The practice of underwater archaeology provides archaeologists with new methods of exploring archaeological sites, utilizing new technologies such as SCUBA, Remote Operated Vehicles, and multibeam three-dimensional scanners. The information to be gleaned from submerged sites can provide valuable context and evidence for a culture which would otherwise be missing from sites found on land. Submerged sites, shipwrecks, and ritual deposits can all offer important clues to the past if excavated by trained archaeologists and not plundered by sport divers and amateurs.
There are several problems that inherent in the application of underwater archaeology. Sports divers who are not trained in archaeological methods remove artifacts from their context; these actions can be termed salvage at best. There is a lack of personnel trained to do much more than salvage. Any actual archaeological work is limited by the location and depth of the site, visibility of the water and factors affecting the bottom. Artifacts can be damaged by coral growth or algae, both of which are tedious at best to remove, or stained by iron or salt.
[...] Underwater Roman archaeology: Shipwrecks, shrines and submerged sites Introduction The practice of underwater archaeology provides archaeologists with new methods of exploring archaeological sites, utilizing new technologies such as SCUBA, Remote Operated Vehicles, and multibeam three-dimensional scanners. The information to be gleaned from submerged sites can provide valuable context and evidence for a culture which would otherwise be missing from sites found on land. Submerged sites, shipwrecks, and ritual deposits can all offer important clues to the past if excavated by trained archaeologists and not plundered by sport divers and amateurs. [...]
[...] Underwater Archaeology: Its Nature and Limitations, American Antiquity, 25(3), 348. Cheryl Ward, (2003)? Integrating Maritime Archaeology, American Journal of Archaeology, 107(4). Robert L. Hohlfelder and Robert L. Vann, (1998)? Uncovering the Maritime Secrets of Aperlae, a Coastal Settlement of Ancient Lycia, Near Eastern Archaeology, and 61(1). Justin Leidwanger, (2007) ?Two Late Roman Wrecks from Southern Cyprus,? The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 36(2). Jeffrey G. Royal, (2006)? The 2005 Remote-Sensing Survey of the South- Eastern Bozburun Peninsula, Turkey; Shipwreck Discoveries and their Analyses, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 35(2). Jeffrey G. [...]
[...] [28] David Gibbons, (2001) “A Roman Shipwreck of c. AD 200 at Plemmirio, Sicily: evidence for North African amphora production during the Severan period,” World Archaeology, 32(3), 313. [29] Gibbons, 311. [30] Gibbons, 330. [31] Justin Leidwanger, (2007) “Two Late Roman Wrecks from Southern Cyprus,” The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 36(2), 308. [32] Leidwanger, 308. [33] Leidwanger, 310. [34] Leidwanger, 311. [35] Leidwanger, 311. [36] Leidwanger, 314. [37] Leidwanger, 314. [38] Leidwanger, 315. [39] E. Galili, V. Sussman, G. [...]
[...] These methods allow archaeologists to explore previously unknown sites and glean important data about the contemporary economic, political, and cultural world of those sites. Underwater archaeology is useful in the study of Roman archaeology by providing information concerning submerged buildings and features. Roman shipwrecks may contain datable amphoras that illuminate the trading patterns of the time period. Intentional alluvial deposits indicate changing political situations and the decrease or increase of tensions within a community. All of this increases our understanding of Roman archaeology and the Roman world. Bibliography E. Galili, V. Sussman, G. [...]
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