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ALEXANDRETTA PROJECT 2002
(ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE İSKENDERUN BAY)
Introduction
The Alexandretta Project is examining the ancient maritime
activities, sunken settlements and harbors of the Iskenderun Bay
in the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean (Hatay province,
Turkey). The Project is undertaken by the Underwater Research
Society (SAD) with the cooperation of Bilkent University and the
Turkish Institute of Nautical Archaeology. The Alexandretta
Project has as its primary goal the exploration of the ancient
submerged coastline and the discovery of shipwrecks or any other
archaeological remains of Iskenderun Bay over a long
chronological perspective.
The Alexandretta Project 2002 is the second step of underwater
archaeological surveys of Iskenderun Bay, which began two years
ago. The research, lasting twenty days between July and August
2002 was carried out with a team of seven people, in a north-south
direction of the Bay down to a maximum depth of 25 m. As a
result, a sunken settlement thought to be of the Roman period,
architectural elements belonging to this settlement, and some
artifacts intended for commercial or daily use
‘T’ shaped anchor found near
Yumurtalık, 2002
were found. In addition to these, two columns,
anchors, harbor remains and various ceramic objects were also
found. The survey was realized with Enver Arcak as coordinator
and Marie-Henriette Gates of Bilkent University as supervisor.
Archaeologist and diver Işik Adibelli of the Tarsus Museum
joined the team as representative of the Ministry of Culture.
Goals
The Iskenderun Bay has several natural harbors and shelters. The
geophysical surveys carried out in the area made possible the
discovery of several places of this sort. Coastal changes known
from archaeological and historical changes cause some
difficulties in determining the true location of these areas.
The coastal area has been active since the Neolithic and even
Paleolithic periods. One of its important settlements is Kinet
Höyük, which has been excavated since 1992 by M.-H. Gates. This
mound, the biggest on the east border of Cilicia, has great
strategic importance in the ancient commerce and cultural
interaction of the Eastern Mediterranean. Geomorphologic
researches have proven that the site was a settlement with
harbors on both sides, though it lies five hundred meters inland
today. Finds belonging to every period indicate, connections
with Cyprus, the Aegean and other parts of the Levant. Also,
stone anchors, which were reused as architectural elements at
Kinet Höyük, give some clues about the maritime activities in
the area. The data provided by these finds led to pursue an
underwater survey. Goals of the 2002 survey were to locate,
record and document sunken settlements, shipwrecks and artifacts,
by means of diving.
Methods
Before we started we decided where to look by consulting local
divers and fishermen. Coordinates obtained by side-scan sonar
and GPS, and areas which had not been previously surveyed, were
scanned. The coordinates of scanned areas were recorded along
with comparisons from maps for future reference. But diving was
the primary part of this year’s research, while finds on land
provided us with very useful information. During the survey, we
employed several devices. One of them was a platform which we
call a “survey board,” which provided communication with the
boat thanks to its signaling system. This device enabled divers
to let the captain know the desired speed of the boat. Divers
towed by boat were informing its crew by using a kind of Morse
code with the help of this device. The two columns dated to the
early Byzantine period were found using this device off the
coast of Göklüçay around Arsuz (ancient Rhosus). Another
apparatus which we used, was an underwater scooter. This helped
us in surveying greater areas in a minimum amount of time with
less energy consumption. Spot dives made according to
information from fisherman were also a major part of the survey.
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Return after a day’s work
Finds
The scanned areas were Cape Akıncı (Akıncı Burnu), Konacık,
Arsuz and Göklüçay in the southern part of the bay, and
Yumurtalık, Küçük Yumurtalık, Gölovası in the north. In the
south, the biggest problem was fishermen who were fishing
illegally with dynamite. We saw how common this method was
when we encountered so many people without an arm or a leg
in the fishing villages we visited. The use of dynamite is
damaging archeological findings as well as harming the
ecological system of the sea.
We discovered two early Byzantine columns while we were
using the survey board around Arsuz. Since there was nothing
else around them, these two columns in the middle of the sea
were puzzling. We think that these columns might have fallen
into the sea from a passing vessel because of a storm or
while being carried to a smaller boat heading to the shore.
Another theory is that they might have been carried away
from the land by the Göklüçay (a small stream); however
there are no remains of this sort on the shore and also it
is highly unlikely that they could be carried to such a
distance. In the northern part of the bay, the area that we
focused on was Yumurtalık. The ‘T’ shaped anchor we found
there was the most important evidence for maritime activity.
Also, to the west of Yumurtalık we discovered the remains of
an ancient harbor. We believe that these architectural
remains, which include ashlar blocks, will contribute much
to harbor archaeology.
Our encounter with the local fishermen led us to Gölovasi to
the east of Yumurtalik proper. There we made the most
important discovery of the whole project: a hitherto an
unknown sunken settlement. We realized that it was a
settlement thanks to the ceramic sherds of various sizes,
pipes used in sewage systems in houses, and a variety of
building materials such as roof-tiles. Unfortunately this
site has been badly damaged during the construction of
fisherman shelters of recent date. The villagers also told
us that they have found many coins. As the Baku-Ceyhan
pipeline will be passing through this area, it is highly
important to make a wider research of the site urgently. We
hope that the sites will be taken care of by the related
institutions. We are still in the process of definition,
dating, drawing and imaging of this site. As this work will
give more information on the sunken settlement, we think it
is still early for a precise dating.
The team in its element However,
it is clear that we have discovered a site which did not
appear in any publication so far. It is known that for
centuries the area has suffered from many earthquakes, some
of which were violent enough to kill 250,000 people.
Probably, the sunken settlement we discovered was destroyed
by a tsunami following such an earthquake. A French
traveller, Vital Cuinet, wrote about these earthquakes in
his La Turquie d́'Asie, published in 1891.
Members of
the land excavation and the underwater team at the Kinet
excavation house
The Alexandretta Project, which is
the first attempt to survey the Iskenderun Bay, will provide
more information in the future. For more details, please
visit
www.alexandretta.org
Enver Arcak
Newsletter
No. 2
- 2003, Pg. 9
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