Why Marine Archaeology?
The remains of sunken vessels and the associated artifacts, even if broken up and scattered, provide unique windows into the past. Each site represents a moment frozen in time, and every item recovered from it represents a three-dimensional archaeological jigsaw. Each site is a fragile and irreplaceable microcosm of its times. Governments have increasingly recognised that these irreplaceable links with the past should be protected from damage caused by development.
The aqualung opened the underwater world to diving adventurers like Hans Hass and Jacques Cousteau in the 1940s but it was not until 1960 that a young archaeologist, George Bass, teamed up with explorer Peter Throckmorton to investigate a Bronze Age shipwreck at Cape Gelidonya in Turkey. Since then, techniques have been refined and the introduction of sophisticated 3D mapping sonars has opened up the possibility of remote investigation and digital data interpretation.
In more recent years, the increased popularity of recreational scuba diving and the media interest in high profile underwater sites such as the Titanic, investigated by Dr Robert Ballard and the excavation and raising of Henry VIII's battleship, Mary Rose which sank in the Solent in 1545, mean that marine archeology is no longer a resource confined to the academics and specialist historians. There is now potential to link marine archeology with cultural heritage tourism and not only protect a historical resource but offer a valuable tourism resource for developing nations.
