This morning the mood on board Millawanda was apprehensive. Would our knights in black
neoprene, Tufan and Gokhan Bey, succeed in finding the elusive column wreck today? Or would
they return once more empty-handed, broken and humiliated, to face the scorn of the watching
ladies? As we pondered the seriousness of the coming contest, the sky darkened. White horses
galloped across the steel-grey sea and shattered against the jagged rocks of Cakil cape as
Millawanda fought the ripping current. Our fearless leader Captain Tufan valiantly decided to
postpone the quest until a later dive, no doubt hoping the extra dose of nitrogen would bolster
his flagging courage. And so, with the Meltem whistling through our canvas and lines, we made
a strategic retreat to more sheltered waters, paying no heed to the prophecy of our Sybil,
Berta, who kept insisting that the lost ship lay further to the East.
Back on the 4th century BC wreck, we made a closer examination of several
amphoras, and one in particular that appears to have a very unusual toe. This, at least, is the contention of
Tufan, who has spent enough time fondling it and photographing it for us to be worried about
some kind of foot fetish. If this beautifully preserved amphora does turn out to be of a type
not currently represented in Turkish museum collections, the Ministry of Culture may request
that we raise it; otherwise we will bury it with sand. The scope of the SOA 
project does not
extend to removing artifacts, and although archaeological survey teams sometimes raise a few
objects to help them date newly discovered sites, taking something away from a shipwreck (or
indeed any historic site) outside the context of an officially sanctioned excavation can do
irreparable damage to the archaeological record. We are hoping, in fact, that the imaging and
recording techniques we are experimenting with in this project will one day remove the need for
disturbing sites in order to learn about them. But we must admit to raising one very valuable
artifact from the depths today - with the full approval of our Ministry of Culture
representative (seen here demonstrating one use of the artifact). Fans of the late Douglas
Adams will appreciate the significance of this item for all whose passions drive them to travel
to other worlds.
Our unplanned return to the 4th century BC wreck turned out to be very productive, for we now
have evidence of certain irregularities among the three main amphora types. The extent and
meaning of these irregularities is something we don’t yet understand; amphoras of this period
were, after all, not the precision-built measuring devices they became in later centuries.
Also, trading ships throughout Antiquity tended to carry ‘lots’ from a number of different
merchants ... we know this from ancient legal literature concerning the insurance nightmares
the sometimes resulted from shipwrecks. Finding a variety of similar yet different amphora
types on a small ship may thus reflect a mixed collection of ‘trade lots’ all coming from the
same general area. Archaeological evidence of this practice was found on the 6th century AD
Iskandil Burnu shipwreck, studied by Manuela Lloyd under the auspices of INA (Turkey).
Actually, this study is something of an inspiration to us because it proves that a huge amount
of important information can be gathered from a shipwreck in a very short time (13 hours of
intensive underwater survey) without the need for an invasive and costly excavation (only 16
artifacts were raised). Kosher cooking vessels found on the Iskandil Burnu ship even allowed
Manuela Lloyd to speculate that at least one of the merchants on board was Jewish. It is
seldom that even a full shipwreck excavation can provide such a personal insight into the
identity or nationality of the passengers.So far a good day, but the real challenge was yet to be faced. As Millawanda edged back into the violent seas at the cape, Tufan and Gokhan Bey began the grim Homeric task of donning their equipment. The quest for the column wreck resumed. In the dinghy, squires Zafer and Dogu followed the trail of our heroes back and forth, back and forth, while Sybil Berta wailed hopelessly that the ship was further to the East. At long last, defeated by the current, the depth, and the growing despair of failure, our men were hauled from the sea and carried home. They had not even managed to find the new Byzantine ship again.
