Marine Archaeology 2020 New Underwater Archaeological Discoveries

“In 1972, in one of the early finds of marine archaeology, researchers discovered a trove of clay figurines on the seabed off the coast of Israel.

The figurines – hundreds of them, accompanied by ceramic jars – were assumed to be the remains of a Phoenician shipwreck that had rested under the Mediterranean for 2,500 years.

The artifacts were never fully analysed in a scientific study, and were filed away and mostly forgotten for decades.

But a new analysis by Meir Edrey, an archaeologist at the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa in Israel, and his colleagues indicates that the items were not deposited all at once in a wreck.

Rather, they accumulated over roughly 400 years, between the 7th and 3rd centuries B.C., in a series of votive offerings, as part of a cult devoted to seafaring and fertility.

“As evidenced by ancient records, for example, the same Herodotus, the Greek heroes during the Trojan war tried to find refuge in Egypt but was unable to get to the Pharaoh for guarding the city of Tanis.

Subsequently, traces of this unique settlement was virtually erased from the maps, but because specialists have recognized the stories of the legends or myths.

However, mathematician Frank Goddio managed to locate a city on a 7-kilometer depth near Alexandria three decades ago. The French specialist it took years to prove the reality of their version and bring archaeologists to the study.

“Submerged building complexes as well as ancient quarries, chiseled bollards, a loading platform, ships’ ballast, anchors, accidental rejects and signs of a Byzantine shipwreck were discovered by underwater research in ancient Oloundas and the harbor of Ierapetra in Crete island of Greece.

According to the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, that submerged archaeological evidence in the area and urban center of ancient Oloundas, today’s luxury Elounda resort on Crete, has been investigated by an underwater research team from the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and a team of geophysicists from the Laboratory of Satellite Remote Sensing of the Institute of Mediterranean Studies.

“The underwater archaeological survey at the Antikythera shipwreck that has been suspended since 2017 will soon resume, according to an announcement on Friday by the Ekaterini Laskaridi Institution, which is supplying the research vessel ‘Typhoon’ for the needs of the project.

‘The aim of the archaeological survey that will start in the next few days is the recovery of antiquities, to update the mapping of the archaeological site and evaluate the condition of the shipwreck after two years’, said the statement.

“China’s National Culture Heritage Administration (NCHA) announced two important archaeological achievements at a conference on Tuesday.

According to the conference, the Nanhai I, a Song Dynasty (420-479) shipwreck discovered off the coast of South China’s Guangdong Province in 1987, has been named the best-preserved ancient shipwreck in China.

With a length of 22.95 meters and a width of 9.85 meters, the shipwreck’s hull remains relatively intact.

The archaeological team has recovered more than 180,000 cultural relics from the wreck, demonstrating the prosperous overseas trade system that existed in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

“A mysterious destroyed temple has been discovered in the ruins of an ancient Egyptian city that sunk into the sea some 1200 years ago.

The sunken city of Heracleion – also dubbed the ‘Egyptian Atlantis’ – was lost in the waters off Egypt’s north coast for centuries until it was first uncovered in 2000.

Constant studies have been undertaken at the location since the discovery, with researchers recently uncovering the remains of a Greek temple and treasure-laden ships at the underwater site.

Bronze coins from the reign of King Ptolemy II (283 to 246 BC), ancient columns and 2000-year-old pottery were also among the astonishing new finds.

Heracleion was said to be Egypt’s main international trading port, but no trace of the lost city had been found until it was discovered in 2000 by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology and Franck Goddio.

“Archaeologists have found evidence of ancient human activity on Britain’s very own ‘Atlantis’.

Scientists investigating a drowned Stone Age landscape at the bottom of the North Sea have discovered two potential prehistoric settlement sites on the banks of a long-vanished ancient river.

It is the first time that an archaeological expedition has ever found such evidence far offshore under the huge body of water.

In the past, prehistoric artefacts have on occasions been trawled up by fishermen and found by oil exploration teams – but the seabed contexts they came from were never archaeologically assessed.

This time, the discoveries are part of a systematic archaeological survey.

“Underwater archaeology is helping to transform our knowledge of the ancient world.

In Israel, maritime archaeologists have discovered a 2,200-year-old Hellenistic fortress linked to biblical battles.

The discovery is helping us to understand Hellenistic military fortifications and strategies and the impact of rising sea levels on ancient communities.

It is now known as the beach of Kibbutz Nahsholim and is due south of the bustling city of Haifa.

There is a natural harbor there and that means that it was excellent for the anchorage of ships.

“Could an anchor half buried in the ocean floor off Veracruz be part of the wreckage of one of the scuttled ships of conquistador Hernán Cortés?

The Spanish adventurer had two options in 1519: face mutiny or quell a rebellion by scuttling 10 of his 11 ships, which would give the crews no option but to move inland with him toward the heart of the Mexica empire.

He chose the latter option, which has led to a project whose goal is to locate the remains of Cortes’ fleet.

“Divers have investigated a South American repository for offerings to the gods – in what they say is the first methodical archaeological excavation of a site in the world’s highest large lake.

The team found a range of valuable items at Khoa Reef, north of the Island of the Sun site in Bolivia’s Lake Titicaca.

The slightly saline ‘inland sea’, which lies in the Andes 3800m above sea level, was revered by early Andean people as the birthplace of the sun.

They once used the island, which today lies at depths of 5m or more, for their ceremonies to propitiate the gods.

“Archaeologists have found evidence of early human activity at a submerged prehistoric forest in the Western Isles.

Lionacleit in Benbecula is one of more than 20 recorded sites of ancient woodland that once grew in the islands.

The remains included an early butchery site and stone tools used for preparing food.

Archaeologists have described the discoveries at Lionacleit as ‘extra special’.

They found the remains of the area where animals had been butchered for food during studies of the site last year.

“China and Saudi Arabia recently unveiled the achievements of their joint archeological exploration at the ruins of the al Serrian port, an important pilgrim-trade port in ancient times connecting the East and West.

The ruins of the port are located by the Red Sea, the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula.

It was deserted for unknown reasons and then covered up by sands.

Research of underwater conditions is also being conducted in hopes of learning more about the ancient channel here and finding more relics.

Results show that in the south of the site, there is a place that would have been a natural harbour for ship berthing and a channel for ships to move in and out.

“From storing carbon to guarding against ocean acidification, seagrass is fundamental to keeping ocean ecosystems in balance.

But new research shows that seagrass meadows play another crucial, if overlooked, role: protecting shipwrecks and other underwater historical heritage.

Ancient weapons, prehistoric fishing tools, and textiles are just some of the items scientists have discovered buried beneath the protective cover of seagrass, says Oscar Serrano, a marine ecologist at Edith Cowan University in Australia.

Until now, Serrano says, no one has investigated the cultural value of seagrass meadows, which ‘play an important role in revealing clues about the human past.’

But archaeological techniques can negatively impact seagrass meadows since excavation, sometimes with explosives, is used to access study sites.

To highlight the link between seagrass and archaeological preservation, Serrano and his colleagues compiled evidence from the literature and from consultations with archaeologists in Denmark, Australia, the United States, and around the Mediterranean.