Underwater Archaeology

The study of sites and shipwrecks beneath the surface of the water, much more difficult to recover than material that has been buried. Since the invention of the aqualung in World War II, techniques for overcoming the difficulties have advanced. Specialized techniques have been developed to solve the problems of excavating and recording under water and of raising finds from the sea and lake beds, as well as subsequent problems of conservation of materials previously preserved under water. Underwater archaeology includes the examination of submerged settlement sites under freshwater lakes, in harbors, and shipwrecks under the sea. This branch of archaeology was pioneered in the Mediterranean.

This largely self-explanatory term is preferable to the more restricted terms marine or maritime archaeology, since it includes the examination of submerged settlement sites under fresh-water lakes, as well as the examination of harbour works and shipwrecks under the sea. The overall aims and methods of underwater archaeology are the same as those of archaeology in general, but a great number of specialized techiques have been developed to solve the problems of excavating and recording under water and of raising finds from the sea and lake beds, as well as subsequent problems of conservation of materials previously preserved under water. Underwater archaeology is a relatively new branch of the subject, which has grown with the development of the aqualung and other subaquatic equipment since World War II. Its achievements include the examination of Neolithic villages in Switzerland, Paleo-Indian burials in Florida, classical harbours in the Mediterranean and shipwrecks of many different dates in many different seas. See also Cape Gelidonya, Mary Rose, Pantano Longarini. Unetice. The type site for the principal earlier Bronze Age culture in central Europe, tJnetice is a flat inhumation cemetery of some 60 graves near Prague, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia. In cultural terms, LJnetice is an umbrella term for several local groups (Nitra, Schlan etc), which between cl9Q0 and 1500 be achieved the technological breakthrough of cast tin bronze metallurgy. Most sites are cemeteries, with inhumation the predominant rite. However, extensive copper mines are known near Salzburg and their products are often found in hoards containing up to 500 items. Although no such sites are known in Bohemia, the Unetice period is often associated with the appearance of princely graves; particularly wealthy burials occur on the periphery of the Unetice distribution (see, for example, Leubingen).