Uluburun Shipwreck - Excavation

Excavation

The Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) began excavating in July 1984 under the direction of its founder, George F. Bass, and was then turned over to INA’s Vice President for Turkey, Cemal Pulak, who directed the excavation from 1985 to 1994. The wreck lay between 44 and 52 meters deep on a steep, rocky slope riddled with sand pockets. Half of the staff members who aided in the excavation lived in a camp built into the southeastern face of the promontory, which the ship most likely hit, while the other half lived aboard the Virazon, INA’s research vessel at the time. The excavation site utilized an underwater telephone booth, air-lifts, and a horizontal stereo-bar. The mapping of the site was done by triangulation. Meter tapes and metal squares were used as an orientation aid for excavators. Since the completion of the excavation in September 1994, all efforts have been concentrated on full-time conservation, study, and sampling for analysis in the conservation laboratory of the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology in Turkey.