Researchers Return to a Phoenician Shipwreck

Recent find shows Malta may have been part of early Phoenician trade network

A jug unearthed at the oldest shipwreck in the central Mediterranean could prove that the Maltese islands were an integral part of the Phoenician trade network.

“To date, we knew that the Phoenicians lived here, because they died here. And to date, our main archaeological sources came from graves,” marine archaeologist Timmy Gambin told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“We now have a ship that was actually leaving the Maltese Islands before it sank off Gozo, because the island was one of its port calls. A shipwreck without any local items could mean that the ship just happened to sink close to Malta during its voyage.”

Confirming the origin of the jug, he said, could place Malta as an integral part of the trading network of the earliest phase of the Phoenician occupation.

The discovery of the Phoenician vessel off Gozo’s northwestern coast more than 2,700 years after it sank, laden with amphorae and grinding stones, made international headlines in 2014.

Spread across a 15-by-four-metre area 110 metres below sea level, there are around two metres of archaeological remains under the seabed, which most probably include wooden remains from the ship.

In July of 2014, the site was surveyed, samples were extracted and a technical team put together 8,000 photographs to create a high-resolution, 3D model of the area. The survey of the shipwreck was carried out within the Groplan Project, which was funded by the French National Research Agency.

But bad weather cut short the 2014 expedition, and after lifting two amph-orae, an urn and a grinding stone from the shipwreck, the team did not manage to carry out a final 3D mapping of the site with the missing samples.

We now have a ship that was actually leaving the Maltese Islands before it sank off Gozo, because the island was one of its port calls

Lacking funding and the necessary equipment, such as a submarine, it was difficult to complete the survey in the following months. So together with a colleague from Finland, Kari Hyttinen, Dr Gambin tested out a manual way of completing the survey on two underwater airplane wrecks.

The trials were successful, so this year, a team of 12 people from the UK, France, Malta, Italy and Finland dived down to the Phoenician shipwreck.

This was the first time ever that archaeologists had dived 110 metres without the help of equipment such as submarines. It took some two hours and 20 minutes for the divers to make it from the shipwreck back to the surface.

Ahead of their dive, the team drew up a list of items that they could recover from the shipwreck to be able to build a better picture of the Phoenician trade routes.

In 2014, Prof Jean Christophe Sourisseau, from Aix-Marseille University, spotted the top of a Phoenician jug among the remains. This made it to the list, together with another grinding stone, which had drawn the interest of Prof Alberto Renzulli, based in Italy.

When they first surveyed the site, apart from seven different types of visible amphorae, the team also discovered around 20 lava stones that were probably used to grind wheat.

It has now been confirmed that a 35-kilogram grinding stone retrieved in 2014 originated from Pantelleria. The type of volcanic rock that it was carved from narrows its origins to one particular spot on the small Italian island.

Meanwhile, it has transpired that the jug spotted by Prof Sourisseau and a large storage container known as a pithos probably originated from Malta.

The latter is unique, as its shape has never been documented before anywhere across the globe.

The items that were retrieved from the shipwreck also include amphorae from North Africa and western Sicily, making it the first internationally documented Phoenician vessel with such a mix of objects in its cargo.

Fragments of an amphora were retrieved, and now the archaeologists can test them for any organic remains that could shed light on what they contained 2,700 years ago.

All of these items were recovered from the surface level of the shipwreck, meaning there could be scores of other objects, picked up by the seafarers when the vessel still sailed the Mediterranean Sea andstill buried in the lower levels.

This year’s expedition was filmed by the national broadcaster, in line with a memorandum of understanding with the University of Malta, and a documentary will be aired later on this year.

Source
http://www.timesofmalta.com

Researchers Return to a Phoenician Shipwreck

Explorers accidentally find a graveyard of more than 40 perfectly preserved ancient shipwrecks at the bottom of the Black Sea

More than 40 shipwrecks have been discovered from the Ottoman and Byzantine periods, many of which provide the first views of ship types known from historical sources. Pictured is a shipwreck from the Ottoman period

The Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project has been scouring the sea bed of the Black Sea
The primary focus is to carry out geophysical surveys, but over 40 shipwrecks have also been found
They are 'astonishingly well preserved' due to the lack of oxygen in the Black Sea's 'dead zone'
The findings provide new information on the communities living on the Black Sea coast

In the depths of the Black Sea lies a landscape of complete darkness, where there is no light and no oxygen.

Archaeologists have long believed this 'dead zone' holds of a perfectly preserved graveyard of shipwrecks.

Now, a mapping expedition has proved them right, after accidentally uncovering more than 40 ancient shipwrecks from the Ottoman and Byzantine periods.  

The expedition has been scouring the waters 5,900ft (1,800 metres) below the surface of the Black Sea using an off-shore vessel equipped with some of the most advanced underwater equipment in the world.

The vessel is on an expedition mapping submerged ancient landscapes which were inundated with water following the last Ice Age.

The project, known Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP), involves an international team led by the University of Southampton's Centre for Maritime Archaeology.

Professor Jon Adams, principle investigator on the project, said: 'We're endeavouring to answer some hotly-debated questions about when the water level rose, how rapidly it did so and what effects it had on human populations living along this stretch of the Bulgarian coast of the Black Sea. 

'The primary focus of this project is to carry out geophysical surveys to detect former land surfaces buried below the current sea bed, take core samples and characterise and date them, and create a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Black Sea prehistory.'

The vessel is based on board the Stril Explorer, and carries some of the most advanced underwater survey systems in the world.

The researchers are using two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to survey the sea bed.

One is optimised for high resolution 3D photography, while the other, called Surveyor Interceptor, 'flies' at four times the speed of conventional ROVs and carries an entire suite of geophysical instrumentation, as well as lights, high definition cameras and a laser scanner. 

The researchers used two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to survey the sea bed. These have discovered several wrecks, including this one from the Byzantine period (pictured)

The wrecks, such as this one from the Medieval period, are astonishingly well preserved due to the anoxic conditions (absence of oxygen) of the Black Sea below 150 metres

Since the project started, Surveyor Interceptor has set new records for depth at 5,900ft (1,800 metres) and sustained speed  of over six knots (7mph), and has covered 1,250 kilometres (776 miles).

Among the wrecks are ships from the Ottoman and Byzantine Empires, which provide new information on the communities on the Black Sea coast.

Many of the colonial and commercial activities of ancient Greece and Rome, and of the Byzantine Empire, centred on the Black Sea. 

After 1453, when the Ottoman Turks occupied Constantinople (and changed its name to Istanbul), the Black Sea was virtually closed to foreign commerce. 

Nearly 400 years later, in 1856, the Treaty of Paris re-opened the sea to the commerce of all nations. 

Professor Adams said: 'The wrecks are a complete bonus, but a fascinating discovery, found during the course of our extensive geophysical surveys. 

The Remotely Operate Vehicles captured the shipwrecks in stunning detail, including this intricate stern of a ship from the Ottoman period

While the primary focus of the project is to carry out geophysical surveys, shipwrecks, including this one from the Ottoman period, have given new insights into how communities live on the shores of the Black Sea

The exploration vessel is based on board the Stril Explorer, and carries some of the most advanced underwater survey systems in the world

'They are astonishingly preserved due to the anoxic conditions (absence of oxygen) of the Black Sea below 150 metres. 

'Using the latest 3D recording technique for underwater structures, we've been able to capture some astonishing images without disturbing the sea bed.

'We are now among the very best exponents of this practice methodology and certainly no-one has achieved models of this completeness on shipwrecks at these depths.'

SCANNING THE BLACK SEA BED 

The researchers are using two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to survey the sea bed.

One is optimised for high resolution 3D photography, while the other, called Surveyor Interceptor, 'flies' at four times the speed of conventional ROVs and carries an entire suite of geophysical instrumentation, as well as lights, high definition cameras and a laser scanner.

Since the project started, Surveyor Interceptor has set new records for depth (1,800 metres) and sustained speed over six knots (seven miles/hour), and has covered 1,250 kilometres (776 miles).

A collection of more than 40 shipwrecks have been discovered and inspected, many of which provide the first views of ship types never seen before.

Among the wrecks are ships from the Ottoman and Byzantine Empires, which provide new information on the communities on the Black Sea coast.

This Remotely Operated Vehicle, called the 'Work Class Supporter', which is optimised for high resolution 3D photography, is designed to capture high resolution 3D photography and video. The researchers are using two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to survey the sea bed.

The project has been scanning the bottom of the Black Sea, and has so far covered 1,250 kilometres (776 miles)

Many of the colonial and commercial activities of ancient Greece and Rome, and of the Byzantine Empire, centred on the Black Sea

Explorers accidentally find a graveyard of more than 40 perfectly preserved ancient shipwrecks at the bottom of the Black Sea