Photo Gallery
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Massawa, Eritrea.
This ancient city exhibits architecture of
African, Arab, Egyptian and Ottoman styles.
The city was badly damaged in the battle for
its liberation from Ethiopia in 1991.
On my first visit in 1995 shattered Soviet-built tanks
still lay in the streets.
By 1997, the city was well on its way to being rebuilt.
Photo: R.K.Pedersen.

Breakfast in the kitchen.
Bamboo and grass mats provided
shelter and open air fine dining.
Fresh fish and bread made daily
were staples of our diet.
We had no refrigeration or electricity
for the 55 days
we stayed on Black Assarca.
Photo: Gary A. Nilsen.

The harbor at Massawa,
the closest outpost of civilization.
The Assarca Islands lay 50 km. away
beyond the center horizon.
Photo: R.K. Pedersen

Mulat, our cook,
performed wonders with
little more than a couple
of kerosene burners.
Photo: Gary A. Nilsen.

Preparing the dive platform for launch.
The little barge was constructed
from steel drums and wood.
Mounted on its deck was our
surface-supply air compressor,
the Super-Snorkel.
This unit, and its backup,
served us well.
Dives usually lasted about an hour,
but as even the Red Sea can be chilly in February,
sometimes dives were cut short.
Photo: R.K. Pedersen

The director's shelter
did triple service as
sleeping quarters, tool depot,
and drafting room.
Ants, giant spiders and goats
were frequent guests.
Photo: R.K. Pedersen.

Launching the dive platform
Unsinkable II.
Photo: R.K. Pedersen.

The ever-useful blue plastic tarps
also served as a drafting room.
Photo: Gary A. Nilsen.

Tina Erwin prepares to send
a team down to the site.
The forty-foot hoses eliminated
the need for scuba,
greatly facilitating excavation
and daily operations.
Photo: R. K. Pedersen.

Artifacts were drawn on a scale of
1:1 for greater accuracy.
Photo: Gary A. Nilsen.

Storms regularly lashed the Assarcas,
while the calmest of weather prevailed in Massawa.
The bad weather severely restricted excavation
and early on created an atmosphere of "rock fever"
as there was little to do but wait.
Photo: R.K. Pedersen.

The only intact amphora (left, rear)
found in 1997 was in the western end of the site.
Although its sandy contents were
sifted for archaeobotanical analysis,
no evidence of its original contents was found.
Photo: R. K. Pedersen.

The team conducts a visual survey
of the remains of an ancient
encampment of circular huts.
Photo: R. K. Pedersen.

The solar-powered lighthouse on Black Assarca.
Although only a few years old, it never worked.
Our radio aerial can be seen projecting from the top.
This lighthouse replaced an older one
whose ruins lay nearby and in the sea.
Photo: Gary A. Nilsen.

White Assarca from Black Assarca.
Photo: R.K. Pedersen.

The east side of Black Assarca at low tide.
The lighthouse is in the background.
Photo: R. K. Pedersen.

Dania Avalone records artifacts.
Photo: R.K. Pedersen.

Another day in paradise.
The ruins of the
lighthouse keeper's cabin.
Photo: Gary A. Nilsen.

"Where the amphoras go to die."
This jumble of ceramics in the
deepest part of the site excavated
has sherds of the Type I conical amphora
and the Type II globular ones.
Note the amphora neck with its stopper
still in place (bottom center.)
Photo: R. K. Pedersen.

Ruins from the old lighthouse
and its keeper's cabin gave us
a supply of building material.
Here we used concrete blocks to build
an artifact storage tank.
Other materials were made into anchors
for the Unsinkable II.
Photo: Gary A. Nilsen.

Meaze Naizghe
with a line-caught reef shark.
Photo: R.K. Pedersen

The artifact tank.
Filled with seawater it not only
preserved our artifacts but also served
as a trough for saltwater-drinking goats
too lazy to wade into the surf.
Photo: R. K. Pedersen.

1997 Excavation Team: (from left): Mulat,
Yassin Aden, Tesfay Tadessee,
Louise Fisher, Meaze Naizghe,
Tina Erwin, Ralph Pedersen.
Not Pictured: Dania Avalone, Gary Nilsen,
Nesreddin Osman, Charles Pochin,
Inge Fischer.  Pnoto: R.K. Pedersen.

As the sun sets behind the Ethiopian Highlands,
Unsinkable II floats majestically upon the sea.
She lived up to her name through
storms, sharks, and severe use
by a motley band of archaeologists.
Photo: R. K. Pedersen.

Ralph K. Pedersen
2002, Black Assarca Island Shipwreck Project Photo Gallery
URL, http://ina.tamu.edu/blackassarca/BAgallery.htm

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