Archaeological Oceanography

Robert Ballard is among the most famous oceanographers in the world. He is best-known for having discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, but that find was no one-hit wonder: he also discovered the wrecks of the Bismarck, the Lusitania and the USS Yorktown. His most recent discovery was John F. Kennedy’s wartime craft PT-109. Most of these wrecks have been found lying in deep water. The former US Navy commander is Professor of Oceanography at Rhode Island University and director of its Institute for Archaeological Oceanography.

Using very specialised underwater technology – most of which he has developed – Ballard, along with his team of scientists, has conducted more than 120 undersea expeditions over 20 years. These expeditions have inspired Archaeological Oceanography, which describes, in considerable detail, the techniques utilised in the emerging field of deep-sea archaeology and, more specifically, some of those used by Ballard himself.

There are few people more qualified to write about oceanography and deep sea archaeology, and Ballard is both editor and contributor – along with 17 other experts – to Archaeological Oceanography.

The book is divided into five parts, with the first an introductory chapter entitled The Technology and Techniques of Archaeological Oceanography. It will impress anyone with a love of technology.

Masterminding Deep-Sea Research

I was captivated by Ballard’s search techniques to find the shipwrecks. During his days searching for the US Navy wrecks of the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion, he discovered that deep water wrecks leave debris trails/fields and, armed with this knowledge, he went on to find the wreck of the Titanic in two-mile-deep water in the North Atlantic. I was extremely interested in the stories regarding the findings of certain wrecks including that of the Titanic, and these are outlined in part two, Contemporary Shipwrecks in the Deep Sea.

Part three, Deep-Water Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, provides fascinating material regarding ancient shipwrecks. Ballard concedes the same criteria for finding big contemporary steel wrecks cannot be applied here, and he and his team confine themselves to “finding ancient commercial shipwrecks that were carrying cargo and were lost in deep waters where bottom conditions lead to their long-term preservation.”

Ancient mariners took deep sea routes rather than hugging the coastline for good reason, says Ballard: “Early in our efforts, we made the assumptions that (1) the ancient mariners were well aware of the ports they wanted to reach, (2) the incentive of making a profit caused them to select trade routes that were safe and as short as possible, and (3) for these reasons, they travelled directly between the major seaports of the ancient world, courses that could take them far from shore and into deep water.” He also discusses regional conflicts, piracy and storms.

Ancient Seafaring

Ballard and his team found evidence of ancient artefacts and ancient/contemporary wrecks off an area called Skerki Bank "at the intersection of the trade routes connecting the ancient seaport of Cagliari in southern Sardinia and the west tip of Sicily and the ancient trade route between Carthage and Ostia, the seaport of Rome.”

Ballard goes on to describe which areas are most likely to turn up wrecks, the reasons for this (absence of bottom commercial trawlers) and what usually happens to ships after they are wrecked (the ship usually rights itself in water the deeper it descends and once there is then partially submerged in anoxic conditions. In anoxic or anaerobic conditions, air is absent, which assists preservation.

These ancient wrecks often contained many amphorae (sometimes 2,000-3,000) and Ballard goes on to note “that the vast majority of the isolated amphora in the Skerki Bank area were intact, jettisoned overboard for reasons other than being broken during their handling. They commonly carried wine, olive oil and garum (a fish sauce. When properly prepared it had a pleasant aroma, looked like aged honey wine, and was often mixed with wine to drink). The contents of the amphora would have been consumed during a typical ocean passage and the now empty vessels would be thrown overboard, which explains their cheap construction and lack of value.” 

Part four, Submerged Landscape Archaeology, and part five, Telepresence and Submerged Cultural Sites, discuss the possibility of human interaction with submerged areas covering the period from 20,000 years ago for Europe/Asia and from 12,000-13,000 years ago for North/South America.

While the book is an engaging general interest read, it is best suited to academics and those with a particular interest in deep-water archaeology and its rigorous techniques. As technology improves and becomes cheaper, it is only a matter of time before we hear more about the discovery of these types of shipwrecks. I, for one, can't wait.