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The Roman Wreck
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| Raising ship's timbers by means of a
balloon |
In 1967 the University of Pennsylvania Museum excavation
team under George F. Bass began work on a Roman wreck lying
about 10-15 metres from the Byzantine wreck described above,
at a depth of 36-42 metres. Like the Byzantine wreck this
was also a merchant ship with a cargo of amphorae. The excavations
were carried out in the years 1967-69, with a few days additional
work in 1974. The latest underwater methods were employed
in this excavation, which constituted the deepest underwater
investigation yet to be carried out. Underwater stereo photography
was used to draw up the plans, the resulting photographs
being projected three dimensional in red and blue lights
on a secreen, with an expert wearing special glasses tracing
the lines on paper with a special instrument.
One of the great difficulties in underwater archaeology
is the removal of sand from the area of the wreck. Here
water-pumps were used, with fire hoses aimed directly at
the sand heaps.
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| A yellowish glass vase from the Roman
wreck |
Another difficulty is the fact that underwater investigators
are unable to communicate either with one another or with
those at the surface. In this excavation an underwater telephone
booth was constructed consisting of a plexiglass hemisphere
into which air was continually pumped. The divers could
go into this booth and remove their masks and air-tubes
and talk to one another. At the same time they could communicate
with the archaeologists at the surface by means of the telephone.
This also provided a place of refuge which the diver could
reach quite easily in an emergency instead of swimming some
40 metres to the surface.
Another interesting feature was the decompression chamber
hung on chains and held at any desired level. The chamber
had a continual supply of fresh air, and was furnished with
chairs and lamps so that the divers could sit comfortably
reading or making notes while carrying out decompression.
Television was employed to follow the work of the underwater
investigators, so that the archaeologists on the surface
were able to follow and direct operations at every stage.
At the same time students could observe the work closely,
which made their own task much easier when they ventured
underwater themselves.
As the boat was lying on sand the wooden sections were
in quite a good state of preservation, and enough was left
of the stern to give a good idea of its original shape.
The ship had been carrying 1100 amphorae, but as their
provenance is not known we are unable to say from what port
the ship was sailing. A number of copper coins were found,
but these were so eroded that they were of no help in dating.
The finds in general, however, point to the 4th century
A.D., and this date is corroborated by four oil-lamps bearing
the stamp of a workshop in Athens.
There were only a few earthenware plates, so it would seem
that only wooden plates were used by the crew. The fact
that no human bones were found indicates that the sailors
were able to make their way to the island of Yassiada, while
the fact that this island has a large rat population though
the neighbouring islands have none seems to suggest that
the rats also succeeded in reaching dry land.
Activities
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