El Sec Fourth-Century B.C. Shipwreck Excavation
Mallorca, Spain | 2021–Present
1
JANUARY
The fourth-century B.C. shipwreck at El Sec, Mallorca (Spain) was pillaged by looters in the 1960s and became famous for its cargo of red-figure pottery marked with both Greek and Punic graffiti. Since 2021, INA has supported a team of Spanish archaeologists who returned to El Sec to pursue scientific archaeological excavation of the extant cargo and wooden hull remains, which are extensive.
Courtesy El Sec Project/photographer Pedro Riera Llompart
2
FEBRUARY
Kyrenia Shipwreck Excavation
Kyrenia, Cyprus | 1968–1969
The early third-century B.C. shipwreck at Kyrenia, off the north coast of Cyprus, was excavated by Michael and Susan Katzev and the University of Pennsylvania Museum in the late 1960s. The ship’s hull was raised, studied, conserved, and reconstructed in a museum exhibit in Kyrenia Castle. The first volume of the Kyrenia Shipwreck Final Report was published in 2022. Here, divers excavate the ship’s stern.
© Kyrenia Ship Project/photographer John Veltri
3
MARCH
Yenikapı Byzantine Shipwrecks Project
Istanbul, Turkey | 2005–2013
During the construction of a new rail line connecting the continents of Europe and Asia, archaeologists in Istanbul, Turkey, discovered the remains of ancient Constantinople’s Theodosian Harbor at Yenikapı. From 2005 to 2013, an INA team studied eight of the site’s 37 Byzantine-era shipwrecks. In this image, merchantman YK 11, which dates from the seventh century A.D., is documented with the aid of a Total Station.
© INA/Yenikapı Shipwrecks Project
4
APRIL
Ma‘agan Mikhael B Shipwreck Excavation
Ma‘agan Mikhael, Israel | 2016–Present
The Ma‘agan Mikhael B shipwreck, found off of Israel’s Carmel coast in 2005, is a well-preserved merchantman of the seventh or eighth century A.D. Currently under excavation by archaeologists from the University of Haifa, this important lateen-rigged ship is shedding new light on construction methodologies, seafaring tactics, and the diet and daily life of seafarers in the Late Antique Levant.
© Ma‘agan Mikhael B Project /photographer Amir Yurman
5
MAY
Yukon River Steamboat Survey
Yukon, Canada | 2005–Present
For almost 20 years, INA researchers working on the Yukon River in Canada have documented dozens of steamboats abandoned after the Klondike Gold Rush. These ships form one of the greatest intact assemblages of stern-wheel steamboats in existence and help define the Northwestern river steamboat. Here, master builder Ken Butler studies the remains of the steamboat Gleaner near Carcross, Yukon, at low water.
© INA/photographer John Pollack
6
JUNE
Kızılburun Column Wreck Excavation
Kızılburun, Turkey | 2005–2011
INA archaeologists excavated the remains of a ship that sank in the first century B.C. at Kızılburun, Turkey, while transporting a cargo of marble architectural elements destined for a monumental Doric temple. Research suggests that the cargo was intended for the oracular Temple of Apollo at Claros. Wooden hull remains crushed under each 8-ton column drum included pine planking and frames of ash, shown here.
© INA/photographer Eric Kemp
7
JULY
Shelburne Shipyard Steamboat Graveyard Research Project
Shelburne Bay, Vermont | 2014–2016
At Shelburne Shipyard on Vermont’s Lake Champlain, INA researchers documented four 19th-century steamboat hulls. Three of these hulls represent an early period in commercial passenger steamboat construction and reflect important changes in hull design. Here, an archaeologist documents the bow and apron of Phoenix II, built in 1820.
© Kotaro Yamafune
8
AUGUST
Serçe Limanı Medieval Shipwreck Excavation
Serçe Limanı, Turkey | 1977–1979
Popularly known as the Glass Wreck, the ship that sank at Serçe Limanı, Turkey, in the early 11th century A.D. was transporting three metric tons of glass cullet, 80 pieces of intact glassware, copper cauldrons, wine amphoras, weapons, tools, jewelry, fishing gear, coins, and weights. This small, two-masted vessel was built without edge-fasteners in the hull planking, heralding the shift from shell-based to skeleton-based ship construction.
© INA/photographer Robin Piercy
9
SEPTEMBER
Santo Hieronimo Shipwreck Excavation
Šipan, Croatia | 2014–Present
Santo Hieronimo, once owned by Hieronimo Benedicto de Primi of the Maritime Republic of Ragusa, sank near the island of Šipan, Croatia, in 1576. With support from INA, and in collaboration with the University of Zadar, this shipwreck has been systematically surveyed and excavated since 2014 as part of the Archaeology of Adriatic Shipbuilding and Seafaring Project (AdriaS).
© Bozidar Vukicevic
10
OCTOBER
Clydesdale Plantation Sloop Excavation
Savannah River, South Carolina | 1992
The Clydesdale Plantation shipwreck in South Carolina is a rare example of the 18th-century coastal sloops that once linked Savannah, Charleston, Georgetown, and other major cities during the Colonial period. After extensive recording by a team of INA researchers and Texas A&M students, the hull was reburied to preserve it against further decay.
© INA/photographer Judy Wood
11
NOVEMBER
Cape Urdoviza Shipwreck Excavation
Kitten, Bulgaria | 2022–Present
The ship lost off Cape Urdoviza, Bulgaria, is only the second Ottoman ship in the Black Sea to be excavated by archaeologists. Dendrochronology indicates the ship likely sailed in the 1830s, and finds include a variety of Ottoman and Balkan-style artifacts. One interesting find is a carved wooden plaque with inscriptions that suggest the ship was owned by Christians.
© Cape Urdoviza Shipwreck Excavation /photographer Ladislav Tzvetkov
12
DECEMBER
Uluburun Late Bronze Age Shipwreck Excavation
Kaş, Turkey | 1984–1994
Deemed one of the ten most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, the Late Bronze Age ship at Uluburun, Turkey, was excavated by INA 1984-1994. Dated to around 1320 B.C., this merchantman sank while transporting a cargo of copper, tin, and glass ingots along with pottery, terebinth resin, and luxury items, providing an unparalleled glimpse of trade between pharaohs, royals, and elites.
© INA/photographer Don Frey
