Cluster of ancient shipwrecks found
By Sid Perkins
UPI Science News
WASHINGTON, July 30 (UPI) -- Underwater explorers announce they have
discovered the largest group of ancient shipwrecks ever found in deep
water.
Bob Ballard, known for exploring the sunken remains of the luxury liner
Titanic, described yet another triumph today. Earlier this summer
Ballard's team of researchers located a cluster of eight ships deep in the
Mediterranean Sea.
Ballard says the ships, which span more than 2,000 years of human history,
lie in a 20-square-mile (52-square-km) area more than 100 miles (161 km)
north of Tunisia. The wrecks rest beneath about 2,500 feet (762 m) of
water, along an ancient trade route between Rome and Carthage.
Five of the ships sank in ancient Roman times, and the others were lost
between the late 18th and early 20th centuries. Archaeologists say the
oldest ship probably sank about 100 B.C.
Ballard and his team used the remotely operated vehicle Jason to map the
ancient wrecks. Then they retrieved 115 artifacts carefully selected by
archaeologists to help them determine the age of the ships.
Artifacts included pieces of anchors, kitchen pottery and amphoras --
two-handled jugs used to ship wine, olive oil, fish sauce and preserved
fruit. On one of the wrecks, the team discovered large pre-cut building
stones and columns that are probably made of granite quarried in
Egypt.
Ballard says this is the first archaeological exploration of ancient
shipwrecks in the deep sea. The expedition was funded in part by the U.S.
Navy's Office of Naval Research and the National Geographic
Society.
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