Dor Project 2000 - a volunteer's view
In September I joined a group of
NAS volunteers, part of an international team of divers working
on two wrecks in the ancient harbour of Dor in Israel, a site
that contains archaeology from the Late Bronze Age to the
1990's.
We left a rainy Gatwick to land
at 3am in Tel Aviv with instructions that we should be attending
our first dive briefing at 7am! Here we learnt about the wrecks
we were to work on, a 3rd century Byzantine site and a 17th
century Ottoman wreck, both of which were within 40m of the shore
in only 3.5m of warm, clear water.
Above right: Photo of a diver using a dredge to clear sand
from around the wooden hull of the shipwreck.
A lot of sand had to be cleared
from both sites using large water dredges before they could be
seen and recorded. The Byzantine site consisted of a mass of
ballast stones covering the remains of the ship's hull,
interspersed with pottery sherds. The Ottoman site was more
visually impressive, if not as archaeologically important. A
considerable amount of her hull survived, pinned to the seabed by
a cargo of stone. Other parts of her cargo consisted of
glassware, still in its original straw packing, and the possible
remains of a consignment of tobacco. These finds provided a
more accurate date for the wreck of the late 19th century, not as
impressive as Byzantine but still an enjoyable experience.
Above right: Photo of the author using a dredge to
clear sand from the site, revealing pottery sherds.
The thrill and excitement I felt
when I found my first piece of broken pottery is something I find
difficult to put into words. This feeling of anticipation stayed
with me for the whole two weeks and I hope is something that I
never lose.
Brian Albert
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