Carlson+Extra+Credit

=Carlson Lecture - Extra Credit=

Last Friday I attended Dr. Carlson's lecture about her experiences as an underwater archeologist diving on an ancient shipwreck located just off the coast of Turkey. The wreck was a Roman ship dating from about 1 century BCE. The shipwreck received its name from the area in which it was located, known as Kizilburun or Crimson Cape in English. That particular region of coastline along Turkey is one of the richest in terms of ancient and medieval shipwrecks because of both its location along historical maritime trade routes and the fact that it can be a perilous place to sail ships especially using ancient sailing technology.

What is interesting about shipwrecks from an archeological perspective is that they are quite different from most other archeological sites. A typical archeological site, like an ancient city, is the remains of something that has a long and evolving story. A shipwreck is more like a snapshot of a particular moment in time. Dr. Carlson's shipwreck is essentially a "photograph" of an event that happened sometime in the first century BCE that can give us specific information that may not be discernible from a dig site. Another reason why shipwrecks are archeologically valuable is that objects that would normally be scavenged from an accessible site on land are still present on a shipwreck due to the nature of its location and condition.

The most notable of Kizilburun's contents were six large stone cylinders that were pieces of a large Doric temple column. The cylinders were measured and it was determined that they differed slightly in diameter and fit together when stacked. Other objects located on the wreck site included stone pedestals and concave bathing containers that would have been used for personal cleaning at the temple sites. The Kizilburun and wrecks like it are important archeological sites that provide unique challenges to archeologists but are also very rewarding in terms of the knowledge that can be gained from them.

Back to home