It’s impossibl? to say how many anci?nt shipwr?cks can b? found throughout th? M?dit?rran?an. Many civilizations, such as Egyptians, Pho?nicians, Romans, and Gr??ks, w?r? constantly pr?s?nt in th? M?dit?rran?an, ?ith?r trading and ?xploring or th?y w?r? ?ngag?d in marin? battl?s.
One of the new shipwrecks discovered on the Skerki Bank. Credit: Unesco
Th? M?dit?rran?an is oft?n call?d an und?rwat?r grav?yard, and many shipwr?cks hav? b??n discov?r?d b?n?ath th? wat?rs.
Th? maritim? rout? along th? Sk?rki Bank was of sp?cial importanc? b?ing us?d by conqu?rors and tr?asur? loot?rs.
An int?rnational t?am of und?rwat?r archa?ologists ?xplor?d th? ar?a bord?r?d by Sicily in th? north and th? Tunisian coast to th? southw?st to l?arn mor? about anci?nt marin? tim? activiti?s.
Th? ambitious and larg? proj?cts consisting of Un?sco ?xp?rts from Alg?ria, Croatia, Egypt, Franc?, Italy, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia mapp?d an ar?a of s?ab?d 10km squar? in an ?ffort to study and prot?ct th?ir shar?d und?rwat?r cultural h?ritag?.
Sci?ntists us?d two robots and multib?am sonar to docum?nt th? r?mains of six shipwr?cks dating from anci?nt tim?s to th? 20th c?ntury, thr?? of which w?r? pr?viously unknown.
Underwater Cultural Heritage Must Be Protected
In an int?rvi?w with th? National, UNESCO archa?ologist Alison Faynot ?xplain?d th? importanc? of prot?cting th? shipwr?cks as th?y ar? part of our h?ritag?.
“Und?rwat?r h?ritag? is v?ry important. You think it is ?xtr?m?ly prot?ct?d and unr?achabl? and y?t it is quit? fragil?, and just a chang? in th? ?nvironm?nt or s?ab?d can hav? a v?ry dang?rous impact on it.
P?opl? s?? und?rwat?r cultural h?ritag? as a tr?asur? and som?thing to coll?ct, but it is r?ally significant. All its littl? d?tails giv? us so many clu?s about wh?r? w? com? from.
In th? M?dit?rran?an, it shows why it m?ans so much sinc? ?ight countri?s ar? involv?d and hav? com? tog?th?r b?caus? th?y want to shar? th? h?ritag?.
Und?rwat?r cultural h?ritag? is not a tr?asur?, it is vuln?rabl? and b?caus? of it w? r?ally n??d to prot?ct it and ?ducat? p?opl? in prot?cting it,” Faynot told th? National.
This kind of “und?rwat?r h?ritag? is vuln?rabl? to ?xploitation, trawling and fishing, trafficking and th? impacts of climat? chang?, which is why th? mission’s aim was to d?marcat? th? pr?cis? zon? in which many shipwr?cks li?, and to docum?nt as many artifacts as possibl?.”
A shipwreck discovered by Unesco. Credit: Unesco
Th? UNESCO mission has b??n succ?ssful. Using a robot call?d Hilarion, which sp?nt 18 hours und?rwat?r, to v?rify and docum?nt th? targ?ts of th? n?wly mapp?d ar?a, and multib?am sonar, th? t?am discov?r?d thr?? pr?viously unknown Roman shipwr?cks.
According to th? National, on? of th? wr?cks is b?li?v?d to b? a m?rchant v?ss?l dating as far back as th? 1st c?ntury B.C. Th? two oth?rs ar? a m?tal v?ss?l and a wood?n v?ss?l, from th? lat? 19th or ?arly 20th c?nturi?s.
Th? UNESCO undw?rat?r robots film?d 400 hours of vid?o footag? and took ov?r 20,000 imag?s.
Th? discov?ry of thr?? Roman shipwr?cks on th? Tunisian sh?lf is caus?d gr?at ?xcit?m?nt among sci?ntists as th? subm?rg?d ships “might r?pr?s?nt for oth?r as-y?t s?cr?t archa?ological r?mains lying on th? s?ab?d.”
Sci?ntists did not r?tri?v? any of th? anci?nt und?rwat?r obj?cts b?caus? th?y want to com? back to th?s? sit?s with mor? advanc?d t?chnology.
“Th? t?chnology is slowly d?v?loping, that’s why it is so important not to r?tri?v? and coll?ct art?facts, w? d?cid?d coll?ctiv?ly not to do it, w? hav? docum?nt?d it so w? can com? back mayb? with b?tt?r tools,” Faynot said.
“W? would lov? to go back to Tunisia and div? th?r? and do a human surv?y and nota robotic on?. Th?r? ar? many ar?as of th? world w? would lik? to go to n?xt.”
A docum?ntary of th?ir work is du? to b? shown in Paris lat?r this y?ar.
Writt?n by Conny Wat?rs – Anci?ntPag?s.com Staff Writ?r