Sea of Marmara Underwater Discoveries Underwater Archaeology

Sea of Marmara Underwater Discoveries
1999,2000,2001 field seasons

Storage Jars

One Handled Jars

A brief summary of what we have learned during our first four field seasons will suffice here. The type IV cargo amphoras on the wreck show a wide range of sizes (47 to 80 cm. high) and capasities (17 to 115 liters, measured to the base of the neck). The different capacities may be multiples some standart unit of capacity, as are the capacities of the Byzantine amphoras from Serce Limani shipwreck, but more accurate capacity measurements must first be made before any reliable conclusions about this are possible. Greek monogram stamps occur on the handles of the amphoras where they meet the shoulders. These monograms should indicate the names of the potters or the owners of the workshops that produces the amphoras and will undoubtedly raise some questions about the economical life of the Empire.

Jay Rosloff

Anchors

In addition to the cargo amphoras, there are several different types of storage jars similar in style that also appear to have been cargo but possibly carried some other commodity or commodities. Various ceramic wares not belonging to the ship’s cargoes and including one-handled jars, cooking pots, glazed plates, a sgraffito plate and a cup will undouptedly make an important contribution to the Byzantine ceramic typologies of the period. The ship was also carrying as one of its cargoes two or three dozen broken anchors destined to be repaired or used scrap iron.

Saros

Saros

The 2001 season was our most fruitful season in many ways. The young team of Camalti Burnu I grew with the members from almost all the archaeology departments of Turkish Universities and we welcomed foreign students from U. S. Universities.

Kitchen Wares

Worldly renowned archaeologist Jay Rosloff was also among the participants. Our happiest time was the visit of George Bass,the most distinguished and pioneering archaeologist in our field.

His observations, in his own words, “I was impressed by the staff, the morale, the facilities, the Saros, the photography and videos, the conservation, the wreck, and the direction”, encourage us for our coming field seasons. With 995 scientific dives in 2001, our dives totalled 1976 within four years.

The artefactsraised included amphoras,kitchen wares , glazed ceramics, metal objects, glass fragments and hull remains. As for the ship, we can now say with some confidence that she measured 40 m. long, had two masts and a half deck.

Comments are closed.