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Wrecks off the Turkish Coast
The ancient trade routes followed the Turkish coast, with
the result that many ships lie sunk off these shores. Most
of these were merchant ships laden with amphorae, and it
is these heaps of amphorae, and it is these heaps of amphorae
that now indicate the presence of a wreck.
 The
first investigations off the Turkish coast were carried
out in 1958-59 by Peter Throckmorton and some sponge-divers,
but these divers can rarely dive deep than 60 metres, and
even then only for a few minutes at a time.
The statue of Demeter was discovered in 1953, and in 1963
the statue of a negro boy, both of them being brought up
in a drag-net. These statues lay at a depth of 85 metres
and could not have been brought up by ordinary means. The
discovery of a statue of lsis at the same spot as the negro
boy indicates the presence of the wreck of a ship that had
been carrying art treasures, and it was upon this discovery
that the University of Pennsylvania Museum decided to undertake
investigations.
In the 1965 excavations a proton magnetometer, a closed
circuit television and a towvane were employed. The proton
magnetometer, which is a sort of underwater detector, proved
to be of no very great help, but the television, although
it had the disadvantage of being two-dimensional, was of
assistance in discovering some wrecks. The Towvane is a
one-man underwater capsule that affords a 360 view around
one, but this proved very difficult to use.
In the 1967 investigations sonar and a two-man submarine
were employed. The sonar made it possible to examine the
seabed to a depth of 360 metres and to detect the presence
of any mounds. Whether these mounds were geological nesulted
from the presence a wreck could be partly detected by the
profile of the tracing. In the area in which the negro boy
was found only one spot indicated the presence of a wreck.
The two-man submarine was sent down and the wreck of a Roman
ship laden with amphorae was discovered at a depth of 84
metres.
In 1971 a search was begun for a boat with a cargo of copper
that was supposed to have sunk off Antalya. Some pieces
of copper had been recovered and with the help of these
the boat was dated to the 15th century B.C. The sonar indicated
the possible presence of a wreck at a depth of 30 metres
near the mouth of the Manavgat River, and if this has not
already been plundered it awaits scientific investigation.
No excavations were carried out as investigations at this
level can be carried out quite easily without special equipment.
In 1971 a wreck dating from the 4th or 5th centuries A.D.
was discovered at a depth of 45 metres near Fugla Point,
while a number of other wrecks were found in the Antalya
region.
Other wrecks were found off Marmaris, but these had already
been plundered, while another, with a cargo of amphorae
was in a position that made excavations extremely difficult.
In general wrecks lying at a depth of less than 15 metres
have been totally destroyed by the waves, while those at
a depth of less than 40 metres have been plundered. Thus
it is only wrecks lying at depths greater than these that
are of real interest.
A great many fascinating sites, await the attention of
underwater archaeologists in both seas and lakes in this
country, and there is plenty of evidence to show that Turkey
will prove to be the richest country in the world in underwater
archaeology.
Activities
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