|
i*l*u
8~
B
t~ii~
PF
t;
.
3~J~- iiSi': ZL~c~
The INA Quarterly
Volume 20, No. 3 Fall 1993
Contents
3 The Matanzas Bay Project:
A Proposal for INA Involvement
in Cuba
Jerome Lynn Hall
7 At the Crossroads of History: counts.
Nautical Archaeology in Syria Regular.......$25
Regular . . . $25
Douglas Haldane
Contributor .... $50
12 Opportunities and Challenges
in the Black Sea Supporter ... $100
John C. Neville Life ........ $500
18 News & Notes Benefactor .... $1000
Student/Retired .. $15
Checks should be made payable to
INA.
On the cover: Dutch Admiral Pieter Pieterzoon Heyn, who captured a Spanish Silver Fleet in Matanzas Bay, near
Havana, in 1628 (after Goslinga 1971, fig. 6).
1994 by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. All Rights Reserved.
INA welcomes requests to reprint INA Quarterly articles and illustrations. Please contact the editor for permission.
The INA Quarterly was formerly the INA Newsletter (vols. 1-18).
MEMBERSHIP
Institute of Nautical Archaeology
PO Drawer HG
College Station, TX 77841-5137
Hear firsthand of our latest discov-
eries in nautical archaeology. Mem-
bers receive the INA Quarterly,
scientific reports, and book dis-
Editor: Michael A. Fitzgerald
The Matanzas Bay Project:
A Proposal for INA Involvement in Cuba
by Jerome Lynn Hall, Mr. and Mrs. J. Brown Cook Graduate Fellow
I remember piling gear onto my cot so that the rain-
water, almost an inch deep on the floor of the tent, would
not ruin everything I owned. We had just finished our first
season of excavation on a seventeenth-century northern
European shipwreck in Monte Cristi Bay, Dominican
Republic. All of the volunteers and several of the staff had
left the island that morning, and the few of us who re-
mained were surprised by this first storm of the summer.
The fury of the weather was countered by Stan Getz'
version of "Moonlight in Vermont" playing in my radio
headset and I sat, exhausted, and watched as the wind
swelled and ripped open the back of my tent. Why, of all
the professions, did I choose nautical archaeology? The
answer comprised a series of chance encounters and a few
tantalizing opportunities that had, years before, pulled me
from the relative security of a career in marine biology.
Maritime history, a long-standing interest, had become
animated through underwater archaeology. But where was
all of this hard work leading me? Where would I go if my
dreams were suddenly realized? As the thunder and
lightning rolled across our tiny island, I sat in that shred-
ded tent and uttered a single word heard by no one but
myself: "Cuba."
There are a number of reasons why Cuba is so alluring
to a New World maritime archaeologist. The geography of
the island, together with its rich seafaring heritage and
recent political history, make its coastal waters an archae-
ologist's dream for undisturbed shipwreck sites. Since the
Age of Discovery, Cuba has been intimately associated
with seaborne commerce. On the north coast lies the port
of Havana, once the resupply station and safe haven for
numerous Spanish treasure galleons anxiously awaiting the
return to Spain. Royal officials eagerly awaited the arrival
of New World gold, silver, and precious gems carried
aboard these ships treasures that would fill the crown's
coffers and help pay off a small part of the growing
national debt. During the first half of the seventeenth
century alone, Spanish treasure ships lost to inclement
weather plunged the whole of Europe into economic recession.
Fidel Castro came to power shortly after the popular-
ization of the aqualung, an invention that made submerged
cultural resources accessible to the general public nearly
overnight. From the 1960s through the 1980s, while sites
along the coastal waters of the United States and many
Caribbean nations were threatened by licensed treasure
hunters and weekend souvenir seekers, Cuba was virtually
closed. Unlike the remainder of the Greater and Lesser
Antilles, Cuba's shipwreck sites have remained relatively
untouched.
Opportunities for a scientific and educational interest
group such as INA are therefore unlimited. And now, INA
has received an official invitation from Carisub, a Cuban
archaeological organization, to send a delegation to Cuba
to discuss possible INA involvement there.
* +
As a result, INA asked me to develop a proposal for the
survey and excavation of a site in Cuba a testament to
the fact that dreams do come true! What started as a
brainstorm in my small weather-beaten tent two years
earlier was now being "pounded out" on my computer
keyboard. "Should INA have a serious interest in Cuba,"
I began, "it is necessary to develop a long-range strategy
for survey, excavation, conservation, research, curation,
and display. The proposal of a primary site for survey and
excavation should accommodate an ongoing relationship
with the various cultural entities within the Cuban govern-
ment. The approval by the Cuban government of any
subsequent INA proposals will, undoubtedly, be contingent
upon the success of this first project."
Roaring around in my head were a million questions,
most of which had to do with site logistics. What technol-
ogies should be utilized? What limits must we recognize
with regard to water depth and distance from shore? What
are the constraints of working in a communist country?
What happens in the event of a medical emergency? These
few issues alone were mind-boggling. In an attempt to
[NA Quarterly 20.3
Archaeologists from Carisub, a Cuban archaeological organization, work on a cannon on
the wreck of the Nuestra Sefiora de la Rosaria, which ran aground off the northwest coast of
Cuba in 1590 while fleeing pirates. The gun is being prepared for galvanic reduction, a
method sometimes used to help slow corrosion of submerged metal objects.
keep this first undertaking as simple as possible, I found
myself drawing up the following criteria:
1). The Project Should be Financially and Logistically
Conservative. The site should be one that can be located,
surveyed, and excavated within a reasonable period of time
and with minimal expense. It should involve a historic
shipwreck, one whose recovered cultural material will
generate revenue for Cuba through museum display.
2). The Project Should Promote Long-Term INA In-
volvement. We need to excavate a site that will maximize
future research opportunities for INA. The project should
emphasize the integration of INA archaeologists, conserva-
tors, and graduate students with Cuban government offi-
cials, scholars, and students not only in the excavation
phase, but during conservation and publication as well.
The project should have the potential to generate a number
of thesis and dissertation topics.
3). The Project Should be a Stepping Stone to More
Ambitious Undertakings. If the first project proves success-
ful, it may well open the door to more speculative endeav-
ors. INA should be prepared to raise the funding necessary
to survey, locate, and excavate a deep-water wreck,
perhaps of a fully-laded treasure galleon, a "first" for the
discipline of maritime archaeology.
4). The Project Should Enhance the Visibility and
Reputation of both INA and the Cuban Government. A
successful project will gain the attention of both the
archaeological community and the world at large, as it
would be a significant event in the history of Cuban-Ameri-
can relations. Systematic field work following archaeologi-
cal principles would help establish a standard for future
maritime excavations in Cuba, as most of the submerged
sites that are known in the Caribbean have been salvaged
by "for-profit" groups.
La Bahia de Matanzas
On the basis of these criteria, the logical site for INA's
proposed survey and excavation is La Bahia de Matanzas
(Massacre Bay). Located just 60 miles east of Havana, La
Bahia de Matanzas provided the stage for Holland's most
dramatic maritime performance: the 1628 capture of the
Nueva Espafa Fleet. In 1873, Jacob de Liefde described
the treasure bounty captured by the Dutch as the "richest
prize that has ever, perhaps, been known in the history of
the world."
The Dutch West India Fleet was commanded by Pieter
Pieterszoon Heyn, a 51-year-old admiral charged with
capturing the Spanish Silver Fleet. The Heren XIX the
"high court" of the West India Company (WIC) could
INA Quarterly 20.3
have chosen no better commander, for not only did Heyn
have a long-standing career in naval service, but on two
separate occasions in his youth he was taken prisoner by
the Spanish; both times he found himself a slave aboard
Spain's galleys. Years later, while patrolling in the Carib-
bean, Heyn observed the Spanish Silver Fleet as it sailed
past his small contingent of ships. Perpetually eager to
punish the Spanish, the Admiral felt the deep frustration of
being relegated to the station of bystander as the treasures
of a New World passed before him.
But then, on a September day in 1628, an opportunity
for revenge presented itself. Heyn's fleet, 31 ships armed
with 700 cannon and boasting 4,000 soldiers, had been
observing considerable sea traffic along Cuba's north coast.
Choosing not to engage any of the smaller groups of Span-
ish vessels, Heyn waited patiently, hoping to intercept the
Treasure Fleet en route from Vera Cruz, Mexico. As fate
would have it, his perseverance paid off: the Flora
arrived, commanded by Captain-General Juan de Benevides
y Bazan and carrying only 175 bronze and 48 cast iron
cannon seemingly easy prey for the Dutch fleet.
Benevides, knowing well that he was outmanned and
outgunned, chose to evade rather than engage. But instead
of racing for Havana, the Spanish maneuvered their
shallow-drafted ships into a nearby bay, with Heyn in close
pursuit. The Captain-General's plan was to sail to the
shoreline, beach his vessels if possible, and unload his
treasures on land, a strategy that proved partly successful.
When the Dutch, whose ships possessed deeper drafts,
were unable to follow, Heyn launched his attack using the
ships' boats. Under a heavy barrage of cannon fire, the
Spanish offered minimal resistance and the capture of the
Silver Fleet occurred without loss of life to the Dutch. The
prize was rich indeed: 1,000 large pearls, manufactured
articles of both gold and silver, platters, chandeliers,
cutlery, locks, chalices, hides, indigo, sugar, dye-stuffs,
and Campeche wood. Sources disagree as to the exact
quantities, but it appears that somewhere between 31 and
134 lb. of gold and between 30,000 and 180,000 lb. of
silver were loaded on to Dutch ships. We also know that
Heyn did not sail away with the entire treasure, as the
Spanish, foreseeing their demise even before the Dutch
entered the bay, hurriedly scuttled their beached ships and
jettisoned as much precious cargo as they could.
* *
Why, then, would La Bahia de Matanzas be a suitable
choice for INA's first project in Cuba? First, it meets the
pre-established criteria: logistically and financially, the
N VIEROVERING VAN)DE SILVER-V/uOT IND0 E BAY MdIANCA. Kh,,s..P.
The Dutch capture of the Silver Fleet, 1628. Note that the small inset map is drawn with north at the bottom, the
orientation most useful to mariners approaching the Caribbean from the north (after Goslinga 1971, fig. 7).
INA Quarterly 20.3
Why, then, would La Bahta de Matanzas be a suitable
choice for INA's first project in Cuba? First, it meets the
pre-established criteria: logistically and financially, the
survey and excavation are manageable; the likelihood of
success is high, making good the prospects for protracted
INA involvement at this site and at others in the future; in
turn, the work of INA and the benefits of illuminating the
maritime heritage of Cuba would be spotlighted.
Further research is necessary, however, particularly
with primary sources pertaining to the events leading up to
the Dutch capture of the Spanish Flora, as well as to
salvage operations that must have followed soon after.
Two locations where original manuscripts could most likely
be found are the Archives of the Indies in Seville, Spain,
and the government offices and libraries in Havana. There
may also exist records of modern attempts to locate and
salvage the wrecks and their cargoes.
We know from contemporary accounts that Benevides'
fleet pushed as close to the shoreline as possible in order
to unload its treasure; that in some instances vessels were
beached; and that holes were torn in hulls to facilitate
sinking and jettison of treasure. La Bahia de Matanzas
therefore offers a large constellation of cultural material
confined to a relatively small area, with a high probability
that the wrecks are located in the landward portion of the
bay. Finding them, however, may prove more problematic
than one might imagine. Two recent attempts by INA -
in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, and at Rfo Bel6n in Panama -
to locate three of Columbus' ships of exploration, became
mired in the formidable problems of searching relic
coastlines. Nevertheless, I have been strongly encouraged
by Cuban divers who say they have seen many wrecks
within the bay, and suspect they could be the remains of
Benevides' fleet.
Although the accounts vary as to the number of Spanish
vessels lost, at least two ship types sank in La Bahta de
Matanzas. Three merchantmen are reported to have
escaped, with twelve ships, four galleons and eight naos,
falling to the Dutch. It is reported that four naos were put
into service by Heyn to help transport the precious cargo,
bringing to eight the number of vessels one would expect
to find: four galleons and four naos. Robert Marx reports
that 24 Spanish ships were wrecked in the bay, and
Cornelius Goslinga (1971:191) notes that "except for four
galleons and one other small ship, all the captured ships
were burned." Archaeologists have yet to excavate a nao,
an arguably ambiguous term for a ship type used over
several centuries. Galleons, while being among the most
glamorized ships of modern lore, are represented by a
scant archaeological data base. Few have been excavated
by maritime archaeologists, and the majority of known sites
worked by for-profit salvors have yet to be published, let
alone adequately studied. Galleons have, for the most part,
been regarded by salvors as expendable shells encasing
expensive pearls.
The Matanzas Bay Project represents an opportunity for
INA expansion in the Caribbean. Over the past two
decades, the Institute has been involved in maritime
archaeological research in Jamaica, the Turks and Caicos
islands, Grand Cayman, and the Dominican Republic. Not
only could work at La Bahta de Matanzas bring together
archaeologists and diplomats from Cuba and the United
States, but from Spain and Holland as well, and on an
unprecedented scale.
An assessment of the site by J.S. Potter (1988:150),
while discouraging to the treasure hunter, is an invitation
to the archaeologist: "The ballast-covered wooden keels
and ribs of the burned and scuttled ships remain in Matan-
zas Bay, sunk into its shallow bed. Scattered on them and
lost in the surrounding mud amid cannon balls and water-
logged stumps of wood whose silt covering has protected
it from teredos [ship worms], is perhaps $50,000.00 in
jettisoned silver and gold. As a submarine archaeologist's
hunting ground Matanzas Bay might turn out to be rich; for
treasure hunters it would be a poor bet."
We look forward to our visit.
Acknowledgements. I would like to thank Marian Miner Cook
and the J. Brown Cook Fellowship, INA, Chip Vincent, and
George Bass for their support in the planning of this project.
Suggested Reading
Goslinga, C. Ch.
1971 The Dutch in the Caribbean and on the Wild Coast
1580-1680. University of Florida Press,
Gainesville.
de Liefde, J.
1972 The Great Dutch Admirals. Reprint of the 1873
edition. Books for Libraries Press, Freeport,
NY.
Marx, R.
1983 Shipwrecks in the Americas. Bonanza Books,
New York.
Potter, J.S.
1988 The Treasure Diver's Guide. Florida Classics
Library, Port Salerno.
INA Quarterly 20.3
At the Crossroads of History:
Nautical Archaeology in Syria
by Douglas Haldane, INA Research Associate
For just under twenty years INA has been a driving
force in the illumination and preservation of maritime
history, and its reputation for quality archaeology has
spread beyond the countries that have hosted its excava-
tions. Arab archaeologists and the Institute have discussed
proposals for surveys and excavations in the Middle East,
but have not had the opportunity to work together.
However, recent discussions among George Bass, Robert
Vincent, Ralph Solecki, and
Sultan Muhesin, Professor of
Archaeology at Damascus Uni-
versity and Syria's Director
General of Antiquities, are
seriously addressing the possi-
bility of undertaking nautical
archaeology in one of the an-
cient world's most dynamic
maritime regions.
INA's interest in Syria has
long predated these discussions,
as many artifacts from two of
the most notable wrecks the
Institute has excavated may have
come from the Syro-Palestinian
coast. From the Late Bronze
Age shipwreck at Uluburun,
Turkey (see INA Newsletter
15.1, 15.4, 16.4, 17.4, 18.4,
19.4), such artifacts include
ivory objects, swords and
spears, tools, stone anchors,
amphoras and common ceramic
wares, a wooden writing tablet,
cylinder seals, one of the largest
single collections of Canaanite
jewelry, perhaps the most com-
plete set of pan-balance weights
from the Bronze Age, glass The bronze goddessJ
ingots, and a cast-bronze statu- Uluburun. Probably
ette of a goddess with head, origin, its function m
arms, and feet clad in gold foil. the ship and its passe
ro
of
ay
ng
INA Quarterly 19.4:10).
The eleventh-century A.D. "Glass Wreck" at Serge
Limam (called the Glass Wreck because of the huge
quantity of Islamic glass the ship was carrying see INA
Newsletter 15.3) also seems to have visited the Syro-
Palestinian coast, as that is the region where the closest
parallels for glazed pottery, gold jewelry, and bone spindle
whorls from the wreck have been found on land excava-
tions.
Early in 1991 Dr. Bass invit-
ed me to join him, INA Vice
President Dr. Donald Frey, and
Tufan Turanll, INA business
manager and captain of the
Institute's research vessel Vira-
zon, on a preliminary visit to
Syria's coast. We felt that my
M.A. degree from the Nautical
Archaeology Program at Texas
A&M University and doctoral
studies in medieval Middle
Eastern maritime history at the
University of Texas at Austin
qualified me to work in Syria
one day. My years of studying
Arabic in the U.S. and in Egypt
would certainly help overcome
any language barriers and help
smooth a survey team's path,
When we reached Damascus
in December of 1991, we found
the Syrians very helpful and
open, though a bit amused by
Photo: D. F y my use of colloquial Egyptian
m the shipwreck at Arabic instead of their more
'Syro-Palestinian classical Syrian Arabic. On our
have been to protect second day there, while Dr.
ers from danger (see Muhesin contacted regional
INA Quarterly 20.3
antiquities directors in Latakia and Tartus, we explored the
capital city and, through a sequence of events almost as
circuitous as the "Street Called Straight," found ourselves
at a glass factory that looked as if it almost could have
been the source of the Serge Limam ship's glass cargo.
Glass was being broken, sorted in stacked baskets in a back
room, and fed into the glass furnace at regular intervals.
At Dr. Bass' suggestion, we returned the next day to
record the glass-blowing process. As Tufan filmed, the
glass blowers produced replicas of some of the glass bottles
found on the wreck using techniques little changed in the
thousand years since the Serge Limam ship sailed.
The next morning found us in Latakia, where we were
fortunate to meet Syrian journalist Sajia Qaakamaz, whose
latest book in Arabic and English on the port of Ugarit
reflects his ongoing interest in the Bronze Age. He gener-
ously took time from his work to accompany us along the
Syrian coast and to present succinctly our questions to
Syrian fishermen and divers. His energy and enthusiasm
were remarkable. After traversing with us the entire length
of the coast twice in three days, he was ready to proceed
to Baniyas, where rumor had it that some amphoras had
been found.
After our explorations of that sometimes forbidding
coastline, Tufan concluded that the Virazon could navigate
close to shore. This was welcome news, even from a
captain who routinely anchors where ships wreck. Discus-
sions with museum directors, fishermen, and three of the
mere handful of civilian divers in Syria confirmed our ex-
pectations that nautical remains along the 80-mile shoreline
mirror the country's maritime legacy of thousands of years
of merchant ventures.
Major archaeological sites in Syria (after Weiss 1991:684, fig. 1).
INA Quarterly 20.3
The Nautical History of Syria
The port city of Ugarit at Ras Shamra on the northern
Syrian coast dominated the transit trade in the region
during the Late Bronze Age, distributing local and foreign
wares from the Mesopotamia-Syria route throughout the
eastern Mediterranean. Objects of this trade found their
way not only to Uluburun, but also are attested on tablets
from the palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhnaten at
Amarna. In addition to local political reports, cargoes
received in Egypt are recorded on tablets that read as if
they served as the Uluburun ship's manifest.
Ugarit was destroyed, as were numerous coastal cities,
by invaders called simply the "Sea Peoples" in Egyptian
texts, and these enigmatic invaders undoubtedly left clues
to their origins and evidence of their activities in the sea
alongside those of their Ugaritic victims. Little else is
known about the Sea Peoples except that Ramses III
defeated them in a battle off the Nile Delta in ca. 1175 B.C.
and spared Egyptian civilization the fate of many of its
neighboring contemporaries.
Ugarit's maritime primacy fell not to the Sea Peoples,
but to the Phoenicians. Setting sail from their home ports
in the Levant during the first millennium B.C., the Phoeni-
cians colonized throughout the Mediterranean and even
along the Atlantic shores of moder-day Morocco. For
over 700 years, Phoenician trading ships sailed to every
corner of the Mediterranean. Yet the wrecks of only two,
possibly three, of their ships have ever been found, one at
Ma'agan Michael, in Israel, dated to the end of the fifth
century B.C., the other two at Marsala, Sicily, at least one
dating to 249 B.C. All have raised more questions than
they have answered.
The Roman conquest of Syro-Palestine in the first cen-
tury B.C. did not dampen trading zeal there. Instead,
political unification of the Mediterranean world served only
to intensify activity. Greek and Syrian merchants under the
Roman aegis began formally establishing the China silk
trade/India spice route, which extended through Mesopota-
mia to Palmyra in Syria and on to the Mediterranean coast.
So successful were these endeavors that the Emperor
Augustus complained of the massive trade deficit that
drained Roman gold away to the east.
Palmyra became rich and powerful from the transit
trade. Extensive ruins in the Syrian desert bear powerful
testimony to the grandeur of this city-state, whose army,
under Queen Zenobia, revolted against Rome and posed a
Photo: U. Frey
The four-handled copper ingots
shown above are two of 357 that
were being carried by the ship
that wrecked at Uluburun. Some
copper ingots in this shape were
cast in stone molds like the one at
right, which was discovered at Ras
Ibn Hani, immediately south of
Ugarit. It is the only mold for
such ingots known.
Photo: Courtesy INA
INA Quarterly 20.3
potent threat to Roman
control of the region in the
later third century A.D.
Modern Syrians take pride
in Queen Zenobia's revolt,
and many parents through-
out the Middle East still
,name their daughters Zey-
nab in her memory. Her
likeness even appears on
modern Syrian currency.
When Byzantine domina-
tion of the Middle East gave
way before the Arab con-
quest in the seventh century
A.D., the trading environ-
ment in the Mediterranean
changed only marginally.
The new Arab rulers estab-
lished the caliphal seat at
Damascus and defended it in
part with naval bases at
Latakia and on the island of
Arwad near Tartus. Damas-
cus ruled the economy of
the Arab world, which
extended from the borders
of China to the Atlantic, but An ingot of raw glass from
western Europe was on the Colored deep blue with col
periphery of the Mediterra- origin
nean economy only for the
short time it took Italian merchants to make their way to
Arab shores to trade.
In the eighth and ninth centuries A.D., the Indian Ocean
trade routes to the Arab world still passed through the
Persian Gulf to the Baghdad of Arabian Nights fame.
From there, caravan routes stretched west across the desert
to Aleppo and Damascus and on to the coast, where Arab
corsairs maintained naval bases, such as the one at Tara-
blus (Tripoli in modern Lebanon). In A.D. 903, Leo of
Tripoli, nemesis of the Byzantine fleet, set out on a
campaign that ended with the devastating sack of Byzantine
Thessalonika. Leo's ships, heavily laden with spoil, zig-
zagged their way back to Tarablus and eluded a Byzantine
fleet bent on retaliation. Thus while merchants visited the
Syrian coast in search of luxury trade items to take back to
their home ports in the realms of Byzantium, Palestine, and
Egypt, corsairs and other adventurers were returning from
triumphant raids in ships bearing the spoils of war.
At about the same time (early in the tenth century),
political disturbances in Mesopotamia and central Asia dis-
t
'a
rupted the China trade
routes through the Persian
Gulf and along the Silk
S Road to Constantinople.
Arab merchants, who later
coalesced into the Karimi
cartel, soon re-routed the
majority of trade through
the Red Sea to Egypt. The
Fatimids, who conquered
Egypt in A.D. 969, proceed-
ed to exploit the political
situation and developed
Egypt as the major empori-
um for Europeans seeking
eastern goods. Trade
through Syria did not die
out, however. The Egypt-
based Karimi kept high-
ranking agents in Damascus
to cover the Syrian terminus
of the overland route, which
was patronized by merchants
such as those who could
have been involved with the
eleventh-century Serge
Limam ship.
he shipwreck at Uluburun. News of the Fatimid
It, it may be of Syrian success in establishing a
middleman's monopoly in
the eastern Mediterranean
reached Europe along with reports of the persecution of
Christians in Jerusalem, which sparked commencement of
the Crusades in the late eleventh century. It is no coinci-
dence that Crusader installations in Syro-Palestine com-
manded the trade routes, as these were the most convenient
avenues for armies. The Italian merchant states quickly
capitalized on this European control of the Syro-Palestinian
coast, and western trade traffic intensified.
Despite the Crusaders' best efforts, however, the bulk
of the eastern trade still passed through Egypt, remaining
in the hands of the Fatimids and the succeeding Turkish
Mamluks. This Arab monopoly brought about its own end,
however, as it precipitated the voyages of exploration and
discovery. Such efforts to bypass the Arab middlemen
made a backwater not only of the Syro-Palestinian coast,
but of the Mediterranean as a whole. Columbus set out to
find a new route to India and access to the spice trade, but
recent research has also revealed that his secondary goal
was Palestine, and the liberation of Jerusalem from the
east.
INA Quarterly 20.3
Nautical Archaeology in Syria
Syria clearly played a crucial role in the history arid
trade of the ancient and medieval Middle East, but her
coastal waters are virtually unexplored. In past years, the
sponge and diving industries have resulted in the discovery
and extensive looting of shipwrecks in the western Mediter-
ranean and even in Turkey. The Syrian sea bottom does
not lend itself to sponge growth, however, and as far as we
have been able to determine, a diving industry does not
exist. The few civilian divers who do live in Syria have
identified some wrecks, and fishermen have snagged their
nets on others, but looting does not seem to be an activity.
During our visit in 1991, we expected to talk with fisher-
men and divers in caf6s that were stuffed with amphoras.
We found these men in the cafds, and they gladly discussed
sites they knew about, agreeing to join us as guides to
wrecksites if we return, but there were no amphoras in the
caf6s.
I am confident that underwater surveys will locate ship-
wrecks that will teach us a great deal about the nature and
importance of Syria's seafaring heritage. In addition to the
rich archaeological returns such efforts will bring, they
will help develop nautical archaeology in the Arab world.
Acknowledgements. Thanks for the successful outcome of the
1991 Syria visit go to Sultan Muhesin, for his encouragement
and assistance, and to Sajia Qaakmaz for his untiring resource-
fulness. We are also grateful to the owner and workers of
Abu Ahmad's Glass Factory, for setting aside their previous
commitments for the pursuit of archaeological research. INA
Board Directors Frederick R. Mayer and Jack W. Kelley
generously underwrote the trip.
Suggested Reading
Bass, G.F. (editor)
1972 A History of Seafaring Based on Underwater
Archaeology. Thames and Hudson, London.
Casson, L.
1971 Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World.
Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Frost, H., et al.
1981 Lilybaeum. Notizie degli Scavi, Supplement
30 (1976). Institute Poligrafico dello Stato,
Rome.
Lewis, A.R.
1951 Naval Power and Trade in the Mediterranean
A.D. 500-1100. Princeton University Press,
Princeton.
An Islamic glass bowl reassembled from dozens of
fragments recovered from the medieval wreck at Serce
Limam, Turkey.
Linder, E.
1992 Ma'agan Micha'el Shipwreck. Excavating an
Ancient Merchantman. Biblical Archaeology
Review 18.6:25-35.
Weiss, H.
1991 Archaeology in Syria. American Journal of
Archaeology 95:683-740.
1994 Archaeology in Syria. American Journal of
Archaeology 98:101-158.
INA Quarterly 20.3
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
IN
THE BLACK SEA
by John C. Neville, INA Research Associate
Few bodies of water offer more opportunities for
nautical archaeologists than the Black Sea. From the
earliest days of seafaring there, the Black Sea has claimed
its share of vessels. These lost ships come from many ages
and points of origin and represent a unique record of the
region's rich history. Among them, Greek, Roman,
Byzantine, Ottoman, Arab, Russian, Ukrainian, and even
British Royal Navy vessels have come to rest on the floor
of the Black Sea. Because of its geography and environ-
mental conditions, there is a good possibility of finding
many of these wrecks in an exceptional state of preserva-
tion. Today, the archaeological record of seafaring on the
Black Sea is still largely unexplored. The challenge, then,
is to create the academic and archaeological programs
through which the maritime history and heritage of the
Black Sea can be thoroughly studied and more fully
understood. With this in mind, the nations that share the
coastline of the Black Sea are developing nautical archaeo-
logical programs through their museums and universities.
The Institute of Nautical Archaeology is currently becom-
ing involved in this process and hopes to be a key partici-
pant in the development of nautical archaeology in the
Black Sea.
History
Little is known about seafaring on the Black Sea prior
to the arrival of Greek colonists in the seventh century B.C.
Occasional finds from prehistoric periods, such as a dugout
canoe discovered in Lake Varna in Bulgaria, attest to the
earliest indigenous navigation in the region. Isolated
artifacts found in Bulgarian waters, such as stone anchors
and a miniature copper ingot somewhat similar in shape to
those from the fourteenth-century B.C. Uluburun wreck in
Turkey (see p. 9 above), suggest visits to the Black Sea by
Mediterranean vessels during the Bronze Age. In Greek
myth, Jason and his crew of heroes sailed the Argo through
the Bosporus and into the Black Sea searching for the
Golden Fleece, which they eventually found in the land of
Colchis, now modern Georgia. Although a mythological
tale set immediately prior to the Trojan War (ca. 1230
B.C.), the story of Jason and the Argonauts may be a dim
reflection of an early voyage by Greeks into the Black Sea.
The native Thracians and Scythians who inhabited the lands
surrounding the Black Sea when the Greeks arrived were
not great seafarers. Yet despite this, they were known to
practice piracy and prey upon vessels that ventured too
close to their shores.
Mediterranean influence in the Black Sea increased
dramatically during the seventh century B.C. Although
details are uncertain, large numbers of Greek colonies were
founded at this time all along the Black Sea coast. The
Ionian city of Miletus, for example, may have founded as
many as 90 colonies there. Many of these flourished and
became integral, though distant, parts of the Mediterranean
world. The importance of the region was amply demon-
strated during the Peloponnesian War in the late fifth
century B.C. Late in the war, Athens and Sparta were in
the midst of an extended stalemate. The impasse was
finally concluded when the Spartan fleet established control
of the Bosporus. Cut off from the Black Sea cities that had
been supplying the grain she needed, Athens soon surren-
dered.
While the Greek presence in the Black Sea had been
concentrated along the coast, Roman expansion brought
large inland areas of what are now Turkey, Bulgaria, and
Rumania into the empire by the second century A.D. Even
at the height of Roman power, however, the cities along
the Black Sea coast appear to have remained largely Greek
in character. By the late third century A.D., Rome was
withdrawing to the south in the face of barbarian invasions,
and the northern areas of the Black Sea region came to be
occupied by groups such as the Goths and Avars.
In the centuries following the retreat of Rome, a diverse
and dynamic ethnic and political map of the Black Sea
region began to develop. After the decline of the Western
Roman empire in the fifth century A.D., the Eastern
empire, with its capital at Constantinople, dominated the
southern Black Sea coast and exercised considerable influ-
ence over the surrounding territories, though it was never
able to control as much of it as Rome had at the height of
INA Quarterly 20.3
the Imperial period. In the Balkans, Bulgars began to
move from their Asian homelands into the area around the
Danube River during the seventh century and by the end of
the ninth century the First Bulgar Kingdom was in control
of most of the Balkan Peninsula. On the eastern side of the
Black Sea, an Arab emirate was established late in the
seventh century. On the northern shore of the Black Sea,
a number of kingdoms rose and fell, such as that of the
Kievan Rus, which existed from the ninth through the
thirteenth centuries, and the Crimean Khanate (fifteenth -
eighteenth centuries). One of the most interesting of these
northern Black Sea groups is the Zaporozhian Cossacks
who, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, sailed from
their strongholds on the Dnieper River in their double-
ended chaika and conducted Viking-like raids on Ottoman
possessions throughout the Black Sea.
By the early fifteenth century the Ottoman Turks had
become the greatest power in the Black Sea region: Most
of the Balkan peninsula and the territory of the Byzantine
empire had been brought under Turkish control when
Constantinople finally fell in 1453. The Balkan Black Sea
coast was to remain under Ottoman rule until the late
nineteenth century. Elsewhere, the increasingly powerful
Russian empire slowly brought the other lands surrounding
the Black Sea under its sway. By the early nineteenth
century, the Russian Czar shared the Black Sea coastline
with the Ottoman Sultan. Although Bulgaria and Rumania
gained independence from Ottoman rule in the late nine-
teenth century, their modern borders were not settled until
after the First World War. Following the collapse of the
Ottoman empire at the end of the war, the modern Turkish
state was born on the southern shore of the Black Sea. On
the northern shore, the Russian empire was superseded by
the Soviet Union until Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia gained
their independence in 1989.
Throughout this long period, seafaring has been a key
part of life on the Black Sea. Until the nineteenth century,
water transport was the primary means of reaching the
cities along the coast. Ships entered and left the Black Sea
through the Bosporus, which is guarded by the city of
Istanbul. The rivers that flow into the Black Sea have also
played a significant role, acting as commercial highways to
and from the interior of Europe. The Danube, for exam-
ple, has been a major thoroughfare in western and eastern
Europe since at least Roman times. Farther to the east, the
Dnieper River has been used as an important transportation
route between the Baltic and Black Seas since at least the
ninth century A.D.
Evidence of this extensive maritime history is plentiful
throughout the region. The Maritime Museum in Sozopol,
Bulgaria, holds an extensive collection of ancient artifacts
Photo: D. Frey
This stone ceremonial axe head some 20 cm (8 in)
long was recovered from the Late Bronze Age ship-
wreck at Uluburun, Turkey. Its best parallel, in
bronze, comes from Dranja, Rumania.
recovered from the sea, including anchors and amphoras.
Museums in Rumania and Ukraine have similar, though
smaller, collections on display. A third-century A.D.
marble statue in the Constanza Archaeological Museum
portrays Fortuna, the goddess of prosperity. At her feet is
a figure of Pontus, the personification of the Black Sea.
He is grasping an oar in his right hand and a ship's bow in
his left. His gaze is directed upward at Fortuna. This
statue illustrates that, historically, much of the wealth of
cities along the Black Sea coast was derived from water-
borne trade.
INA Quarterly 20.3
A number of historic shipwrecks have been discovered
in the Black Sea. The remains of a second- or third-
century A.D. Roman vessel that was carrying a cargo of
marble blocks and architectural elements has been found
off the Turkish coast at Sile, near Istanbul, and the wreck
of an eighteenth-century A.D. merchant vessel is known off
the coast of Georgia, near the city of Poti. One of the
most dramatic and compelling reminders of past seafaring
on the Black Sea is the medieval naval stores depot at
Constanza, Rumania. Discovered in the early 1960s, it
consists of several vaulted chambers that still house iron
anchors similar to those found aboard the seventh-century
Yassi Ada wreck, as well as amphoras containing iron nails
and other naval supplies.
Geography and the Marine Environment
The coastline of the Black Sea is currently shared by six
countries: Turkey, Bulgaria, Rumania, Ukraine, Russia,
and Georgia. Almost entirely landlocked, it has an east-
west length of approximately 1,100 km (730 miles) and
reaches a maximum width of about 500 km (330 miles)
immediately west of the Crimean Peninsula. Perhaps the
most distinctive and important geographic feature of the
Black Sea is that its only outlet is through the Bosporus at
its southwestern corer. This narrow strait opens onto the
Sea of Marmara, which in turn gives access to the Aegean
and Mediterranean seas. But the Black Sea provides excel-
lent access to its hinterlands via an extensive network of
large, navigable rivers such as the Danube, Dnieper, Don,
and Bug.
The Black Sea's submarine geography is of special
interest to the nautical archaeologist. It reaches its greatest
depth of some 2,300 m (7,000 ft) northwest of Sinope on
the Turkish coast, but the near-shore areas generally take
the form of a shallow plain extending an average of seven
miles offshore and reaching a depth of ca. 130 m (400 ft)
before the seabed begins to drop off more dramatically.
Much of the Black Sea coast is in subsidence. The level of
coastal lands has dropped considerably since antiquity and
many coastal sites, such as the Greek city of Phasis in
Georgia, are now inundated. Because of the number of
major rivers emptying into the Black Sea, especially in the
northwestern portion, a high siltation rate is likely along
significant parts of its coastline. Excavations elsewhere
have demonstrated that heavy siltation makes it difficult to
locate sites, but that a thick covering of sediment can
preserve the wooden hulls of ships and other organic
materials beautifully.
From an environmental standpoint, the Black Sea is
extremely interesting to archaeologists and other research-
ers. There is an extraordinarily slow exchange of water
between the Mediterranean and the Aegean through the
Bosporus. Therefore, the Black Sea is essentially stagnant
except in its uppermost levels. A large amount of fresh
water enters the Black Sea through rainfall and the outflow
of rivers. In combination with the minimal circulation, this
influx of fresh water gives the Black Sea a salinity roughly
half that of other oceans. In many areas, the salinity is low
enough to prevent the growth of Teredo navalis and other
bivalve mollusks that are so destructive to the hulls of
wooden vessels. Of possibly greater long-term interest to
the archaeologist is a phenomenon that may be unique to
the Black Sea. Below a depth of about 170 m (500 ft),
there is virtually no dissolved oxygen in the water due to
the minimal circulation and the presence of large amounts
of hydrogen sulfide which seeps up from the sea bed.
These conditions limit marine life to the Black Sea's
shallower areas, except for specialized bacteria found
beneath the oxygenated layer.
In theory, the wrecks of wooden vessels lying below
about 170 m should be exceptionally well preserved
because none of their traditional biological enemies can
exist there. Although the validity of this theory remains to
be demonstrated and search and excavation in this deep
environment will be demanding, the possibilities are
enormous.
Current Work
Nautical archaeology has enjoyed an excellent beginning
in the Black Sea. In Sozopol, the Centre of Maritime
History and Underwater Archaeology is the focal point of
nautical archaeology in Bulgaria. It has sponsored remote-
sensing surveys off the coast as well as the underwater
excavation of a prehistoric habitation site. Artifacts from
underwater sites are conserved and displayed at the Mari-
time Museum in Sozopol. Further, Bulgarian archaeolo-
gists excavated the wreck of a Byzantine vessel in the early
1960s. In Rumania, evidence of the country's seafaring
past can be plainly seen at terrestrial sites such as the naval
stores depot in Constanza. Archaeologists from the
National Commission and the Direction of the Historic
Monuments, Ensembles, and Sites have begun a program
to preserve and study submerged archaeological sites in
Rumanian waters. Ukrainian archaeologists have initiated
surveys in the waters around Sevastopol to locate vessels
lost during the Crimean War. Recently, the Center of
Underwater Archaeology, which was founded at Kiev
University, has sponsored several expeditions to the Crimea
and reported numerous ancient and medieval finds.
Russian archaeologists who have been working near the
Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of
Azov, have expressed interest in expanding their work to
INA Quarterly 20.3
Michael Lazarov, Christina Angelova, George Bass, and Ja<
meet in Sozopol to examine drawings of some artifacts recov
the eleventh-century shipwreck at Serge Limam, Turkey, thai
parallels in Bulgaria.
include offshore areas. In 1985, the Black Sea Hydroarch-
aeological Expedition was launched by the Centre for
Archaeological Studies in Tblisi, Georgia, in order to
investigate the role seafaring has played in the development
of that nation. Finally, the Turkish commitment to the
development of underwater archaeology in their waters is
well known. Even more important than the work that has
been carried out to date, however, is the fact that each of
the countries that shares the Black Sea coastline has made
a commitment to protect and develop its submerged cultural
resources.
An INA Visit
In May of 1992, a group of INA representatives traveled
to the Black Sea to meet with local archaeologists and
cultural officials and assess the role INA could play in the
development of nautical archaeology in the region. George
Bass, Fred van Doorninck, Fred Hocker and I, along with
INA Board Directors Jack Kelley, Harlan Crow, and
Claude Duthuit paid visits to Burgas, Sozopol, and Varna
in Bulgaria, and the port city of Constanza, Rumania. In
Ukraine we stopped in Odessa, Kherson, and Kiev. Mr.
Crow also visited the city of Sevastopol in the Crimea. In
each city, we received an extremely warm welcome and
were given a tour of the city and various museums and
archaeological sites. The most stimulating aspect of the
entire trip was the real excitement the archaeologists we
met had for the possibilities of nautical archaeology in the
Black Sea. In Bulgaria, Dr. Alexander
Minchev of the Archaeological Museum in
Varna, Ms. Christina Angelova of the
Centre of Maritime History and Underwa-
ter Archaeology in Sozopol, remote-sens-
ing specialist Dr. Nikolai Nenov, and in
Rumania, archaeologists Mr. Sergiu Iosi-
pescu and Ms. Raluca Verussi, who are in
charge of the underwater archaeological
program of the National Commission and
the Direction of the Historic Monuments,
Ensembles, and Sites, were exceptionally
positive about the future of nautical ar-
chaeology in the Black Sea and very enthu-
siastic about INA's prospective involve-
ment there.
Photo: F. Hocker Future Challenges
:k Kelley As a result of the positive nature of the
ered from 1992 trip, INA is sponsoring a second,
t may have longer visit to the Black Sea. In early
1994, I will be traveling in Bulgaria,
Rumania, Ukraine, and Russia for a period
of several months to begin laying the groundwork for a
possible INA project in the future. In each country I will
meet with archaeologists and other parties interested in
underwater archaeology in order to begin developing the
close working relationships necessary to the success of any
such project. Working with them, I hope to visit sites,
museums, and libraries to gather information needed to
determine the most promising areas for archaeological
surveys for shipwrecks, as well as the techniques and
equipment that will be most effective in each area. Finally,
if conditions permit, I hope we will be able to conduct a
short survey in an archaeologically promising area during
the late spring or early summer.
It is my hope that these efforts will mark the beginning
of a long and fruitful INA association with the countries
bordering the Black Sea, as we work together to develop a
program to facilitate the continued growth of nautical
archaeology there.
Acknowledgements. I would like to thank Dr. George F. Bass
of INA for originally suggesting the Black Sea to me as an
area of research, and for his continuing encouragement,
advice, and support. The faculty and staff of INA, especially
Mr. Chip Vincent, have also been most helpful and support-
ive. The INA Board of Directors has been very generous with
funding and support. Mr. Harlan Crow was especially
generous in welcoming the travel group aboard the Michaela
Rose. Dr. Ron Bural and Dr. Fred Campbell made it possible
for me to attend a conference in Tampa, Florida, on Black Sea
INA Quarterly 20.3
trade, and were gracious hosts. Finally, I would like to thank
all of the scholars in the Black Sea countries who have
extended such kind invitations to come to their countries and
learn from them.
Suggested Reading
Dearborn, H.A.S.
1819 A Memoir on the Commerce and Navigation
of the Black Sea. Wells and Lilly, Boston.
Hrushevsky, M.
1941 A History of Ukraine. Yale University Press,
New Haven.
Jelavich, B.
1983 History of the Balkans. Cambridge University
Press, New York.
Koromila, M.
1991 The Greeks in the Black Sea from the Bronze
Age to the Early 20th Century. Panorama
Cultural Society, Athens.
Lazarov, M., M. Tatcheva, C. Angelova, and
M. Georgiev (editors)
1991 Thracia Pontica IV. Sofia.
Severin, T.
1985 The Jason Voyage. The Quest for the Golden
Fleece. Simon and Schuster, New York.
News & Notes continued from page 18
Bass and Frey in Ankara
INA Archaeological Director George Bass, and Don
Frey, INA Vice President for Mediterranean Administra-
tion, enjoyed a productive stay in the Turkish capital early
in November. Both met with the Director of Antiquities
and lectured at Bilkent University; Dr. Bass also presented
a slide lecture on the wreck at Uluburun to 115 dinner
guests at the home of the U.S. Ambassador.
Gregory D. Cook Receives Fulbright for
Excavation in Jamaica; Describes Savan-
nah River Survey Project
Nautical Archaeology Program student Gregory D.
Cook is the recipient of a 1994 Fulbright Fellowship,
which will help fund his excavation this winter of the re-
mains of an eighteenth-century merchant ship in St. Ann's
Bay, Jamaica. He will be assisted by fellow Texas A&M
students Clive Chapman and Rich Wills, East Carolina
University graduate student Amy Rubenstein, and Norine
Carroll. On December 3, 1993, Mr. Cook presented a
slide lecture at Texas A&M entitled "Mud, Gators, Coffins
and Ships: Seven Months of Ship Survey and Archaeology
on the Savannah River." Mr. Cook, assisted by fellow
Texas A&M students Kyra Bowling, Taras Pevny, and a
local historian, Richard Leech, worked under the supervi-
sion of archaeologist Judy Wood, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Savannah District. During the spring and
summer of 1993, the team recorded the hull remains of
some 35 historic ships, boats, and barges exposed along the
river bank by erosion resulting from recent river improve-
ments near Savannah made by the state of Georgia.
Neyland Presents Work in Holland
"The Excavation of a Late-Seventeenth Century Freight-
er in the Netherlands" was the title of a slide lecture given
at Texas A&M on November 12, 1993, by Robert Neyand.
A Nautical Archaeology Program graduate and now a
Texas A&M Anthropology Ph.D. candidate, Mr. Neyland
directed the excavation this past summer as an INA Re-
search Associate. He has been working with the Dutch
Center and Museum for Ship Archaeology in Ketelhaven
since 1989, through the Cooperative Internship Exchange
Program created in 1987 by the Dutch Center and Texas
A&M. Mr. Neyland was assisted by Nautical Archaeology
Program students James Coggeshall and Mason McDaniel,
Texas A&M Ph.D. student Georgia Fox, and Birgit Schr5-
der, an M.A. graduate from Tiibingen University.
INA Quarterly 20.3
CORRECTION -
Several errors appeared in the previous issue of the
Quarterly, Volume 20, No. 2:
. On page 5, in the second full paragraph of
Cheryl Haldane's article, "The Promise of Egypt's
Maritime Legacy," the phrase "Egyptian Antiqui-
ties Museum" should read "Egyptian Antiquities
Organization."
s Regarding figure Ib on page 11 in Frederick van
Doorninck's article on the metrology of the Glass
Wreck amphoras, the liter scale should begin with
3 instead of 8, and end with 15 instead of 20.
a In first paragraph on the same page, in the
phrase "and one, a capacity of 20 litrai and a
weight of 12.06 litrai," the number 12.06 should
read 11.96.
The Quarterly regrets these unfortunate errors.
NEH CHALLENGE GRANT DRIVE
A Letter of Thanks from the President of INA -
Dear NEH Challenge Grant Contributors:
It is with great pleasure that I am able to report the successful conclusion of INA's National Endowment for the Humanities
Challenge Grant drive. Gifts and pledges were received in time for us to inform the NEH that we had achieved our goal within the
allotted time frame. These gifts will be used to endow staff development and to assist in building and maintaining the Institute's new
headquarters facility in Bodrum, Turkey.
This accomplishment is a tribute to everyone who stands with INA and who has helped support our future. INA Board Members
participated in a significant way. Many friends added to what they give annually. A number of new donors stepped forward. To all
who have contributed so generously to our effort, let me extend warm thanks on behalf of all of us at INA. The goal could not have
been reached without you. May you take special pride and satisfaction from your participation in this successful endeavor.
Sincerely, e- i-
Patrons
Edward O. Boshell, Jr.
Dr. & Mrs. Ronald J. Bural
Dr. Frederick W. Campbell
Dr. & Mrs. John G. Cassils
Mr. Charles W. Consolvo
Mr. Gregory M. Cook
Mr. Harlan Crow
Mr. & Mrs. Claude Duthuit
Mrs. Danielle J. Feeney
Mr. Donald G. Geddes Im
The Jonsson Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Harry C. Kahn II
Mr. & Mrs. Jack W. Kelley
Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Lorton
Mr. & Mrs. Frederick R. Mayer
The Nason Foundation
Miss Frances L. Rich
Mr. & Mrs. Ray H. Siegfried II
Mr. Carry A. Weber
Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation, Inc.
Mr. Martin H. Wilcox
Sponsors
Mr. Frank Darden
Mr. William Graves
Mr. & Mrs. George W. Lodge
Mr. John D. Merwin
National Geographic Society
Mr. & Mrs. George O. Yamini
Benefactors
Mr & Mrs. Raymond Aker
Mr. John H. Baird
Dr. & Mrs. Gerald Branower
Mrs. Noma Copley
Mr. William R. Dales
Mr. P. S. de Beaumont
Douglas R. DeCluitt Foundation
Mr. Maurice J. Duca
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Eslinger
Mr. James A. Goold
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Henriquez
Ms. Jean B. James
Lubrizol, Incorporated
Mr. & Mrs. Roy Matthews
Mr. & Mrs. William A. KcKenzie
Dr. & Mrs. Willam Mobley
Dr. & Mrs. David W. Perlman
Phillip Morris Companies, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Porter
Mr. & Mrs. Sanford Robertson
Mr. & Mrs. Richard L. Rosenberg
Mr. & Mrs. T. Newton Russell
Mr. & Mrs. John L. Stern
Mr. Stephen D. Susman
Timken Family Charitable Trust
Timken-Sturgis Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Richard A. Williford
Ms. Margaret Zellers
President's Council
Mrs. LouiseW. Bates
Mr. Kurt Baty
Mr. & Mrs. Alan Boorstein
Miss Betsey Boshell
Mr. Robert S. Carter
Dr. William C. Culp
Ms. Michelle Doty
Cynthia & James Eiseman, Jr.
Mr. John R. Hill, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Hugh R. Lehman
Mr. David S. Reese
Mrs. Carrie Riedmeyer
Ms. Catherine Sease
Miss Carrie Stetler
Mr. David Todd
Mr. Richard Vowles
Mr. Bill Wiener, Jr.
Project Director's Club
Mrs. Anne Bradley
Dr. Allan C. Campbell
Mr. Lawrence Flinn, Jr.
Ms. Marion L. Gifford
Mr. & Mrs. Weldon D. Kruger
Mr. Sidney C. Miller, Jr.
Mr. Tom Mueller
Mr. Greg Paprocki
Ms. Lydia Shufro
Mr. Joseph W. Smith
Ms. Sylvia E. Thomas
Mrs. Helen Trik
The English-Speaking Union
Mr. Peter Webster
Research Scientists
Dr. Leon Barstow
Mr. David A. Batchelor
Mr. Russell Becker
Mr. & Mrs. Alan Beller
General Jacques Degas
Dr. Hudson D. Fowler, Jr.
Admiral & Mrs. Thor Hanson
Mr. Michael L. Katzev
Ms. Barbara M. Kreutz
Ms. Dorothy Olim Krone
Mrs. Susan Langston
Professor Diane le Berrurier
Mr. & Mrs. E. Ross Maberry
Mr. James R. Matthews
Ms. Lisa Richardson
Mr. Steven C. Ross
Mr. Tom Turner
Mr. Richard E. Ulrich
Dr. & Mrs. Ronald E. Walsh
Miss Nancy P. Weston
Dr. & Mrs. Robert C. White
Mr. James E. Wilson
Mr. Patrick S. Wilson
Field Excavators
Mrs. Edward G. Acomb
Mr. David John Blackman
Mr. Gary S. Blair
Mr. Thomas P. Fowler
Mr. Oscar Heath
Mr. John J. Herrmann, Jr.
Mr. Jay R. Kingery
Mr. Robert P. Leiby, Jr.
Ms. Cheryl L. Lundgren
Ms. Ipek Martinez
Mr. & Mrs. Peter M. Olofson
Ms. Gabriella Turek
INA Quarterly 20.3
News & Notes
Cemal M. Pulak Appoint-
ed INA Vice President and
Archaeological Director in
Turkey
Cemal M. Pulak, Mr. and Mrs.
Ray H. Siegfried II Graduate Fellow
at Texas A&M and field director of
the Late Bronze Age shipwreck exca-
vation at Uluburun, Turkey, has been
made a Vice President of INA. Mr.
Pulak, who is writing his Ph.D. dis-
sertation on the wreck at Uluburun,
has been associated with INA since he
joined the Seytan Deresi excavation
team as a volunteer in 1975. Through
1978, he assisted INA as a summer
volunteer while working toward a
Master's degree in Mechanical Engi-
neering at Bogazigi University, from
which he was graduated in 1977. In
1980 he began his studies in the Nau-
tical Archaeology Program at Texas
A&M at the invitation of George
Bass, and in 1981 became an INA Re-
search Associate. Mr. Pulak directed
the excavation of a Hellenistic ship-
wreck at Serge Limam in 1979 and
1980, worked in Port Royal, Jamaica,
in 1981, and excavated a sixteenth-
century Ottoman wreck at Yassi Ada
in 1983. In his new role, Mr. Pulak
will responsible for INA operations in
Turkey.
INA President Vincent
Speaks at Rice University
On November 3, 1993, Robert K.
Vincent, Jr., INA President and mem-
ber of the Yale class of '67, delivered
a slide lecture to a joint meeting of the
Yale Club of Houston and the Rice
University Alumni Association.
Speaking at the Rice Memorial Cen-
ter; Mr. Vincent's talk was entitled
"New Frontiers: Discoveries in Un-
derwater Archaeology."
News & Notes continued on page 16
NOTICE
Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology
Thirteenth Annual Conference
Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia
17-21 October 1994
Discovery, Migration, Acculturation, Exploitation or.. . ?
Reinterpreting Seafaring Activity within the Pacific Rim.
The Thirteenth annual AIMA Conference will be held at the QueenslandMuseum, Brisbane, Australia, 17-21 October 1994.
The theme is a broad and multi-disciplinary one, as the convenor is especially keen to attract historians and/or anthropologists
with research interests in seafaring, with a view toward defining where maritime archaeological evidence can contribute to
new or revised interpretations of seafaring activity within the Pacific Rim.
For instance: should the ethnological material that has been retrieved from eighteenth-century ships of discovery e.g.,
the La Perouse wrecks and the wreck of HMS Pandora merely be interpreted as evidence of "artificial curiosity" collecting
by European mariners? How can the evidence provided by the remains of Tabitian vessels (ca. 1000 B.P.) contribute toward
new insights into Polynesian voyaging? Are ceramic armbands retrieved from the wreck of a late-nineteenth century labor
trader simply evidence of "trade goods" used to contract islanders to work on colonial sugar plantations?
Different perspectives on these (and other) types of maritime archaeologicalevidence should be explored. Hence this CALL
FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST from, inter alia, Pacific historians and Oceanic anthropologists.
Enquiries to:
FAX: 617-846-1918
Peter Gesner, Curator Maritime Archaeology
Queensland Museum
P.O. Box 3300
South Brisbane 4101
AUSTRALIA TEL: 617-840-7673
INA Quarterly 20.1
THEME:
Nixon Griffis
1917-1993
Nixon Griffis, a founding member of the INA Board of Directors, died on December 17, 1993, after a
long illness. He was 76. His special importance to the history of nautical archaeology was commemo-
rated by George Bass for The New York Times:
"Nixon Griffis was the first patron of nautical archaeology as we know it today, for in 1959 he made
the initial contribution toward the excavation of a Bronze Age shipwreck at Cape Gelidonya, Turkey.
That would prove to be the first ancient shipwreck excavated in its entirety on the sea bed, and the first
excavated to acceptable archaeological standards. Yet because the undertaking was unprecedented,
and because the proposed expedition archaeologist was only a University of Pennsylvania graduate
student who had not yet learned to dive, funding was hard to find.
"I met Nixon Griffis when Peter Throckmorton, who had found the wreck, showed slides of it to
potential sponsors on a winter's evening in his New York garret, trying to convince them that careful
excavation beneath the sea was possible, and that results would be historically important. Before he
left, Nixon pledged support, the first person to do so. I, the student archaeologist, still wonder what
gave him faith in Peter and me -and our dreams at a time when our fundraising efforts generally
were being rebuffed.
"That was only the beginning. Annually, throughout the 1960s, Nixon continued and increased his
support for the University of Pennsylvania excavations I led on various other shipwrecks in Turkish
waters. It was on those excavations, all published in National Geographic Magazine, that many of the
standard techniques of shipwreck excavation were developed. Nixon was then president of Brentano's
book stores, the first "rich man" I had ever known, but he wanted no favors when he visited to dive
with us. He shared camp duties, lived on beans and rice, and insisted on taking his turn as guard of our
isolated diving barge, sleeping on its bare, rough deck under a sheet of canvas.
"In 1973, when I had another dream, a private Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Nixon Griffis became
a founding director, later Chairman of the Board. He helped it grow into an international organization,
now affiliated with Texas A&M University, with surveys and excavations on four continents. When he
said he was getting too old to be a regular diver, we thought we would not see him again in our camps.
But one day in the late 1970s, when we were excavating a cargo of medieval Islamic glass inside a
sheltered bay, a tiny Turkish fishing boat with only a small boy at the helm emerged from a raging
storm. Unshaven and soaked by spray, Nixon stepped ashore, said he had heard that we were low on
funds, handed us the cash to complete the job, spent the night, and headed back into the high seas for
his return flight to New York. Those who had never met him before were astounded. I was not.
"Modest, generous, adventurous, Nixon Griffis was not only a pioneer, but a true friend who will be
sorely missed. The first volume of the excavation report on that medieval glass will be dedicated to his
memory, and a plaque bearing his name stands just inside the magnificent new Institute building he
helped build in Bodrum, Turkey."
Mr. Griffis was the former owner of Brentano's book stores; a founding director and past president of
the American Littoral Society; a member of the Explorer's Club; and a conservationist trustee of the New
York Zoological Society. He is survived by his daughter, Hethea Nye, of Manhattan; son Hughes, of New
London, Connecticut; son Nixon S., of Palm Beach, Florida; and four grandchildren.
INA Quarterly 20.1
INSTITUTE OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
OFFICERS ADMINISTRATION
George F. Bass, Archaeological Director
Gregory M. Cook, Treasurer
John H. Baird
George F. Bass
Edward O. Boshell, Jr.
Gregory M. Cook
Harlan Crow
Claude Duthuit
Daniel Fallon
Danielle I. Feeney
Donald G. Geddes MI
William Graves
Bengt O. Jansson
Robert K. Vincent, Jr., President
Rebecca H. Holloway, Secretary
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Harry C. Kahn nI
Michael L. Katzev
Jack W. Kelley, Chairman
Sally R. Lancaster
Norma S. Langworthy
Samuel I. LeFrak
Robert E. Lorton
Frederick R. Mayer
William A. McKenzie
William H. Mobley
Donald A. Frey, Vice President
Cemal M. Pulak, Vice President
Alex G. Nason
Ray H. Siegfried II
Ayhan Sicimoglu
William T. Sturgis
Robert L. Walker
Lew O. Ward, Vice Chairman
Peter M. Way
Garry A. Weber
Martin A. Wilcox
Richard A. Williford
George O. Yamini
FACULTY
George F. Bass, George T. & Gladys H. Abell/Sara W. & George 0. Yamini Professor of Nautical Archaeology
Kevin J. Crisman, Assistant Professor
Donny L. Hamilton, Associate Professor
Frederick M. Hocker, Sara W. & George O. Yamini Faculty Fellow
J. Richard Steffy, Sara W. & George O. Yamini Professor of Nautical Archaeology, Emeritus
Frederick H. van Doorninck, Jr., Frederick R. Mayer Professor in Nautical Archaeology
Shelley Wachamann, Meadows Assistant Professor of Biblical Archaeology
GRADUATE FELLOWS
Mr. & Mrs. Ray H. Siegfried II
Graduate Fellow:
Cemal M. Pulak
Mr. & Mrs. J. Brown Cook
Graduate Fellows:
Joseph R. Cozzi
Jerome Lynn Hall
Taras P. Pevny
Elizabeth A. Robinson-Baldwin
STAFF
Selma Karan
Sheila D. Matthews, M.A.
James M. Parrent, Ph. D.
Robin C.M. Piercy
Cemal M. Pulak, M.S., M.A.
Sema Pulak, M.A.
Murat A. Tilev
Tufan U. Turanli
Patricia A. Turner
Jane Pannell-Yldtrnm
RESEARCH ASSOCIATES
Jeremy Green
Cheryl W. Haldane, Ph.D.
Douglas D. Haldane, M.A.
Margaret E. Leshikar, Ph.D.
Kathleen McLaughlin-Neyland, M.A.
John C. Neville
Robert S. Neyland, M.A.
Ralph K. Pedersen, M.A.
Donald Rosencrantz
ADJUNCT PROFESSORS
Cynthia J. Eiseman, Ph.D.
John A. Gifford, Ph.D.
Faith D. Hentschel, Ph.D.
Carolyn G. Koehler, Ph.D.
David I. Owen, Ph.D.
David C. Switzer, Ph.D.
Gordon P. Watts, Jr., M.A.
QUARTERLY EDITOR
Michael A. Fitzgerald
SUPPORTING INSTITUTIONS
Australian Institute of Maritime Archaeology
Boston University
Brown University
Bryn Mawr College
University of California, Berkeley
University of Cincinnati
Cornell University
Corning Museum of Glass
Department de Arqueol6gia Subacuatica de
la I.N.A.H., Mexico
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
New York University, Institute of Fine Arts
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Partners for Livable Places
University Museum, University of
Pennsylvania
Shell of Turkey, Ltd.
Texas A&M Research Foundation
Texas A&M University
University of Texas, Austin
COUNSEL James Goold
|
RSS
