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The ancient trade routes followed the Turkish coast, with the result that many ships lie sunk off these shores. Most of these were merchant ships laden with amphorae, and it is these heaps of amphorae, and it is these heaps of amphorae that now indicate the presence of a wreck.
The first investigations off the Turkish coast were carried out in 1958-59 by Peter Throckmorton and some sponge-divers, but these divers can rarely dive deep than 60 metres, and even then only for a few minutes at a time.
The statue of Demeter was discovered in 1953, and in 1963 the statue of a negro boy, both of them being brought up in a drag-net. These statues lay at a depth of 85 metres and could not have been brought up by ordinary means. The discovery of a statue of lsis at the same spot as the negro boy indicates the presence of the wreck of a ship that had been carrying art treasures, and it was upon this discovery that the University of Pennsylvania Museum decided to undertake investigations.
In the 1965 excavations a proton magnetometer, a closed circuit television and a towvane were employed. The proton magnetometer, which is a sort of underwater detector, proved to be of no very great help, but the television, although it had the disadvantage of being two-dimensional, was of assistance in discovering some wrecks. The Towvane is a one-man underwater capsule that affords a 360 view around one, but this proved very difficult to use.
In the 1967 investigations sonar and a two-man submarine were employed. The sonar made it possible to examine the seabed to a depth of 360 metres and to detect the presence of any mounds. Whether these mounds were geological nesulted from the presence a wreck could be partly detected by the profile of the tracing. In the area in which the negro boy was found only one spot indicated the presence of a wreck. The two-man submarine was sent down and the wreck of a Roman ship laden with amphorae was discovered at a depth of 84 metres.
In 1971 a search was begun for a boat with a cargo of copper that was supposed to have sunk off Antalya. Some pieces of copper had been recovered and with the help of these the boat was dated to the 15th century B.C. The sonar indicated the possible presence of a wreck at a depth of 30 metres near the mouth of the Manavgat River, and if this has not already been plundered it awaits scientific investigation. No excavations were carried out as investigations at this level can be carried out quite easily without special equipment.
In 1971 a wreck dating from the 4th or 5th centuries A.D. was discovered at a depth of 45 metres near Fugla Point, while a number of other wrecks were found in the Antalya region.
Other wrecks were found off Marmaris, but these had already been plundered, while another, with a cargo of amphorae was in a position that made excavations extremely difficult.
In general wrecks lying at a depth of less than 15 metres have been totally destroyed by the waves, while those at a depth of less than 40 metres have been plundered. Thus it is only wrecks lying at depths greater than these that are of real interest.
A great many fascinating sites, await the attention of underwater archaeologists in both seas and lakes in this country, and there is plenty of evidence to show that Turkey will prove to be the richest country in the world in underwater archaeology. |
