More amphorae and side planks in bow trench

Saturday 27.8.2016

The day begun surprisingly. When the 6:40 group was to be picked up in the port, the RIB had two amphoras on their way to desalination. I carried one to our truck, and it felt like carrying a baby, though this baby was over 2300 years old. It weighted surprisingly much, maybe some 15-20kg. It was wrapped in moist cloth and then in bubblewrap for protection, both for small dings and for keeping the moisture inside. If you drop a baby, some parents might be angry, but if you drop a 2300 year old amphora, ... you would feel real bad for a long time. Babies are tough, amphorae are not. I asked a friend to escort me to the car, just in case I would get tired.

The amphorae raised yesterday could not be transported the same day, because the weather was too rough. The RIB-rides can be really bumby. This morning it was nice and with no waves. The amphorae were brought to a special facility set up here in one hotel room. They actually have a hotel room of their own. There they started their 1st phase of desalination process by being immersed for a 2 months or so into half sea water, half fresh water mixture. Without desalination the salt will cause a chemical reaction in the drying pottery, and eventually it will just crumble. If it takes about one year to desalinate one amphora, how long would it take to desalinate 12 amphorae?

Then we got to diving. Jouni and me dived today with Andonis, who seems to know all about marine archaeology. After yesterdays 4-5 minutes of practice we were now ready to start excavating bow trenches wood layer at keel level. The area had been excavated earlier, and the protecting silica sand above it had already been removed.

Marine archeology tools for excavating a trench with old wet wood. Carefully showel or brush the sediment to the airlift. The idea is that the airlift sieve is just a backup. You should look carefully and try not to let any finds get into the airlift. They should instead be left in situ, or raised to surface in a bag. 

We took with us new types of tools, wooden spatulas and a thick paint brush. Andonis was guiding us carefully when we carefully practiced excavating some 2-3cm new layer in small area of the bow trench. Excavating a trench with wooden artifacts is difficult, because wooden finds are very easily scratched or broken. The sediment silt took visibility pretty much away every now and then, but you just had to carefully wait until the airlift has sucked all silt away. I was not allowed to brush wood yet, but I practice with the spatula. Tomorrow someone needs to tag the two wooden pieces that appeared on the new layer that we excavated. They might be parts of the ship's hull, or maybe something completely different. Overall, a very successful dive.

Other teams did their own work in other trenches, and raised three amphorae. The raised amphorae had all lots of sea life attached to them. So, marine ecologists got first their turn on the finds, before the conservationist cut all non-pottery elements away. They also check the insides of the amphora very carefully, and look for other finds and marine life. It is a dirty job.

In the evening Mark gave as general description on what archaeological excavation really is, what conventions might cover it, how is has evolved, and what ethical decisions are involved. The main point is that excavation is always destroying process, and so you better document everything well in advance, because you can never go back. So, we are right now in a process of destroying the Mazotos wreck,... and we must have a good reason to do it. We also must have the resources to conserve and store the raised finds forever.

The project is really speeding up, now that we have got into actual excavation. Plans change quickly, as new findings are made daily. You almost feel like a real marine archaeologist. That is, until  you remember that the real scientific work only begins, once this field work is completed. Finds need to be conserved, and based on them and earlier work deductions can be made on how people lived 2300 years ago. Finally you publish your work in peer-reviewed journals, so that other scientists can build on that. That is how science is made, and that is the work for real marine archaeologists. I just do the fun part involving diving.