Archeologist Speaks on Perks of Underwater Research

This past Tuesday, archeologist Dr. Brendan Foley spoke to Plymouth State students for the second time this semester. Foley, who is a graduate of UNH, received his masters in history from Tufts, studied underwater archeology at South Hampton, and received his PHD in historic technology from MIT. Tuesday night marked his second lecture on underwater archeology. This time, he highlighted his work with Wood Hole Oceanography Institute of Wood Hole Massachusetts and ancient Greek shipwrecks. Foley believes this is an important subject because “we don’t know who we are today without knowing where we came from.” He feels that the study of shipwrecks is especially important because it is critical to helping us understand how civilizations evolved. He also noted that there are historical items underwater that cannot be found on land. He had many examples of pristine bronze statues from Classical Greece that had been found on the ocean floor, most likely the result of shipwrecks carrying artwork to other countries or Greek islands. Had these statures remained on land, they most likely would have been melted down and used for weapons and other tools. Foley and his group of archeologists, both from the US (including Plymouth State professor Dave Switzer) and Greece, used interesting technology to study the ocean floor. An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), can remain submersed for as long as 12 hours without a battery recharge. The AUV is also buoyant, meaning that if it malfunctions, the expensive machine isn’t lost forever. The AUV is much like a robot. It doesn’t even need a cable attached to the boat. It takes pictures with a strobe light every three seconds, and moves along in tight rows, “much like mowing a lawn,” Foley explained. One thing that makes all archeologists happy is the fact that the AUV never touches its study area, leaving all ship remains completely intact. “It’s almost fool proof,” he said. Foley reports that his research on board last summer went surprisingly well. Because they had a grant which supported them for 10 days, they had enough time to photograph three different Greek shipwrecks in this time period. In the summer of 2006, Foley is returning to the Aegean Sea to look at three more shipwrecks. The goal is to survey one wreck every day. This time, they will have technology known as “chemical maps.” A kind of chemical “sniffer” will allow, as Foley describes, can “smell what an ancient wreck is like.”