Bozburun Byzantine Shipwreck Excavation Bozburun Home, Artifact & Image Gallery, Shipwreck Site Plan

Excavation Site

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	Küçüven Burnu, the rocky headland at the entrance to Selimiye Bay. The arrow points to the location of the wreck and the dive platform, at the base of the limestone cliffs. (slide# BK-44.68) Photo: INA.		Boats leaving the camp on Sig Liman1 for the trip around the point to the dive platform. (slide# BK-33.09) Photo: INA.
	The dive platform, constructed in 1995 by bashing a somewhat level spot out of the cliff face, piling the rubble into platforms, and consolidating it with cement. The wooden decks were then built over the rocks and out into the water. (slide# BK-21.15) Photo: INA.		The completed dive platform. The location of the wreck site was slightly to the right of the orange buoy. (slide# BK-23.11) Photo: INA.
	Operations on the dive platform. The lowest level, which rests on piles set on a rock ledge under the water, was known as the "barge" (since INA dived from a barge through the late 1970s) and was dedicated to getting divers into and out of the water. This platform was extended in 1996, and rebuilt in 1998 after a winter storm carried it away. The ledge behind provided storage for dive gear, weights, lifting balloons and other tools. The second level was home to the Timekeeper, who directed diving operations. This level also provided storage for dive gear and small excavation supplies. The top level, the sun deck, was primarily a waiting area for divers. (slide# BK-33.29) Photo: INA.		A team of four divers prepares to descend. Through the 1997 season, archaeologists dived in teams of four, but in 1998 the teams were expanded to six, allowing much more work to be accomplished in a day. (slide# BK-53.24) Photo: INA.
	On calm days, the view of the dive platform was almost as good from underwater as from the air. (slide# BK-126.29) Photo: INA.		Divers decompressing at 20 feet while to the right other divers descend to the site. (slide# BK-126.30) Photo: INA.
	The excavation site as it appeared in 1995. What appears to be a large, jumbled pile of pottery actually has some order to it. The bow lies down slope (at the bottom of the photo). (slide# BK-86.03) Photo: INA.		The site as it appeared near the end of the 1996 season, with much of the broken and jumbled material already removed from the upper half of the site and the first substantial hull remains exposed. (slide# BK-111.01) Photo: INA.
	Looking across the amphora mound towards the phone booth. In this view, the slope of the bottom, approximately 25 degrees can be seen. (slide# BK-50.27) Photo: INA.		Looking up slope, toward the stern. (slide# BK-50.08) Photo: INA.
	The phone booth, effectively a diving bell for use as an emergency refuge in the event of an equipment problem. This captured air bubble was only one of several safety features placed around. A number of full scuba tanks with regulators were tied to stakes around the perimeter, so that no diver was more than ten meters from a backup source of breathing gas. All divers wore "octopus" regulators as well. (slide# BK-35.10) Photo: INA.		Preliminary sketching of an excavation unit or square. These units were delineated by a rope grid attached to stakes. A rigid grid was not used, as it would be in the way of the direct tape measurements used in the majority of mapping. (slide# BK-52.12) Photo: INA.
	Using an airlift to remove sediment. Airlifts were powered by two low pressure air compressors located on the dive platform. (slide# BK-34.25) Photo: INA.		Examining a pitcher found jammed between several amphorae in the stern of the ship. (slide# BK-25.15) Photo: INA.
	The last row of stacked amphoras awaiting removal in 1998. (slide# BK-126.13) Photo: INA.		Raising an amphora to the surface with a lifting balloon. (slide# BK-35.33) Photo: INA.
	The decompression stop. In order to avoid decompression sickness (DCS), caused by the buildup of nitrogen in the blood at depth, divers stopped their ascent from the bottom at 6 meters (20 feet) for several minutes and breathed pure oxygen supplied form the surface. The length of decompression depended on what gas the diver breathed, how the deep the dive had been, and how long the dive had lasted, as well as whether it was the first or second dive of the day. In the first three seasons, when all diving was accomplished on compressed air, decompressions for afternoon dives could be as long as 30 minutes, during which divers often read books (a cheap paperback novel will survive about three readings underwater, if you are careful). In 1998, when most diving was on nitrox (31.% oxygen), decompression times were much shorter, rarely lasting more than 6 minutes. (slide# BK-34.27) Photo: INA.		Staff member David Stewart after a dive, displaying a partial amphora. (slide# BK-46.36) Photo: INA.
	Staff member Susan Schulze shows her opinion of this more complete amphora. (slide# BK-38.30) Photo: INA.		All material, including air tanks,  oxygen cylinders, and artifacts had to be transported to and from the dive platform each day. (slide# BK-57.04) Photo: INA.
	Prof. George Bass, the founder of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the first archaeologist to visit the Bozburun shipwreck during INA’s first shipwreck survey in 1973, preparing to dive on the site. (slide# BK-59.32) Photo: INA.		One of the first computer models of the site following the 1995 season. One of the new techniques used in the Bozburun excavation was the creation of digital maps of the site that were to serve as the primary plans. This image shows a plot of all of the complete amphoras measured during the 1995 season. (slide# BK-44.42) Photo: INA.
	Close-up view of some of the amphoras in their three-dimensial location on the shipwreck. All were plotted based upon x, y, and z coordinates to an accuracy of around one centimeter. (slide# BK-44.46) Photo: INA.		Simple textured model of one of the Bozburun amphoras. (slide# BK-44.53) Photo: INA.
	Computer image of a hypothetical field of amphoras and wood following the Bozburun model. (slide# BK-47.71) Photo: INA.