201313: Maritime Archaeology Fieldwork at the Ancient Port of the Roman City of Sanisera. Discovering amphora & shipwrecks underwater

General Information

For 2013, the Cavalleria Ecomuseum Field Program offers a marine archaeology course which presents two main parts.

The course is designed to provide practical experience in underwater fieldwork, from site discovery to lab analysis.

 

Part 1. Exploring the Ancient Roman Port of Sanitja (Menorca, Spain)

The first and most important one - which represents 80% of the course content and includes a minimum of 12 immersions - , deals with underwater archaeological survey in order to explore the Ancient Port of Sanitja and the coast of the Cape of Cavalleria.

The aim is to identify structures of the Roman city of Sanisera and underwater shipwrecks, as well as anchors and amphora related with those shipwrecks and its cargoes.

The port of Sanitja was not only occupied by Romans. There are also ruins of a Muslim mosque and an English defence tower which lead us to believe that we will find other vessels from these time periods. In the last years of survey, several anchors and three shipwrecks from the XVI-XIX centuries have been found so far.

Students will gain experience in various activities such as surveying methods, site reconnaissance, recording, drawing, mapping, position fixing, photography, and laboratory processing.

Part 2. Mediterranean shipbuilding (Menorca, Spain)

The second part of the course will focus on Mediterranean shipbuilding techniques, both in theoretical and practical levels. Students will put into practice their conservation skills with a ship that was built around 1850.

Students will learn the basics about traditional Mediterranean shipbuilding, as well as learning which tools, instruments and methods are the most suitable in order to restore old vessels. Time dedicated to this part of the program: 20%.