REPORT FROM THE FIELD
The Institute for Exploration and Deepwater Archaeology by Dr. Robert Ballard
Dr. Robert Ballard, discoverer ofthe Titanic, the battleship Bismarck and other wrecks in the deep ocean, conducted a research project in 1997 to examine hitherto inaccessible ancient wrecks in the depths of the Mediterranean. The project underlined the importance of establishing archaeological controls on such deepwater cultural resources, which are ofpriceless value to our understanding of early navigation and the conditions of life and trade in long-vanished societies. We discussed with Dr. Ballard the threat to these historic sites now opened by advanced undersea technology and asked him what were the next steps he saw in studying the deep-sea wrecks while protecting them from predators. He kindly wrote up this account of his explorations and the work of his new Institute for Exploration. At the NMHS Annual Meeting in Mystic on 25 April further measures discussed with Dr. Ballard will be proposed to the membership. PS ver the last thirteen years, I have been involved in a number of deep sea expeditions that have led to the discovery or carefu l mapping of a number of historically important shipwreck sites. Our discoveries include the British luxury liner RMS Titanic , the German battleship Bismarck, the Japanese battleship Kirishima and the destroyers Ayanami and Yudachi , the Australian heavy crui ser Canberra, the US heavy cruisers Quincy and Northampton, the light cruiser Atlanta and the US destroyers Cushing, Barton, Monssen, Laffey and De Haven. In addition to these ships , I have explored and carefull y mapped Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, the Lusitania, the Andrea Doria , the Republic and the US nuclear submarines Thresher and Scorpion. . This summer I also hope to discover the US aircraft carrier Yorktown and the Japanese aircraft carriers Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu during an expedition in May, which is sponsored by the National Geographic Society. In each ofour past expeditions, I have been impressed by how well preserved these ships were compared to those found in shall ow water. The absence of light, the cold water and high pressures clearly create a unique set of conditions for the preservation of historical sites in the deep sea. But these ships are relatively young
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SEA HISTORY 84, SPRING 1998
in age. What about ships of archaeological importance lost thousands of years ago in the deep sea? Up to this point in time, we have not had an answer to that question since all ancient shipwreck sites located to date have been found in water less than 100 meters deep. In an effort to find an answer, I have founded the Institute for Exploration (IFE) , a division of the Sea Research Foundation that operates the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. The goal of this non-profit Institute is to combine the talents of the oceanographic community with those of the archaeological world to determine if the deep sea is a rich repository of ancient human history. Last summer, IFE conducted its first comprehensive expedition to the Medite1nnean , funded by a number of research organizations including the National Geographic Society 's Research Committee and the J. M. Kaplan Fund. The expedition used the most advanced search and mapping technologies ever applied to an underwater archaeology program and involved the highest in archaeological standards. The oceanographic team was headed by Dr. Dana Yoerger of Woods Hole along with his colleagues Dr. Hanu Singh of Woods Hole and Dr. Louis Whitcomb of Johns Hopkins University. All archaeological research was overseen by world-renowned marine archaeologist Dr. Anna McCann of Boston University. Assisting her was Dr. John Oleson, Chairman of the Department of Classics at the University of Victoria, a noted scholar on Roman history. Also participating in the archaeology program were Jon Adams, a well known archaeologist from the University of Southharnpton, Dr. David Mindell of the Department of the History of Technology at MIT and archaeology graduate student Brendan Foley. This team of experts worked with the Navy crew of the nuclear research submarineNR-1 and WoodsHole 's Medea/ Jason remotely operated veh icle system to search along the ancient deepwater trade route between Carthage and the Roman seaport of Ostia. The results of this expedition were very successful and will be reported in the April issue of National Geographic. In all, eight ships were located including five from the Roman period (100 BC to 400 AD) in water depths of 2,500 feet , north of Skerki Bank near the Stra its of Sicily. Following their discovery, each
Dr. Robert Ballard of the ancient sites was mapped in detail using advanced acoustic and visual imaging techniques . Once the mapping efforts were completed to archaeo logical standards, the Jason vehicle system used its sophisticated sampling techniques to carefully recover a small number of artifacts from each site needed by the team of archaeologists to accurately determine their age and origin. Once recovered, a conservation and preservation team led by Dennis Piechota, a highly regarded specialist in marine conservation, oversaw the subsequent care and handling of the artifacts. He was assisted by Cathy Giangrande of the University College of London, an expert in conservation, and Sasha Lehman, daughter of one of NMHS's Overseers, John F. Lehman, Jr. The results of this expedition were presented at the January meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology and will be published in scientific journals in the near future . In the spring of 1999 many of the artifacts will be placed on display in IFE's new public exhibition center in Mystic, Connecticut. Based upon the success ofIFE 's first major deep-sea archaeological expedition, the deep sea clearly holds great promise for the newly emerging field of deepwater archaeology, but it also presents a major challenge to the world. The emerging technologies of deep submergence engineering are an10ral. They can be used to appreciate the history of the deep as well as plunder it. With that concern in mind, our new Institute for Exploration wishes to work with other organizations around the world including the National Maritime Historical Society to take the necessary steps to create international laws to protect and preserve historical and archaeological sites in the deep sea. 1,
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