Studies in Conservation

ISSN: 0039-3630 (Print) 2047-0584 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/ysic20

IN SITU PRESERVATION OF A DEEP-SEA WRECK

SITE : SINOP D IN THE BLACK SEA

Dennis Piechota, Robert D. Ballard, Bridget Buxton & Michael Brennan

To cite this article: Dennis Piechota, Robert D. Ballard, Bridget Buxton & Michael Brennan
(2010) IN SITU PRESERVATION OF A DEEP-SEA WRECK SITE : SINOP D IN THE BLACK SEA,
Studies in Conservation, 55:sup2, 6-11, DOI: 10.1179/sic.2010.55.Supplement-2.6

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1179/sic.2010.55.Supplement-2.6

Published online: 13 Dec 2013.

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In situ preservation of A deep-sea wreck site: Sinop D in the
Black Sea
Dennis Piechota, Robert D. Ballard, Bridget Buxton and Michael Brennan

ABSTRACT these sites to explore the potential of such robotically-mediated

The deep seabed of the Black Sea is a major untapped archaeological attempts to assess and manage archaeological sites during
resource. Its overlying anoxic waters preserve in some form most, if not
all the perishable deposits left during its long history of maritime use. In
excavation and to promote their long term in situ preservation.
2007, using advanced robotic technology, researchers from the Center for Although two sites were visited that year, for brevity this contri-
Ocean Exploration and Archaeological Oceanography at the University bution describes only the work at the Turkish coastal site. Much
of Rhode Island began a multi-year site assessment of Sinop D, a fifth has been published on site management and in situ preservation
century ad wreck site located at a depth of 325 meters off the north central
at terrestrial sites and those underwater sites that are accessible
coast of Turkey. Site characterization, the first step toward in situ preserva-
tion, was implemented with the use of remotely operated vehicles. The by divers [2–7], but research on the preservation of deep-water
design of two types of decay-rate tests containing proxy artifact samples sites is relatively recent and limited [8, 9].
is described. These were deployed in 2007 as multi-sample units and will
be retrieved and analyzed in future years to predict the types of perishables Planning
that future researchers may expect to encounter in the deep Black Sea and
the condition in which they may be expected to survive. Beginning in 2006 the expedition participants started a series of
meetings to initiate the process of teaching and learning from
ÖZET each other. The project organizers, team archaeologists and
Karadeniz’in derin deniz tabanı dokunulmamış bir arkeolojik kaynaktır. engineers, as well as the archaeological conservator met with the
Oksijensiz suları uzun deniz tarihi boyunca bir çok kalıntıyı korumuştur. COEAO graduate students and the University of Rhode Island
2007 yılında Rhode Adası Üniversitesi Arkeolojik Deniz Bilimi ve Deniz
Araştırmaları bölümünden bazı araştırmacılar, gelişmiş robot teknolojisini
(URI) scientists to prepare for the coming field season. In all,
kullanarak Karadeniz’in merkezinde 365 metre derinlikte bulunan Sinop 29 scientists, engineers and students took part in the cruise, with
D adı altındaki 5.yy’ a ait gemi enkazı üzerinde çalışmaya başladılar. even more project participants helping with the planning and
Alan tanımlanması ve ilk in situ koruma planı, uzaktan işletilen araçlar analysis phases. Technology so dominates the archaeological
kullanılarak yapıldı. Buluntu örnekleri içeren iki adet bozulma hızı
experience at deep-water sites that it is essential for all team
testi dizayn edilmiştir. 2007 yılında hazırlanan bu örneklerin sonuçları,
araştırmacılar tarafından gelecek yıllarda Karadeniz’de oluşacak bozulma members to have at least a rudimentary familiarity with live
ve korunma olasılıkları düşünülerek değerlendirilecektir. datalogging and video capture methodologies, the capabilities
of the robotically operated vehicle (ROV) and automated survey
INTRODUCTION and navigation technologies. Only through the ROV and its asso-
In the summer of 2007 a deep-water archaeological expedition to ciated engineers and technologies is it possible to accomplish
the Black Sea was mounted by the Center for Ocean Exploration archaeology and conservation at deep-water sites.
and Archaeological Oceanography at the University of Rhode
Island (COEAO) and the Institute for Exploration (IFE) in col- SINOP D FIELDWORK
laboration with the cultural ministries of Turkey and Ukraine. The investigation of the wreck site Sinop D, named after the
The purpose was to investigate two shipwrecks located by nearby coastal city of Sinop, Turkey, began in 2001 when it was
previous survey expeditions lying off the coasts of Ukraine and stumbled upon during the last day of a survey cruise, Fig. 1.
Turkey [1]. Knowing that deep-water sites are rapidly becoming There was just enough time to mark its location and start plan-
more accessible through technological advances in autonomous ning a return, which happened in 2003 when a limited excavation
and remotely-operated search vehicles the intention was to use was conducted with a newly developed archaeological toolset

Fig. 1 Map of the Black Sea showing the location of the Sinop D wreck site off the north coast
of Turkey.

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Fig. 2 To the left, the engineers in the control room of the RV Alliance drive the robotic vehicle. To the right, the robotic arm begins to insert a proxy
artifact decay test, called a ‘kebab’ into the sediment; two ‘twinkie’ decay test boxes and the tops of two previously inserted kebabs can be seen
on the sea floor.

for the robotically-mediated archaeology [10]. Building on those

experiences the 2007 expedition was a complex logistical effort
conducted from the 93 meter research vessel NRV Alliance
and staffed by a team of archaeologists, engineers, graduate
students and the lone archaeological conservator, all exploring
the applications of new technologies in an anoxic deep-water
environment.
Sinop D lies on the coastal slope at a depth of 325 meters,
inaccessible to conventional archaeological dive teams. The
attraction of the site is that at this depth the site is part of the
anoxic water column of the Black Sea, a zone that begins at a
depth of around 150 meters and extends to the deepest reach of
the seabed. Besides being obviously devoid of the destructive
effects of sunlight, storm currents and wave action from surface Fig. 3 The ship depicted on the fifth-century Kelenderis floor mosaic
waters, its cold, still waters have a complete lack of destructive that is thought to be similar to the unexcavated Sinop D wreck.
higher life forms. Only single-celled anaerobic bacteria func- Drawing: Dr Zaraza Friedman.
tion in these waters and ancient wreck sites lying within this
environment promise an uncommonly high level of preservation,
particularly in respect of any organic components.
When first encountered in 2000 the wooden shipwreck was
buried up to the level of its gunwales in fine sediment made
of lenses of terrigenous clay layered with the partially decom-
posed remains of pelagic organisms. Its most striking visual
aspect was its mast projecting more than ten meters above the
seabed. In 2003 the team returned to the site with the IFE’s
Hercules, a newly engineered ROV, which was under test in its
first season of use, Fig. 2. Following very limited test excava-
tions of the bow and stern areas, the wreck revealed itself to
be a small open-hulled commercial vessel over 12 meters long
and approximately four meters wide [10]. Because excavation
has been limited the dimensions cannot yet be defined in more
detail, but the superstructure of Sinop D is similar to a vessel
of the same period shown in a contemporary floor mosaic from
the ancient port city of Kelenderis, located on the south coast of
modern Turkey, Fig. 3 [11].
Dr Brian Damiata, a palaeoclimate researcher at the University Fig. 4 Amphora (Cat No. D.002) removed from Sinop D in 2003 show-
of California, Los Angeles, conducted accelerator mass spec- ing the excellent state of preservation: (A) overview; (B) a top
view showing the thick resinous lining at the spout that has also
trometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating on two wood samples dripped onto the handle; and (C) interior flash photographic view
taken from the surfaces of different ship’s timbers. Because showing the well-preserved glossy resinous surface.
of the hardness of the wood only a few growth rings from the
outermost surface of each timber could be retrieved. While the The presence of a projecting mast complete with a leather
dates of a few tree rings do not indicate the date of ship con- tell-tale at its top end and a standing wooden superstructure
struction, the work, performed at the Keck carbon cycle AMS suggested an unprecedented level of preservation for the organic
facility at University of California, Irvine, suggests the ship components of the shipwreck. In 2003 three amphorae were
was constructed some time after the mid-fifth century ad [12].1 raised from the shipwreck that after an initial study were donated
1
to the nearby Sinop Museum through the Turkish Ministry of
Results of 1605 +/- 15 (UCIAMS lab No. 43313) and 1595 +/- 15
(UCIAMS lab No. 43314), which calibrate to ad 454±42 and ad 466±44
Culture. These showed a similar high level of preservation: their
respectively (using the Fairbanks 0107 calibration, ±2σ [12]) were interior resinous coatings looked as if they had just been applied,
produced. Fig. 4. On first examination most damage to the wreck appears

7
to be the result of its descent to the seabed rather than in situ
deterioration. Fluid drag may have ripped off the sails, associated
rigging and any upper gunwale extensions. After initial mapping
and limited excavation in 2003 a comprehensive program of
archaeological research and preservation was planned.

SUSTAINABLE ARCHAEOLOGY AND IN SITU

PRESERVATION
The 2006 pre-cruise planning period was critical, as it brought
together the three essential groups of the expedition: archaeol-
ogy, engineering and conservation. In deep-water archaeology
it should be understood that the archaeologist does not do the
excavating by him/herself, but typically directs an ROV pilot Fig. 5 An amphora is brought from Sinop D to the adjacent storage/
who is an engineer experienced in the handling of that particular display rack by the ROV Hercules using a rubber suction tool at
the end of the manipulator.
custom-built ROV. Since mapping and imaging are also done
through the ROV and its engineers, an unusually high degree
of coordinated teamwork is required if the archaeologist and As a way to implement in situ preservation of the site, and as
conservator are to achieve their expedition objectives. It takes part of the site management plan, it was decided to explore how
much personal interaction for each member of one group to the Sinop D site could be developed as a deep-water museum.
gain a basic understanding of the potentials and restrictions This would imply the eventual positioning of cameras at the
felt by the members of every group. For example, the ethical site that would be linked to a local terrestrial uplink, which
restrictions that weigh heavily on the actions of the archaeolo- could in turn be connected to a museum or museums worldwide
gist and conservator have no counterpart in the straightforward using telepresence technologies. Many shipwrecks, including
problem-solving arena of engineering. Likewise, at the start of Sinop D, are located close to shore and can easily be connected
the planning period archaeologists do not know if their requests to a shore-based museum via an underwater cable to provide
of the engineers will require only routine work with off-the-shelf public access to the site. Live long-term monitoring would also
products or months of cutting-edge research and development. provide security for the site, which will become increasingly
Deep-water archaeology is so new that every activity, includ- important as deep-water sites become more accessible through
ing excavation itself, is liable to require rethinking and fresh the spread of ROV and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)
development by all team members. technologies. The team envisioned an exhibition of common
In this setting the deep-water conservator has a unique posi- artifacts such as amphorae on display/storage racks left at the
tion between the engineers charged with developing and imple- site. Most shipwrecks, including Sinop D, are commercial bulk
menting technologies for exploration, mapping and excavation carriers and have large numbers of near-identical artifacts that
and the archaeologists charged with directing the progress of often do not need to be recovered and conserved. Rule 1 of the
excavation and interpreting the site. With a knowledge of cultural UNESCO Convention calls for cultural heritage to be left in situ
materials, decay processes and material science the conservator as a first option if nothing is to be learned by its removal [13].
can speak the language of both engineers and archaeologists and But common amphorae often need to be removed to access the
can, when necessary, translate each group’s requests and needs lower levels of a wreck, levels that could provide insights into
at the same time as developing the protocol for conservation the ship’s construction and variety of cargos. As a compromise
research. these amphorae could be displayed adjacent to the wreck site as
During the 2006 planning period a conservation program part of the museum. An initial display rack was deployed in 2007
for the following year’s expedition was developed that focused and one amphora installed as a test of concept, Fig. 5.
on four overlapping objectives. The program would first assist
the archaeologists in exploring how to implement the 2001 SITE CHARACTERIZATION
UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater The primary activity of the conservator during the 2007 expedi-
Cultural Heritage in a deep-water context [13]. This document, tion was to collect data to characterize and assess the physical,
which recognizes all archaeological sites as limited resources, chemical and biological landscape of the wreck. Much of site
is meant to promote sustainable archaeology through targeted characterization research is a process of confirming that the
excavation and in situ preservation. With this as a guide it was wreck site conditions reflect the often well-documented ocea-
natural for the conservator to be involved at a very early stage nographic characterizations of the region. At the same time any
of the expedition planning. Following the rules of practice set anomalies in the expected natural processes that may be caused
out in the Annex of the UNESCO Convention a project design by the ancient wreck itself are noted. It can be assumed that the
was generated that included guidance on how to apply a robotic initial appearance of a wreck on the sea floor has a large local
vehicle in deep-water to the remaining three objectives: effect on the sediment form and chemistry; the topography
around the wreck site may be scoured by currents moving over
– perform a site assessment that would determine the vulner-
the new mass, metals begin to corrode and the wooden hull
abilities of artifacts and of the site as a whole;
becomes a concentrated host for whatever life forms exist in
– help design a management plan for site preservation and
the regional water. Over time, most of these effects diminish as
maintenance;
alteration crusts develop around the artifacts, the food sources
– and develop a plan for artifact preservation and curation.
for predators are depleted and sedimentation gradually isolates
For the projected work at the Sinop D deep-water site it was the wreck from exposure to the water column. The site appears
recognized that, through an understanding of physico-chemistry to gain a geological level of stability as it melds into the natural
of the environment/artifact interfaces, the conservator has an seascape.
important role in helping to balance the destructive aspects of Excavation necessarily destroys the evolved stable physico-
excavation with the goal of preserving as much of the undis- chemical barriers between the cultural materials of the wreck
turbed wreck site as possible. site and the surrounding natural sediment and water column.

8
From the standpoint of anticipating potential in situ preservation map of the site to show the slope and relief of the wreck and
problems it is best to think of a wreck site not as a collection of surrounding seabed.
artifacts or of ship construction materials but as a concentrated Important to site characterization and conservation in gen-
mass of organic and inorganic boundary surfaces. Each surface, eral is the ROV’s onboard environmental datalog. Data that are
whether that of a ship’s timber or artifact can then be thought generated routinely by sampling equipment that runs constantly
of as representing a relatively stable physico-chemical barrier whenever the ROV is deployed record parameters of the water
[14]. As excavation destroys these barriers the relationship of the column including water temperature, conductivity and dissolved
materials across them also changes and potential physical and oxygen content.
chemical instabilities are created. The conservator’s role then is In addition to the streaming ROV-based data, a number of
to try to anticipate the degree to which excavation will disrupt discrete data collection operations were designed and per-
the stable barrier surfaces. formed. Local water sampling was conducted and analyzed
for dissolved element composition using inductively coupled
Materials and Methods plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). Water samples were also
In deep-water archaeology, site characterization requires the analyzed for dominant bacterial class using simple bacterial
active participation of the engineers, archaeologists and marine activity testers [15]. Wood samples were collected to identify
scientists, many of whom collect data sets that can be essential the ship construction materials and estimate the degree of
to the work of the conservator. Specialized data sets include preservation.
the digital time-stamped ROV operations logs. This stream The physico-chemistry of the sediment, the shipwreck’s
of information forms the backbone of all deep-water archaeo- supporting matrix, was sampled using eight sediment cores
logical activities. The data sets include the ‘navlog’ and the taken from various locations around the wreck, Fig. 6. Two pre-
‘eventlog’. The navlog functions like an airliner’s black box; disturbance cores (C1003-02PC and C1003-04PC) were taken to
it records the position of the ROV at all times. The eventlog is document the very easily disturbed fluffy sediment layer at the
also a time-stamped log synchronized to the navlog. It allows sediment/water interface and the remaining six cores were taken
all participants, the ROV operators, archaeologists, conservator during excavation, several from the bottoms of two targeted
and other scientists, to make text-based observations and to excavation pits, approximately 30 and 100 centimeters below
attach video and still photographs of all operations using the the seabed. This allowed sampling down to approximately 128
ROV’s imaging equipment. Taken together, the logs allow the centimeters of sediment depth.
participants to reconstruct in minute detail all archaeological Ongoing analysis of these cores focuses on characterizing the
activities. properties of the sediment environment in terms of its capabili-
A specialized form of imaging carried out at the beginning and ties to preserve cultural remains and looks for any alterations
end of the deep-water work was the construction of photomosa- to the natural conditions caused by the presence of the wreck
ics of the site. Before any site disturbance occurred at Sinop D, itself. Selected cores were immediately analyzed for redox and
the ROV was programmed to fly over the site taking hundreds pH trends in the upper sediment and flock layer. After their
of overlapping close-up images that were then stitched together return to the laboratory they were X-rayed; their physical prop-
to form a detailed photographic image of the site, Fig. 6. Data erties were measured; and samples were prepared for sediment
from this operation were also used to create a microbathymetric micromorphology.

Fig. 6 Pre-disturbance photomosaic of the Sinop D wreck site showing the location of each cataloged timber (e.g., ‘FA35s’) and the eight sediment cores
(e.g., ‘C1003-02PC’). The locations of the four ‘twinkie’ and eight ‘kebab’ proxy artifact decay tests can be seen in the lower left corner.

9
 left 500 m east of Sinop D at the same depth as the wreck. The
second was positioned in shallower waters (106 m) in the suboxic
zone. These allowed seasonal variability in the waters around the
wreck to be examined and it was possible to monitor whether the
depth of the upper edge of the anoxic waters, called the suboxic
layer, of the Black Sea varies over time.
Surrogate artifact decay experiments were also designed
and deployed at the site. These devices were inspired by work
conducted in the waters off northern Europe [16]; these mate-
rial packages will be retrieved serially over the coming years
to estimate the types and aggressiveness of various modes of
deterioration at this site. Two sets of surrogate artifact decay
experiments were deployed near the wreck site to achieve two
goals. First, to determine the mechanics and rates of long-term
decay that might be expected for artifacts and ship construction
materials in the sediment and open water environments of the
site. Second, to explore whether it would be safe to expose and
display selected artifacts, including organics, on the anoxic
seabed in a future underwater museum.
The first set of experiments uses so-called ‘kebabs’; these are
based on 65 centimeter-long titanium rods that were inserted
into the sediment near the wreck site. Four rods were fitted
with mild steel test cylinders. Each metal sample was electri-
cally insulated from the rod and adjacent samples with Teflon
washers and sleeves. Four kebabs were fitted with modern wood
samples of pine and oak, Fig. 7. Over the coming years one rod
of each type, wood and steel, will be recovered for analysis.
Taken together, the decay patterns for the samples will be used
to describe a trend line that will help to anticipate the likelihood
of retrieving particular ancient artifact classes and the condition
in which they might be preserved.
A second type of decay rate experiment, called a ‘twinkie’,
was designed as a way to test additional material types and to
look at the differences in decay patterns between open water and
sediment surface. Here, the test samples were attached to panels
within open crates measuring 20 (height) × 30 (width) × 40 cm
(length), which were simply placed on the seafloor. One panel of
Fig. 7 The wood and steel ‘kebab’ proxy artifact decay tests. On the
wood kebab (left) 2.1 cm high white pine and red oak samples
samples was affixed to the bottom of the crate so that the samples
alternate. In the second kebab (right) 1.25 cm high mild steel faced downward and were in direct contact with the sediment.
samples alternate with Teflon electrical insulators. The kebabs Duplicate test samples were contained within the open crate in
that were deployed were double the length shown. a manner that exposed them to the open water just above the sea
floor. The wider variety of modern test samples on the twinkies
includes rawhide, bone, pine, oak, copper, lead, steel and barley,
Two environmental dataloggers, containing conductivity, Fig. 8. These will be recovered serially over multiple expeditions
temperature, depth, dissolved oxygen and current sensors, were to the site to study how materials may decay differently above
deployed to record seasonal variations around the site. One was and below the sea floor. They will be critical to the exploration

Fig. 8 To the left is an overview of the ‘twinkie’ proxy artifact decay test. Samples in the open crate are exposed to seawater. To the right the downward-
facing panel that is affixed to the bottom of the twinkie in contact with the seabed can be seen. The panel contains the same samples as those in
the crate: red oak, white pine, barley grains held in a net bag, rawhide and bone as well as duplicate samples of lead, copper and mild steel.

10
of whether Sinop D can become an underwater museum with 4 Smit, A., Van Heeringen, R.M. and Theunissen, E.M., Archaeologi-
formerly buried artifacts left exposed to open water. cal Monitoring Standard: Nederlandse Archaeologische Rapporten
33, Rijksdienst voor archeologie, cultuurlandschap en monumenten,
Amersfoort (2006).
EXPEDITION COSTS 5 Palma, P., ‘Monitoring of Shipwreck Sites’, International Journal
The cost of deep-water archaeology deserves comment because of Nautical Archaeology 34(2) (2005) 323–331.
it is so much greater than terrestrial or diver-based underwater
6 Tomalin, D., Simpson, P. and Bingeman, J.M., ‘Excavation versus
archaeology. In 2007, using a large oceanographic ship to access sustainability in situ’, International Journal of Nautical Archaeol-
Sinop D along with advanced robotic and telepresence technol- ogy 29(1) (2000) 3–42.
ogy and a team to operate it, the cost was about US$30000 per 7 Satchell, J. and Palma, P., Managing the Marine Cultural Heritage:
day. Seven days were spent on site at Sinop D so the expedition Defining, Accessing and Managing the Resource, Council of British
cost was approximately US$240000 including a day of transit Archaeology, London (2007).
to the site. In the fields of oceanography, marine biology and 8 Warren, D., ‘ROV Investigations of the DKM U-166 Shipwreck
marine geology this is considered routine, and research in those Site to Document the Archaeological and Biological Aspects of the
fields goes forward in the United States because the appropri- Wreck Site: Final Performance Report’, http://www.pastfoundation.
org/U166/U166_final.pdf (accessed 16 January 2010).
ate national funding agencies expect such costs. The cost of
conducting deep-sea archaeology is comparable with the cost 9 Piechota, D. and Giangrande, C., ‘Conservation of archaeological
of deep-sea biology, geology, chemistry or any other oceano- finds from deep-water wreck sites’, in Archaeological Oceanogra-
phy, ed. R.D. Ballard, Princeton University Press, Princeton (2008)
graphic research. The difference is that the latter communities 65–91.
of researchers have convinced the US National Academy of
10 Ward, C. and Ballard, R., ‘Deep-water archaeological survey in
Sciences to persuade the US National Science Foundation to the Black Sea: 2000 season’, International Journal of Nautical
fund at that level. Access to ships, technology and the teams Archaeology 33(1) (2004) 2–13.
to operate them are given to scientists who have submitted a 11 Friedman, Z. and Zoroglu, L., ‘Kelenderis Ship — Square or Lateen
proposal to their various research divisions within the National Sail?’, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 35(1) (2006)
Science Foundation. Archaeologists (and conservators) need 108–116.
to argue that their research is as important as these other 12 Fairbanks, R.G., Mortlock, R.A., Chiu, T.-C., Cao, L., Kaplan,
disciplines. A., Guilderson, T.P., Fairbanks, T.W., Bloom, A.L., Grootes, P.M.
and Nadeau, M.-J., ‘Radiocarbon Calibration Curve Spanning
0 to 50,000 Years B.P. Based on Paired 230Th/234U/238U and 14C
CONCLUSION Dates on Pristine Corals’, Quaternary Science Reviews 24(2005)
Deep-water archaeology is so new that every activity, including 1781–1796.
excavation itself, is liable to require rethinking and fresh devel- 13 UNESCO, Convention on the Protection of Underwa-
opment. That is the spirit in which the team approached the Sinop ter Cultural Heritage (2001), http://unesdoc.unesco.org/
D wreck site. In this setting the deep-water conservator has a images/0012/001260/126065e.pdf (accessed 16 January 2010).
unique position between the engineers charged with developing 14 Emelyanov, E., The Barrier Zones in the Oceans, Springer, Berlin
and implementing technologies for exploration, mapping, and (2005).
excavation and the archaeologists charged with directing the 15 BART User Manual, Droycon Bioconcepts Inc., Regina,
progress of excavation and interpreting the site. While in the Saskatchewan (2004), http://www.dbi.ca/BARTs/Docs/Manual.pdf
future these early efforts may be seen as crude technologies, (accessed 16 January 2010).
it is nonetheless hoped that the explorations in this new field 16 Bergstrand, T. and Godfrey, I. (eds), Reburial and Analyses of Ar-
described here will serve as a model in the implementation of chaeological Remains: Studies on the effect of reburial on archaeo-
the principles of sustainable archaeology and in situ preservation logical materials performed in Marstrand, Sweden 2002–2005,
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in deep-sea site archaeology.
pdf (accessed 16 January 2010).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank the engineers, scientists, students, administra- AUTHORS
tors, husbands, wives and friends who made this collaboration possible Dennis Piechota is adjunct professor of history and chief conservator
including Katherine Croff, Roland Arsenault, Robert Bogucki, Kathleen for the Black Sea field program of the Center for Ocean Exploration
Cantner, Alexis Catsambis, Julia Cudahy, Daniel Davis, Mark DeRoche, and Archaeological Oceanography, University of Rhode Island and
Michael Durbin, Sarah Fuller, Domenico Galletti, Fatma Goletlioglu, archaeological conservator at the Fiske Center for Archaeological Re-
Todd Gregory, Gabrielle Inglis, David Linstrom, David Lovalvo, Eric search, Address: Fiske Center for Archaeological Research, University
Martin, Stephanie Nebel, Mary Nichols, Brennan Phillips, Jane Drake of Massachusetts at Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA. Email: dennis.
Piechota, Webb Pinner, Brian Raynes, Christopher Roman, Nicola [email protected]
Samuelson, Adam Skarke and Mark Talkovic, as well as the captain and
crew of the RV Alliance. We also want to thank David Gregory of the Dr Robert D. Ballard is a professor of oceanography, the director of the
National Museum of Denmark for his advice on decay rate experiments Center for Ocean Exploration and Archaeological Oceanography in the
and for the ‘kebab’. This research project was funded through a grant Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island
from the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration. and explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society. Address:
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Nar-
ragansett, RI 02882 USA. Email: [email protected]
REFERENCES
1 Brennan, M., Piechota, D., Croff, K., Ballard, R. and Voronov, S., Dr Bridget Buxton is assistant professor in the Department of History at
‘Geoarchaeology and environmental monitoring of two Byzantine the University of Rhode Island and chief archaeologist for the Black Sea
shipwrecks in the Black Sea’, paper presented at the Geological field program of the Center for Ocean Exploration and Archaeological
Society of America, Denver (2007) (unpublished). Oceanography. Address: Department of History, University of Rhode
2 Camidge, K., Canti, M., Dungworth, D., Jones, M. and Precious, Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA. Email: [email protected]
D., Stabilization Trial Final Report 2005, English Heritage (2005), Michael Brennan is a graduate student in archaeological oceanography
http://www.cismas.org.uk/docs/colossus_stab_trial_final.pdf (ac- at the University of Rhode Island. Address: as for Ballard. Email: ml-
cessed 16 January 2010). [email protected]
3 Oxley, I. and O’Regan, D., The Marine Archaeological Resource,
Institute of Field Archaeologists, Reading (2001).

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