Peter Throckmorton was a pioneer in Underwater Archaeology. After Jacques Cousteau developed the SCUBA apparatus in the 1950’s, Throckmorton discovered a ship near Cape Gelidonya, Turkey in 1958. He wondered about using the new scuba gear to explore this wreck. By using scuba gear, Throckmorton was able to carefully catalog and map shipwrecks in the same manner as on land. The wreck off of Cape Gelidonya had lots of cargo items that matched objects portrayed in Egyptian tomb paintings and, thus, the materials used could be precisely identified. Also, in what is thought to have been the captain’s chamber on the ship, many personal items were found, and it is thought that the captain was Egyptian, from the time of the 19th Dynasty.
After this initial find, Throckmorton went on to work on many shipwrecks all over the world. He worked for the Greek, Italian, and Ceylonese Archaeological Services. Throckmorton didn’t just work at sea, though, he also worked for many museums and institutes. Throughout his career, Peter worked for or with the National Geographic Society, National Maritime History Society, American Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Ocean Service Associates (England), Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania Museum, British School of Archaeology in Rome, United States Army Corps of Engineers, and Nova University. He was also a significant contributor to the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in Bodrum, Turkey.
Throckmorton also published a few books that included: Diving for Treasure, The Lost Ships, Spiro of the Sponge Fleet, Shipwrecks and Archaeology: The Unharvested Sea, and The Sea Remembers: Shipwrecks and Archaeology. He was also a widely published journalist, having articles published in The New York Times, the London Observer, National Geographic, Archaeology, Marines Mirror, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Underwater Exploration, and L’Express.
Resources:
http://www.numa.org/trustees/throckOLD/cv.htm
Written by Students in an Introduction to Anthropology Class, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota
Edited by Marcy L. Voelker, 2007