Page 138 - TINA Dergi Sayi 10

TINA

Denizcilik Arkeolojisi Dergisi

ArCHAeOLOGICAL unDerwAter SurVeY On tHe as well as Faris Demir, phD (also a member of under-
SHOreLIne OF ADAnA water survey team), scientific advisor of the land exca-
The first systematic underwater survey on the coast of vations conducted in the region under the direction of
Adana (Fig. 1) was initiated in 2018. Attracting consid- the same directorate. The sea conditions in this region
erable attention, our research site was visited by many was similar to those in Karataş in July.
officials, mainly by the Governor of Adana, who were Therefore, we were unable to conduct any resource-
provided with detailed information about our research ful survey in areas other than the harbour. As the
ship and technical facilities (Fig. 2). We used following modern port was built on top of the ancient harbour,
methods during the surveys around Karataş/Magarsus we moored the research vessel to the pier, and used it
and Yumurtalık/Aigeai ancient harbours and their vicin- as a permanent station. It was possible to conduct our
ity, and obtained important data. survey inside the harbour under relatively calm sea
Scuba Diving: We explored the sea bottom by scuba conditions since the harbour has been partly or entire-
diving both in Karataş and Yumurtalık. The prevailing ly protected from the waves by the modern breakwa-
wind in summer is southerly in the Adana region. The ter built on the ancient breakwater to the south. Div-
alluvial deposits conveyed by the Seyhan and Ceyhan ers also had the opportunity to scan the area within
Rivers have silted up the seabed over thousands of years, the harbour either by service boat or walking from
and the floor with sand and clay in places has become the shore. However, the clay/sandy nature of the sea
suitable to get muddy by the waves and the wind blowing floor reduces underwater visibility down to 20 cm
towards the shore. The southerly winds have an impact even tough the sea is calm.
on the shorelines of both districts during the summer, re- Despite poor visibility, we decided to collect free
ducing the underwater visibility down to 20 cm, and thus material scattered around the sea floor by waves, and
making it difficult to conduct any underwater survey. return them to their original spots after documenta-
Surveys on the shoreline-beaches: The foreshore, tion on the survey vessel. The team was divided into
wetted by the waves was examined by walking along groups of two, who conducted both skin diving and
the coastal strip, and any presence of both potential scuba diving, and obtained some information enough
shipwecks based on the intensity of ceramic material to date shipwrecks and identify their origin after a
that have come ashore and remains of marine structures work of four days. Fragments of some plates dating
built on the coast (docks, piers, breakwaters, etc.) and to the Seljuk period (Fig. 3) and some amphoras dat-
submerged due to earthquakes/water elevations were ing to earlier periods (Fig. 4) recovered during these
surveyed. surveys were delivered to the Directorate of Adana
Sonar surveys: We surveyed the sea floor in cer- Museum. Other artefacts were left back to their place
tain areas using both side-scan sonar, multi-beam so-
nar and chirp/sub-bottom profiler and portable sonar of recovery. In the meantime, shallow depths in the
equipment with comparable characteristics. region were explored by portable sonar equipment and
Information captured from local people and div- sonar boat. This exploration revealed some items with
ers: Near both harbours, there are people who are archaeological forms, which were decided to be exam-
engaged in skin diving or scuba diving or collecting ined during more convenient sea conditions.
golden or similar materials people drop on beaches. The shore of the islet lying to the east of the Yumur-
part of the team talked to these people and fishermen talık harbour and serving as a natural breakwater was
to capture data while some other people visited the re- exlored by skin diving and skuba diving, and yielded
search ship to provide information to us. We recorded stone blocks with butterfly clamps, mostly buried un-
all the information collected by this method. der the structures from later periods, surrounding all
KArAtAŞ SurVeY: around the southern shore (Fig. 5).
The Karataş region was not suitable for visual search probably belonging to the dock and breakwater, these
by skin or scuba diving due to weather and sea condi- blocks might be related with the Helenistic period ar-
tions in July. Around 06:30–10:30 a.m., the southerly chitecture of the Yumurtalık Harbour.
wind was reduced, but no result was achieved from We plan to study the islet, dock and other marine
dives since the view was limited. Thus, we preferred structures in 2019 in collaboration with Faris Demir.
to perform sonar scanning during these hours of the Thus, the marine structures which were identified in
day. In the afternoons, neither sonar boat nor the main 2018 were not included in any article, including this
vessel could help achieve any result due to increased one.
wind and waves. During the underwater survey, we also found nu-
YumurtALIK SurVeY: merous columns around these structures and the rocky
The survey of Yumurtalık harbour was conducted in area, which was probably connected with a breakwater
coordination with the Directorate of Adana Museum to each other (Fig. 6).
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