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The Denbigh is the only Civil War blockade runner to be excavated in the Gulf of Mexico and one of just a few that have been investigated anywhere. The Denbigh was hailed as a pinnacle of achievement in British maritime engineering, design, and construction. This ship became the last blockade runner to clear a Confederate port. The goals for 2001 include recovering the port engine, drive train, and paddlewheel; continuing the search for contents including personal possessions and cargo; and continuing to record structure and technological details.
During the seventeenth century, contrabandistas and buccaneers rampantly fueled illegal trade on Hispaniola's northern coast. Historical evidence documenting this practice is scant; archaeological evidence is virtually non-existent. One exception to this record may well be the Monte Cristi the remnants of a vessel that possibly represents our first archaeological evidence chronicling this illicit enterprise. Archaeological collections from contemporary sites suggest that the cargo was destined for the eastern seaboard of what is presently the United States- specifically the Hudson River Valley. Certain items were intended for trade with Native Americans. Research is intended to determine the nationality of the vessel, the primary destination of the vessel and the cause of the vessels' demise
Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman empire, was dependent upon sea trade for the acquisition of supplies and enlisted large numbers of ships as transports towards that end. Yet, while the Ottoman's dependence on ships is well understood today, little is known of the vessels themselves--their construction and typology--especially those from the Black Sea. This summer, Kroum Batchvarov, Mark Polzer, Troy Nowak, and their Bulgarian colleagues will map and record the remains of a post-medieval ship in Urdozia Bay, Bulgaria, to determine the vessel's construction characteristics, the ship's nationality, and the role it played in the greater Ottoman economy.
The Red Sea, Quseir, Egypt. The excavation of the Quseir shipwreck will illustrate an important chapter in the development of Red Sea trade between Egypt and India in the early Roman Imperial period. INA-Egypt has known of a shipwreck in Quseir since 1993, and surveys to the wreck site have revealed Campanian amphoras from Italy dated to between the 1st Century BCE and 1st Century AD. It is currently believed that the ship was outbound for India and was probably part of a fleet sent by Augustus to capture a controlling interest in the Indian Ocean trade. Due to the extreme depth of the wreck (65 m.), the excavation will be carried out by specially trained archaeologist using highly specialized mixed-gas diving equipment.
The Red Sea, Eritrea. This excavation of a mid-first millennium shipwreck at Black Assarca Island was the first of its kind in the southern Red Sea. Investigation revealed a cargo of pottery probably originating in Ayla, as ancient Aqaba (in Jordan) was once known. Glass and metal artifacts were also found, but to date no traces of hull. Due to political instability in the region, most importantly the recent war between Eritrea and neighboring Ethiopia, the project remains on hiatus. We know much about Greece in the third quarter of the fifth century BC at the height of classical Greek civilization, but we have known nothing, until now, about the merchant ships that allowed Greece to prosper at that time. INA has been working to excavate the fifth-century BC shipwreck at Tektas Burnu and plan to complete the research in four to six weeks by continuing the excavation and conservation of two 2 m x 2 m squares that are producing some of the best preserved finds, while airlifting around the site to see if any artifacts spilled outside the main concentration of finds. SURVEYS NEW WORLD
Lake Ontario, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. On April 14, 1814, Prince Regeant
and Princess Charlotte were launched as part of the British efforts
to gain supremacy on Lake Ontario.
Their launching did in fact give the British supremacy, and they later
took part in raids on Sacketts Harbor and Oswego. Research has suggested that after the
war these two frigates were moved into Deadman Bay and all but abandoned. It was in this bay, the mast and rigging
having been removed, the once proud frigates sank at their moorings and were
eventually forgotten. Little
archaeological work had been done on these one-of-a-kind vessels until last
summer when a team from INA and Texas A&M University spent three and a half
weeks surveying the visible remains of Deadman Bay II, the smaller of the two
vessels. The extant remains are
preserved for 39 m. from bow to stern and to the turn of the bilge on the
starboard side. On the port side,
the remains extend even further.
The 2000 season documented the bow and stern construction, the run of the
keelson, and 13 frame sections. The
2001 season will work on adding detail to the documented areas and attempting to
record more of the smaller timbers on the wreck site.  INA/TAMU/Parks
Canada Field School
Lake Huron, Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada. In conjunction with Parks Canada, this Field School will train the next generation of archaeology students enrolled in institutions of higher education (Texas A&M University, East Carolina University, The University of Western Ontario, etc.) as well as educate sport divers who can work along side formally educated archaeology students on year-round projects. These objectives will be accomplished through the designing and implementing of two five-week field schools, using local resources and Texas A&M University faculty and staff. SURVEYS OLD WORLD
To date, the Sadana Island Shipwreck stands as the only scientifically excavated shipwreck in Egypt. One of the INA-Egyts's reasons for excavating this vessel was to build the physical evidence of seafaring in the Red Sea, which is primarily known only through documentary evidence. In this first of a series of surveys INA plans to explore the Egyptian Red Sea coast in stages to record evidence of seafaring. The expectation is to locate wrecks for future excavation.
Very little is known about seafaring on the Northwest Egyptian coast although it was heavily traveled from the early Hellenistic period to the late Roman/Byzantine period. Warships were prevalent in the early Arab period. Approximately 30 Late Bronze Age Canaanite amphora's have been discovered by Dr. Steven Snape's excavations (University of Liverpool) of Ramses II's temple/border fortress. Additionally, Late Bronze Age potter has been found in Marsa Matrouh. Phoenician remains are not common, but their discovery would support evidence of a southern route to Carthage as well as the northern route. Staff members from INA-Egypt visited the area in April 1999 and explored for shipwrecks inside the reef (approx. 3km offshore). This will allow us to record significant evidence of seafaring at that time.
For the more than 50 years since the end of World War II, extensive historical and archaeological research has been conducted at invasion-related sites ranging from the landing beaches to the German fortifications that defended the shoreline, and the sites of the important battles further inland. However, no underwater archaeological research had been carried out. The undersea archeological record of the invasion had been subjected to decades of erosion, beaches and shore clearing, and there is evidence of looting by sport divers. All of this had continued virtually unchecked. The present project is designed to remedy this situation. Using state of the art remote sensing detection and imaging equipment, the landing areas will be surveyed from Utah Beach in the west to Sword Beach in the east.
For many years researchers in the hard-sciences have had access to highly advanced US Navy equipment designed to survey the ocean floor. INA is now in a position to make use of those same assets in pursuit of its archaeological mission at little or no cost. In 2001 the NR1 (Nuclear Research submersible) will cross the Atlantis heading for the Mediterranean Sea. Enroute it will stop in the Azores, the Portuguese mainland and Morocco to survey deepwater area of archaeological interest to INA researchers. INA will tailor research projects to the area based on archeologists to review data collection by the NR1.
'Angra D' is one of the best preserved Iberian shipwrecks of the late 16th or early 17th century to undergo archeological analysis. It is the only example yet found of an entirely lead-sheathed hull reinforced with riders. During the summer of 2000 an INA team recorded about one third of the wreck's timbers. Target verification dives are planned in 2001 to validate past findings and continue our survey for shipwrecks.
Coastal sites along the Atlantic lirroral of Morocco are densely populated with ancient sites ranging in date from the 9th century BC through the Medieval and Islamic periods. Local divers and archaeologists working in Morocco in the late 1960s sited several ancient wrecks near Ras Leona. Continued surveys along the Moroccan shore will shed light on the role of the Atlantic communities in the development of ancient trade, and extend our insight into ancient knowledge of geography and seafaring.
The Black Sea provides a unique physical environment and setting for the preservation of archaeological remains from before and after its transformation from a fresh water lake to a saltwater sea. Past projects discoveries demonstrated extraordinary preservation of organic materials. The Black Sea Trade Project has as its primary goal the exploration of the ancient submerged coastline (150 m deep today) and the discovery of shipwrecks in anoxic waters.
New light can be shed on the interpretation of the Early Bronze Age, the early Iron Age, or the period leading directly into classical civilization through the remains of shipwrecks. Using the INA submersible, Carolyn, and the catamaran built specifically to tend it, INA researchers intend to follow the steep Turkish coastline at a depth of approximately 150 feet, looking for the most archaeologically important shipwrecks along the coast.
During the Late Bronze Age, Cypriot copper oxhide ingots were exported by sea to all corners of the Mediterranean. Evidence suggest that these ingots also reached the Near Eastern hinterland by caravans and boats navigating major rivers. Seven oxhide ingots, typical of Late Bronze Age Cyprus, were dredged from the Gokus River, a tributary of the Euphrates River, near Urfa in southeastern Turkey. It is certain that the ingots comprise the cargo of a boat which sank while navigating the river. INA staff intends to visit Urfa for a week in the summer of 2001 to locate the general site where the ingots were discovered and to conduct a search to assess the nature of their source.
The Shipwrecks of Anatolia is a broad project started in July 2000 and is expected to take several more years to complete. As a result of the surveys done by INA members in Turkey, many spectacular shipwrecks have been excavated and many others have been located. Every year the individual surveyors have published the results of their projects, but there is not yet a complete compilation of all the results of this forty-year effort. The Shipwrecks of Anatolia is the creation of a database in which the researching archaeologist will be able to find information about the existing wrecks easily. The data available will include videos, photographs, artifact pictures, maps, and other materials and will be able to be updated on a regular basis. Surveys in Malta by divers and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for underwater sites of archaeological importance. This central Mediterranean island state has been at the crossroads of commerce and politics since prehistory.
Iskenderun Bay, Turkey. The port of Kinet Hoyuk (the classical
port of Issos, Phoenician port of Sissu and the Hittite Zise) occupied a
strategic location for ancient commerce and cultural exchange in the
northeastern Mediterranean.
Excavations since 1992 are investigating this port’s role in fostering
maritime exchanges throughout antiquity with the Aegean, Cyprus, and the Levant,
and its ties to an inland trade network.
The focus of the underwater survey in Iskenderun Bay is a search for the
archaeological evidence of this trade route.  The
2001 Southern Albania Shipwreck Survey
Adriatic Sea, Isulli Tongo to Butrint, Albania. This survey is the logical continuation of the 2000 Albania Reconnaissance Project conducted by INA in 2000. Through interviews with local inhabitants, Elizabeth Greene (Project Director) hopes to learn the location of potential shipwrecks in the region between Ishulli i Tongo and Butrint, Albania, the location determined in 2000 as most promising for shipwreck discovery. After information has been gathered, Greene and a small team of three or four archaeologists hope to survey the Albanian waters in the targeted regions. Additional survey will be conducted in the surrounding areas. The 2001 project will mark the first year of a five-year contract signed by the Albanian Ministry of Culture for shipwreck discovery and excavation in Albania. Additional goals of the 2001 project will be the education of young Albanian archaeologists in the techniques and practice of nautical archaeology and the preliminary development of a facility for the conservation of submerged artifacts in the Butrint National Park. POST EXCAVATION RESEARCH, CONSERVATION, AND PUBLICATION
The ram is one of the largest bronzes to survive intact from the ancient Mediterranean world. This artifact represents the only large-scale warship ram ever found, and the only one which can be securely dated to the Hellenistic period. Current technical understanding of the Athlit ram rests primarily on a series of analysis taken shortly following the ram's discovery but questions remain. Advanced, analytical methods not available during the early study will help determine the composition and origins of this important piece.
During 11 years of excavation from 1984 to 1994, some 20 tons of cargo, shipboard objects, and personal possessions were recovered from the Uluburun shipwreck. This shipwreck is considered to be one of the major and most important Bronze Age sites ever discovered. Most goods recovered from the shipwreck are unique and have already greatly enhanced every aspect of Bronze Age archaeology of the Mediterranean from Homeric studies to metrology, and from ship construction to refinements of Bronze Age chronology. While analysis has already been generated, before a meaningful, detailed analysis can be conducted for the final publication of the findings, all of the excavated artifacts need to be completely conserved, reconstructed, measured, drawn and photographed. That is the intent of the current project.
There is no known detailed account of how Ottoman ship galleys were constructed. The Kadirga, or the galley of the Ottoman Sultan on display in the Naval Museum in Istanbul, is the only authentic historic galley in existence. This galley has not been investigated in detail, and INA staff believes there is a unique opportunity to examine this last surviving galley in the Mediterranean and to critically review the archaeological remains of the few other known Mediterranean galleys.
The Bozburun hull remains - from a 9th century AD Byzantine merchantman that wrecked off the southwest coast of Turkey - represent the only fully excavated eastern Mediterranean ship from the early Medieval period. A detail analysis and reconstruction of the archaeological material has yet to be made available. The research on the hull will be completed through the cataloguing of all the preserved timbers of the ship and conservation and reconstruction of the preserved hull material. The analysis of the amphoras will be done through capacity studies and petrography analysis, while the galley ware is being compared to a variety of finds from the eastern Mediterranean.
In the late 1970s, INA work in Turkey concentrated on the excavation of the eleventh-century AD ship, now called the "Glass Wreck". Its cargo included the largest collection of medieval Islamic glassware in the world (over 10,000 different vessels) and its hull represents an important step in the transition from the ancient, shell-based methods of building ships to modern, frame-based construction. At this time, the final volume of a three volume publication is being prepared to document the items found on the Glass Wreck.
INA Headquarters, Bodrum, Turkey. Due to the completion of the Mombasa Shipwreck Excavation, preparations for the final publication of the Mombasa Shipwreck Excavation are taking place. This portion of the research phase will correlate the results of the completed excavation and assimilate those results into a database. This project will make available a database (integrating all drawings and photographs) which will be used by researchers and final publication contributors as well as encourage positive contributions by 2002.
San Diego, California. This three-year project, in conjunction
with SLEWTHS, will train and test the use of sea lions in the open ocean for
locating shipwrecks. The past three
decades have seen tremendous advances in the use of highly trained marine
mammals in scientific research. Of
particular interest is the Californian sea lion (Zalophus californianus),
an extremely intelligent social penniped that is easily conditioned for work
with humans. Numerous natural
attributes make pennipeds - and specifically, sea lions - optimal survey
associates for nautical archaeologists.
They are: quadrupedal; easily transportable; highly mobile (on land and
sea); well adapted to the aquatic environment, capable of swimming to speeds of
5-10 mph and repeatedly diving to depths of 1,300 ft. They can carry large arrays of working
equipment (recording and acoustic devices) and are capable of acute visual and
tactile discrimination.
Furthermore, sea lions can work well in both marine and fresh water
environments that often prove hostile to archaeologists (e.g. low
visibility, swift currents).
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Denbigh
Excavation
Monte
Cristi Shipwreck Project
Kiten Shipwreck
Excavation 2001
The Quseir
Shipwreck
Neptune 2K - The
Underwater Archaeology of D-Day
NR1
Development Program
Western
Mediterranean Research - Morocco Survey
The Athlit
ram; analysis and re-evaluation of the bronze technology used in its
production
Mombasa
Shipwreck Excavation
Pennipeds in
Underwater Archaeology