HOT NEWS !

From Turkish Press

The coasts of Anatolia are sprinkled with ancient cities whose harbours bustled with ships engaged in the thriving sea trade of the Aegean and Mediterranean.

But not every ship made it safely to harbour.

Many were wrecked in storms and sank with their cargoes to the seabed, and the remains of these have lain hidden on the seabed for long centuries.

Wrecks of both merchant and warships each have their historical tale to relate, and are among the underwater sights that fascinate divers today. No other region of the world is so rich in sunken history as the seas around Turkey.

The world's oldest known wreck was discovered at Uluburun near Kas, and after years of work was lifted to the surface and placed on exhibit.

Nautical archaeology began in Turkey, and today is recognised as a distinct branch of archaeology throughout the world.

The first scientific excavation carried out entirely underwater took place at in 1960. This was followed by excavations of the Uluburun, Roman, Yassiada Eastern Roman, Ottoman, Bozburun and Pabuçburnu wrecks, all of which passed into archaeological literature and were followed with interest all over the world.

The timbers of wrecked ships are destroyed within a few years by fireworms, but their cargoes often resist erosion by the sea water for thousands of years. Commodities of many kinds were transported in amphoras, pottery jars with pointed bases and two handles.

Such jars are known to have first been used in the city of Troy in 3000 BC.

The tapering pointed shape enabled them to be stacked safely in ships' holds and kept upright so that their contents did not spill.

As well as wine and olive oil, these jars were used for grain, salted fish and many other dry commodities.

Despite the passage of thousands of years, most of these amphoras remain undamaged at the bottom of the sea.

Read more...

From Typically Spanish

The company says the most likely probability is that the vessel is the Spanish galleon "Nuestra Señora de la Mercedes".

The ‘Black Swan’, the name of the vessel found by the United States treasure salvage company, Odyssey, has finally been revealed to be ‘Nuestra Señora de la Mercedes’ – a Spanish galleon which went down in a battle with the British on October 5 1804 off Faro in Portugal.

The Mercedes was loaded with gold and silver, and included the wages for the soldiers and wealth of the mercenaries travelling on board.

The estimated value of the treasure recovered by Odyssey is close to 1.5 million $. Odyssey announced the find, without naming or locating the vessel, in May last year, saying they had found 17 tons of silver coins, and at the time the Spanish Government thought that La Mercedes had been found.

The judge who is hearing the case between the two sides, Mark Pizzo, had given Odyssey 30 days to reveal the boat’s identity, but the co-founder of the company told El País on Friday that there was still some doubt as to the vessel’s identity.

Legal experts now consider that Spain will now argue that they had never searched for La Mercedes, but that does not mean that the ship had been abandoned, and because it was acting for the Spanish state at the time of the battle the Spanish Government can now reclaim her and her contents.

Odyssey however consider that the boat was not engaged in military activity when she went down, and if anyone is entitled to the contents it is the family descendents of those on board.

The legal battle is set to last for months, if not years to come.

Read more...

By John Tagliabue

After the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, the demise of the French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry on a reconnaissance mission in World War II has ranked as one of flying's great mysteries.

Now, thanks to some sleuthing by a French diver and marine archaeologist, the final pieces of the puzzle seem to have been filled in.

The story that emerged about the disappearance of Saint-Exupéry, in self-exile from Vichy France, proved to contain several narratives, a complexity that would probably have pleased the author of several adventure books on flying and the famous tale "The Little Prince," about a little interstellar traveler, which was also a profound statement of faith.

Read more...

By Marc Caputo

A Miami legislator asks how many millions the state could earn by selling shipwreck treasure to fill holes in the state budget.

As legislators scramble for cash in the worst budget crisis they've ever faced, tens of millions of dollars in treasure lies just within their reach outside the Capitol. This is real treasure - The kind hauled up from sunken Spanish ships.

The state has one of the world's largest publicly owned collections of colonial Spanish doubloons and reales, as well as a few gold and silver ingots and chains.

Much of it lies safe and hidden in a vault, known only to a few, and occasionally loaned out to museums around the country.

But now Rep. Juan Zapata of Miami wants to crack it open and sell a little treasure to help fill some holes in the proposed $66 billion budget, which is more than $4 billion smaller than this year's spending plan.

And the Republican is accusing the Florida secretary of state's office of throwing him off the scent and hiding the booty.

By Eric Gaertner

Not far from the Hackley and Hume historic sites and the Muskegon County Museum downtown are structures waiting to provide visitors a look at a different time in our history.

Yet few people realize the existence of these structures, some more than 100 years old and hundreds of feet long, unseen by the naked eye.

They are shipwrecks that reside at the bottom of Lake Michigan off the West Michigan coastline -- underwater historical exhibits telling tales of tragedy, history and, in some cases, survival.

These local wrecks from Grand Haven to Pentwater cover a wide range of sizes, shapes and shipping eras.

They are found in various depths, from just off the shoreline in 15 feet of water to hundreds of feet below the surface where only the most advanced divers are able to descend.

Read more...

By Randi Somers

Less than six months after surfacing from the 140-year-old wreckage of the Torrent, diver and shipwreck hunter Steve Lloyd was ready to head back under the icy cold waters of Dangerous Cape to bring up a fairly significant artifact from the 641-ton U.S. Army ship.

State and federal archaeologists, along with a shipwreck consultant, have joined Lloyd's shipwreck discovery team to attempt to raise the ship's bronze howitzer cannon to the water's surface.

If they succeed, the team will bring the big gun into Homer Harbor for transport up the road to Anchorage.

Three archeologists will monitor and verify the removal of artifacts from the site.

They include: Dave McMahan, State Archeologist with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Office of History and Archeology; Tane Casserly, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and Jason Rogers, a consultant with a private firm of underwater archeologists in Anchorage.

By Mike Clary


The treasure is out there: a fortune in shipwrecked silver, gold bullion and centuries-old artifacts, in the crystalline waters of the Caribbean, just waiting to be found.

And Burt Webber Jr. is confident he'll find it.

"It's not just about getting rich," said Webber, referring to at least $100 million in riches that went to the bottom after the Spanish galleon Concepción foundered on the Silver Bank, about 80 miles north of the Dominican Republic, in 1641.

"It is also history, the mystique of it all. It is just fascinating."

Now 65, Webber won renown as a treasure hunter in 1978 when he first located the Concepción and recovered booty then valued at $14 million.

But more remains, and when Webber and his 13-member crew head down the Miami River aboard the Ocean Lady next week, they will take with them an unprecedented array of high-tech hunting gear.

From Iranian

As evidenced by archeological documents, the ancient city of Kish, the wall of the ancient city of Gorgan, Takht-e Suleiman and part of the Portuguese Castle are submerged in Iran's coastal waters.

Although Iran's underwater archeological activities are over half a century old, this topic is yet to be treated in a suitable manner. Two centuries have passed and archeology has yet to achieve its rightful position in Iran.

This science needs full revision, as Iran has special importance in human civilization and its role in establishing other cultures inspired by its civilization is undisputed.

For this reason, Iran Cultural Heritage Organization (ICHO) is not able to take charge of many historical grounds.

Dissemination of information is so poor that many in our society still consider archaeologists as treasure hunters !

On the other hand, Iranian archaeologists are deprived of the most elementary facilities, with credits being allocated to field activities being grossly disproportionate with the vast expanse of historical sites, cited 'Iran International Magazine'.