16 - 08 - 2001.  SOA

This morning the team said goodbye to Kerem, who having done a fantastic job setting up our computer systems will now return to civilization for a much needed shower. Ken, who long ago gave up showering for  archaeology, also had to leave - regretfully, since studying the shipwrecks of Cakil Burun has been a dream of his for several years. Wherever you are right now, the SOA team thanks you both for all your help and wishes you well!

The first subject for SOA's field investigation was a Hellenistic amphora-carrier, discovered in 1996 on an INA survey. The main amphora mound was spread down the lower part of a rocky slope at 25-35m, with a large iron anchor and further amphoras peeping tantalizingly from the sandy sea floor below. Although this wreck has been heavily damaged by looting and a rock slide, a number of complete and almost-complete amphoras of several types remain, perhaps as many as 160. The team at once set about measuring, cleaning and preparing the wreck for our most important task: building up a picture and plan of the shipwreck using a variety of imaging technologies. This process involved some divers using little flags to 'tag' selected artifacts for the photographers, so that at the end of the day the site looked like a bizarre miniature golf course. So, if you see anything in our photos that looks like a radioactive butterfly, take a close look: it is marking out something interesting.