.

The institute moved to Texas A&M in the early 1970s, eventually extending its work to four continents. In addition to working at the institute, Mr. Steffy and Dr. Bass became the university’s first professors of nautical archaeology. There are now seven.

John Richard Steffy was born on May 1, 1924, in Lancaster, Pa. He attended a local community college and Milwaukee School of Engineering, without graduating.

His wife, the former Esther Lucille Koch, died in 1991.

Mr. Steffy is survived by his sons, David, of Great Falls, Va., and Loren, of The Woodlands, Tex.; his sister, Muriel Steffy Lipp, of Alexandria, Va., and his brother, Milton G., of Denver, Pa., and seven grandchildren.

Among the ships Mr. Steffy reconstructed were the Kyrenia, named after the Cypriot port near where it sank; an 11th-century merchant ship wrecked near Turkey; a first-century Roman boat found buried in Italy; and a British vessel scuttled in the York River in Virginia in 1781.

After an ancient wreck dated to about 1025 was found in the Aegean in 1973 with the largest collection of Islamic glass ever found, Mr. Steffy analyzed the waterlogged timbers. He found planks had been nailed to the frame, unlike the earlier method of inserting the frame afterward, Saudi Aramco World said in 1984.

In 1992, nautical remains were found in the Sea of Galilee. The boat was in the style used in the Mediterranean from the second millennium B.C. to the end of the Roman period in A.D. 324.

Dr. Steffy was the obvious choice to interpret what the news media had quickly named “the Jesus boat.” Shelley Wachsmann, an Israeli government archaeologist, explained: “He reads wood like you read a newspaper. He almost gets into the mind of the builder.”

The team watched breathlessly as Mr. Steffy took his first look at the boat, and solemnly declared, “Yup, it’s an old boat.”


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