shipwreck detectives turkish coast
I watched Shipwreck Detectives on the ABC tonight on TV. Jeremy Green was off the Turkish Coast near Hodrum. They had to find a shipwreck from the ancient world so that they could get funding. They were in the same area as that of the sea journeys in the classical era. The area was the hub for ancient ships going north, east and west. Ships were the main method of transportation in the ancient world. We only know a tiny bit what was going on in the ancient world.
Studying the hulls of the ships told archeologists about the lives of the ancient people, they tell us how they solved the technical problems of making a ship.
The people launch a submersible and lose radio contact. They discover a few amphoras. Amphoras changed styled over time so the type of amphoras found could date the find. In 1900 Turkish Sponge divers found what they thought were dead women on the seabed. It was a roman ship carrying a horde of greek statues. The romans wanted the greek statues for their homes. The sponge divers lead archeologists to most of the wrecks that were later found. Sponge divers could get the bends so it was dangerous and hundreds died.
The shipwreck detectives look around Kizilada Island which is a hotspot. They find targets on the sonar, but nothing, just rocks. Rocks are hard to distinguish between it and a shipwreck. Storms would have sunk thousands of ships along this turkish coast. They find a strange reading on the sonar , take a return pass to confirm the reading but find nothing.
George bAss , the founder of maritime archeology comes aboard. George Bass started this discipline in the 1960’s. George inspires the team. They go down in the submersible , find some amphoras and a bowl. They look in a prominent headland and find a greek mixing bowl. It is deep so they ready the decompression chamber in case of the bends. The divers have to come up slow to stop getting the bends. But the divers do not make the stops and they are in danger. It was a hairy moment but they survive. They assume the greek bowl is from the 5th century BC.
They also find some strange looking amphorae. But they need to find a shipwreck. They find a huge mound of amphorae, more than a hundred. It is in a mound and is in the shape of a ship. They think that they have found a significant ancient ship site.
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