Sualtı Dünyası

Year 1996 No: 52

What can we do for our shipwrecks?

Biggest injustice one can do to lived culture as a Mediterranean is to remain indifferent to the underwater world. I did not know where I would end up in the end when as a freshman at the university I got involved in the foundation of a shipwreck research group under the Subaqua Society. We targeted documenting that which was unknown. In the West, similar institutions had been established already in the beginning of the century. But that we were only starting to do so in the second half of the 1980s did not mean that we were late. Our primary mission was to promote institutionalization so as to define our identity and determine our targets. We were guided by “curiosity,” the sine qua non in science. We decided to document what we found out and thereby aimed at providing the scientists with a database. Also we planned to translate foreign publications into Turkish to be able to contribute to the accumulation of literature in this area. Inspired by these thoughts we started to read what we could find. We ordered new books to the library of METU; we organized seminars; we made contacts with archeologists working in this area and offered our help to them with their research and excavations.

The Shipwreck Research Group was founded in 1987 as an integral part of METU Subaqua Society. Our areas of interest are antique wrecks, underwater remnants, remains and sheet iron wrecks at inland seas. Written and visual knowledge acquired from surface research based on literature study, historical information and local investigation is transmitted to national and international institutions. Regular seminars, meetings and courses offered to the members of the research group intend to stimulate participation of new researchers. As a result of specialized courses many research divers took in the past the opportunity to play a role in diverse research projects. Seen Turkey’s rich archeological sites, another purpose of the group is to raise awareness for our underwater cultural heritage among divers who have received a basic diving training.

Since 1988 the following research projects have been realized: archeological underwater surface research of Sinop Ottoman-Russian naval war wreckage, archeological underwater surface research of Cesme Ottoman-Russian naval war, dive of Bafa lake antique city of Herakleia, surface research in Seferihisar Myonessos, archeological discovery dives in lake of Van, underwater surface research of Cilicia Region. Team members participated to the shipwreck research in the island of Marmara conducted by Dr. Nergis Gunsenin. They also took part in the various projects of INA which had been excavating and researching along the Turkish coastline since 1960s. With the foundation of the Underwater Research Association (SAD), the Practical Underwater Archeology Course (Pratik Sualti Arkeoloji kursu), given worldwide by the Nautical Archeology Society based in Britain, was for the first time organized in Turkey. This way an exchange of knowledge was possible not only on Mediterranean wrecks but also on North European archeology. Furthermore, in 1996 the team members joined the excavation and research of a river wreck dated from 6^th century in the region of Charante in France. Last but not least, within the framework of the activities of the Underwater Research Association(SAD), a trip was organized to France to visit a sheet iron shipwreck (sac batik). In this same trip, in cooperation with participants from several cities, various dives were made to wrecks from different periods. All these researches have been published and presented at Symposium of Excavation Research and Archeometry organized annually by the Ministry of Culture.

Beyond diving under the water to find wrecks, our utmost purpose is to publish. One would doubt about the sound of a tree falling down in a forest if that tree makes no sound with its fall. Without a publication the presence of a shipwreck is a mere suggestion. If there is no scientific publication about a specific shipwreck, except some common knowledge about its whereabouts by fishermen, divers and sponge divers, one can surely doubt about its existence. Therefore what is important is to hear the sound of the falling trees.

How can we contribute?

If you are a diver;

You can transform your interest in archeological values into knowledge about them by developing sensitivities about the protection of our underwater cultural heritage.

You can inform the clubs or associations where you belong about activities on underwater archeology.

Follow the rules on regions where there is a diving prohibition for archeological reasons. You can warn Turkish or foreign divers and report them to Coastal Security (sahil guvenlik) if necessary.

Watch out with your floatation under water when you come across with archeological and historical shipwrecks and remnants. Try to stay far from the bottom (taban). Do not forget that the flipper strokes might reduce the protective layer upon the site of the wreckage and cause erosion. This might damage the artifacts that have survived and were preserved under the sand for centuries.

You can report the site of the shipwreck to research centers and close-by museums after you have observed the site thoroughly during your dive.

Do not remove anything from the site of the wreck, or change the position of the artifacts. These pieces are a common human heritage and any misplaced object might cause disruption of scientific accuracy in the future.

If you are not a diver;

Avoid sales or purchase of historical underwater artifacts. Do not encourage a market for such goods.

Archeology is a science that comprises also the underwater. What is underwater cannot be thought independent from this science. You can transform your interest into knowledge.

You can support the activities of relevant institutions, financially or morally.

You can support activities to stop trol balikciligi which gives ecological as well as archeological damage to the sites of shipwrecks.

What do we argue for?

As a country surrounded by seas and known worldwide for its archeological values, Turkey possesses high potentials of rich underwater wrecks. On the other hand, each dive into the sites of wrecks causes immeasurable damage. While wrecks, artifacts and remnants laying underwater wait for years to be scientifically researched, they end up unfortunately often in the living-rooms of many divers as decorations next to amphoras. A sensible diver is the one who preserves—and not destroys--the underwater heritage. When the last piece of amphora laying underwater is taken out as a souvenir, the diving clubs will have nothing left to show to the tourists in the ecologically desolate waters of the Mediterranean sea. This is the reason why the legal statement that “nothing should be taken out of the depths” should be explained to each diver as well as vigorously observed by the diving guides. Each wreck is an ecosystem on its own and offers a safe environment for the survival and development of underwater living beings. Therefore, not only the antique wrecks but also the sheet iron wrecks (sac batiklar) should be preserved. Especially, there should come an end to the dismantling of metal boats for rubble. A new legislature should regulate that sunken metal vessels that cannot be saved within 5 years should be registered in the national wreckage inventory and declared as natural preservation areas.

Another significant point to discuss is the damage to the historical sheet iron wrecks (sac batiklar). It is disturbing to sensible divers to discover at every other dive to the “Paris” wreck by Kemer that the wreck is missing pieces and getting smaller. Who knows, may be the memories of the first divers who dived to the wrecks at Canakkale, when we were still children, give them today heartaches.

On the other hand, despite the fact that we defend prohibitions on diving as they are today, at this stage for particular areas we seem to have no alternatives. Wrecks whose excavations have been completed but that belong to the same periods could be opened, under the supervision of guiding archeologists, to diving practices. The financial revenues from these activities can support the preservation of other wrecks. Part of the revenues earned from international divers who come to our country to observe Roman and Byzantine wrecks can be used for the research of new wrecks. By building underwater platforms at wreckage sites, underwater national parks can be established in the depths of the sea. In this way, without damaging the wreckage sites our cultural heritage can be saved.

They say there were fisherman in the world before the shepherds. The water theme in almost every myth points to the adventures that the Men undertook in the seas, rivers and lakes of our earth covered three fourths with water. The seamen who connected different geographies to each other by means of courses were sometimes buried in the waters without completing their journeys and united forever with their beloved blue seas. On basis of these lived experiences, research plays a significant role in our understanding of the past. Therefore, we should give priority to research and preservation. The biggest treasure to find under the water is not the golden cups and coins but the science itself. Our biggest happiness is to return to science from the depths with new answers.

Erkut Arcak, Sualtı Dünyası, 1996

Translation: Deniz Ünsal

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