UNDERWATER  ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY> Presentation


1. General information

The Cape of Cavalleria Ecomuseum offers yearly an underwater archaeological field school on the island of Menorca, off the coast of Spain. Menorca is the easternmost island of the Balearic Islands (Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca) and enjoys a Mediterranean climate, calm and pleasant.

Menorca is located in the centre of the West Mediterranean sea. Because of its geographical location, it has played an important role throughout history, and has been a strategic vantage point for many civilizations.

Punics, Romans, Arabs, English, French, and Spanish have all conquered Menorca in an attempt to dominate the Mediterranean sea. Romans first arrived to Menorca in the year 123 BC, when the Roman army conquered the Balearic Islands. For the following 600 years, Menorca was a part of the immense Roman empire. On the island they founded three cities. Of those cities, Sanisera (our archaeological site) was built around the port of Sanitja. The city flourished due to the heavy maritime commerce that received boats going from Spain to Italy and from France to Africa.

Sanisera and the port of Sanitja are located in the northernmost part of the island, next to the Ecomuseum of the Cape of Cavalleria. Since 1996, the Ecomuseum has organised international courses in archaeology.

2. Course description

For 2012, the Ecomuseum of the Cape of Cavalleria will be exploring the Roman port of Sanitja and the coast of the Cape of Cavalleria identifying structures of the Roman city of Sanisera as well as Roman shipwrecks. The port of Sanitja was not only occupied by the Romans. There are also ruins of a Muslim mosque and English defense tower which lead us to believe that we will find other vessels from these time periods. The underwater archaeological course will be directedFernando Contreras, director of the Ecomuseum of the Cape of Cavalleria in collaboration with other archaeologists and specialists in underwater archaeology and conservation.

The course is designed to provide practical experience in underwater archaeological field work, from site discovery to lab analysis. Participants will gain experience in various activities such as surveying methods, site reconnaissance, recording, drawing, mapping, position fixing, photography, and laboratory processing. Students will also attend lectures on Roman archaeology.

The course runs six hours a day, six days a week with one day off a week. The day will be divided between diving in the port of Sanitja, lab work, exercises, lectures, videos and excursions. The course schedule is designed to be flexible because this operation is dependent on conditions at sea.

In addition to the daily research activities, students will learn about the history and culture of Menorca through organized excursions. The course is taught in English and Spanish.

3. Directed at

The course is open to all individuals that would like to learn (or further their knowledge) about underwater archaeology. Previous knowledge or experience in archaeology, or underwater archaeological is not required.

4. Options

To participate in diving activities, it is necessary to have a diving certificate that will allow you to dive up to 18 meters in depth. For this reason, we have designed two groups to choose from in our underwater archaeology course: with or without a diving certificate.

Group 1 Without a diving certificate: Those that do not have their open water diving certificate should choose this group.

Group 2 With certificate: Those that have an open water diving certificate from an internationally recognised organization (i.e. PADI), should choose this group.

5. Medical check

Participants need to present on the first day of the course a medical document stating that he/she is fit for diving activities. Participants that do not have this document on the first day will not be allowed to participate until they are able to present this document.

6. Certificates

At the end of the course, students will receive a certificate of participation that states the hours and actives of the course.
Participants that perform exceedingly well in the course may receive a letter of recommendation from our organization upon request.

7. Sessions Dates and Cost

Airfare not included.


Course fee includes:

• Course tuition.
• Accommodation in the Student Residency in Ciutadella. Two to six per room. Walking distance to the historic center, port and beaches.
• Daily transportation to/from the excavation site.
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner in Ciutadella
• Morning snack at the Ecomuseum.
• Accident insurance at the site.
• Excursions.
• Certificate of participation.
• Open water diving certificate (PADI) for those in group # 1.
• Tanks, tank filling and weights.

8. Spaces Available

The course is limited to 14 participants per session. Reservations are only effective when payment of the registration fee is received. If for any reason the course is cancelled, payment is returned according to the field school refund policy (see the Ecomuseum's webpage, Archaeology Field School).

9. Equipment needed

We encourage participants to bring their own dive gear, however, a complete set of diving gear (with the exception of mask and snorkel which each participant must bring) can be rented at the reduced cost of 15 Euros per day.

10. Information and reservations:

For more information, contact Lana Johnson:

Email: archaeology@ecomuseodecavalleria.com
Web page: www.ecomuseodecavalleria.com