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Underwater Archaeology and Scuba Diving News

Institute of Nautical Archaeology has been surveying and excavating in the Mediterranean since 1960. Prof. George F. Bass started the work with the excavation of Gelidonya shipwreck, which until Uluburun was known as the oldest shipwreck ever excavated. Uluburun excavation, conducted between 1982 and 1993, resulted with the finds of 3400 year old wreck, which won the title from Gelidonya.

INA, besides excavating shipwrecks also conducts surveys, to locate other shipwrecks to study. 1996 was a very successful season in that respect. Survey team working under Tufan Turanli's direction found remains of many ships, most important one being the 5th century wreck at Kizilburun near Sigacik. At a depth of 39 meters, the site is very promising to be the next wreck to the excavated. On the left you will see Dr. George F.Bass, President of the Institute inspecting the church wreck at Kizilburun.

Besides the 5th century wreck, the team discovered other sunken treasures in the area. One of them is the 2nd century B.C. Roman wreck. Unfortunately, the ship has landed on rocks at a depth of 26 meters, therefore not much of the hull has been preserved. Nevetheless, the cargo consisting of more than 300 amphoras will interest many scholars around the world.

The survey team, after spending most of the summer up north, headed back to Bodrum. After a week of repairs and maintenance, the group headed for southern waters. Near Knidos, at a site previously mentioned by the sponge divers, the group found the tile wreck, so called because of the cargo of the ship. Half in sand and half on rock, cargo mostly consisted of tiles and some pottery. There still was not any indication of the hull.

The work is continuing. This web page will be updated every week reflecting the work that is going on at field as well as at the laboratories. Please visit us often to enjoy the exciting world of underwater archaeology.

If you want any kind of extra information or you want to get in touch with us, please fill in our FEED BACK FORM, we will get in contact as soon as we can, but before you do that, please check our main site INA-TURKEY where you can find information about all our different projects in Turkey.

Institute of Nautical Archaeology - Sualti Sokak No:6 Bodrum - tel/fax: 252-316-3111
Please also visit the INA-Turkey home page and learn about our other projects.
Send us an e-mail: Tufan Turanli, Director of INA operations in Turkey