Over 40 Ancient Rare Collection of Shipwrecks Discovered In Black Sea

State of the Art Maritime Archaeology Expedition Conducted in Black Sea, it is an expedition mapping submerged ancient landscapes, the first of its kind in the Black Sea while surveying they made an exciting discoveries of over 40 ancient rare shipwrecks including those from the Ottoman and Byzantine Empires.

An international team, involving the University of Southampton’s Centre for Maritime Archaeology (UK) and funded by the charitable organisation for marine research, the Expedition and Education Foundation (EEF) made this discoveries.

The team was surveying the Bulgarian waters of the Black Sea,  to know how thousands of years ago large areas of land were inundated as the water level rose following the last Ice Age.

Professor Jon Adams, Founding Director of the University of Southampton's Center for Maritime Archaeology and Principle Investigator on the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP) said-

" We're endeavouring to answer some hotly-debated questions about when the water level rose, how rapidly it did so and what effects it had on human populations living along this stretch of the Bulgarian coast of the Black Sea. 

As such, the primary focus of this project – and the scope of our funding from the EEF – is to carry out geophysical surveys to detect former land surfaces buried below the current sea bed, take core samples and characterise and date them, and create a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Black Sea prehistory.  "

Expedition:

The archaeological team launched their expedition from the Stril Explorer, an off-shore vessel equipped with some of the most advanced underwater survey systems in the world, including a Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) optimized for high resolution 3D photogrammetery and video, and another equipped with geophysical instrumentation and a laser scanner.   

Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Surveyor Interceptor:

 Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Surveyor Interceptor flies at 4-6 knots, 3-4 times as fast as conventional ROVS. It carries multibeam and sidescan sonar, sub bottom profiler, HD cameras, powerful lights and a laser scanner.  Surveyor was developed by the advanced offshore survey companies MMT and Reach Subsea.  MMT are project partners of Back Sea MAP and it was the principal survey tool in 2016 operating at depths down to 1800m (over a mile down).  

Survey:

During the surveys, members of Black Sea MAP have also discovered and inspected a rare and remarkable collection of more than 40 shipwrecks, many of which provide the first views of ship types known from historical sources, but never seen before. The wrecks, which include those from the Ottoman and Byzantine Empire.

Ottoman shipwreck discovered in 300m of water. The carved tiller lies by the stern post and rudder. The astonishing preservation of organic materials is shown by the coils of rope still hanging from the timbers. (picture below)

A shipwreck from the medieval period of a type we know from history and a few fragmentary archaeological finds but never before seen so complete- photogrammetric model constructed from 4,500 high resolution photographs taken by cameras on the ROV.(picture below)

A photogrammetric model of a Byzantine wreck discovered in 95m of water illustrating the Surveyor ROV passing over it gathering 3D data. Constructed from photographs taken by cameras on the ROV. (picture below)

 

Professor Adams  also said-

"The wrecks are a complete bonus, but a fascinating discovery, found during the course of our extensive geophysical surveys. They are astonishingly preserved due to the anoxic conditions (absence of oxygen) of the Black Sea below 150 metres.

Using the latest 3D recording technique for underwater structures, we’ve been able to capture some astonishing images without disturbing the sea bed. We are now among the very best exponents of this practice methodology and certainly no-one has achieved models of this completeness on shipwrecks at these depths."

Sources:

> Newswise
http://newswise.com/articles/state-of-the-art-maritime-archaeology-expedition-conducted-in-black-sea

> Ancient Origins
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/rare-collection-over-40-shipwrecks-revealed-mapping-black-sea-landscape-021022

> NDTV
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/over-40-ancient-shipwrecks-discovered-in-black-sea-1522412

> For more information about "Black Sea M.A.P"
http://blackseamap.com/