Underwater Archaeology continued

George Bass, a University of Pennsylvania graduate student said, "Archaeology underwater should be no different than in any other environment." (Stiebing 248). Therefore, he measured, recorded the context of artifacts, was very careful and took lots of time uncovering each artifact. He was one of the first archaeologists to learn to dive, demonstrating that dry-land archaeological techniques could be adapted to underwater environments.

Previous expeditions had been done largely by divers and treasure hunters, not actual trained archaeologists. An act protecting sites from treasure hunters was passed by Congress in 1988, leaving the abandoned shipwrecks to archaeologists at last.

In 1964 the University of Pennsylvania, in connection with the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society built the world's first small, electric, 2-person submarine. It could go as fast as 4 knots (4.6 mph) and could dive to depths of 600 feet (Stiebing 253). It could go forward, backward, up, down or hover motionless. It had on board 2 synchronized underwater cameras for taking stereo photographs to make detailed maps. The submarine, named Asherah, was too expensive to maintain, so it was sold to a private corporation soon after for use servicing offshore oil rigs.

The excavation of more than 100 sunken vessels to date has given insights into shipboard life, cargoes, trade routes and early metallurgy and glass making (Robbins 81). Underwater archaeology has developed the same goals as dry land archaeology in recent years: to recover, reconstruct and interpret the past through artifacts and archaeological context.

Because the sea can be very destructive, many problems occur maintaining artifacts found underwater. Some remains found under the surface are broken and scattered from their original context by currents, waves and tidal action.

(continued)

Written by Amy Stafford, 1999