Page 121 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

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accordance with the data obtained from the ar- chaeological survey, should be:
(a) Removalofsediment.Thelow-andhigh-pressure compressors used to charge the compressed air tanks and operate the suction tubes will need to be mounted on a working platform. It is sometimes possible to use the shore itself for this purpose.
(b) On site documentation. This is the phase of the excavation that will justify all the work done and it thus needs to be taken extremely seriously, since the quality of the results will largely determine the reliability of the conclusions reached. Excavation involves the destruction of the site, so the objective is attained when enough information is produced for the site to be subsequently reconstructed. It is essentially this phase that distinguishes an archaeological excavation from the pure underwater recovery of ancient artefacts. See Rules 26 and 27.
(c) Site stabilization / in situ preservation. After having evaluated the stock of archaeologically interesting sites, the state or condition of selected sites may need to be preserved. Unless
© Robert Moskovic´. Diver exploring a 16th century merchant ship, Sveti Pavao shallows, Island of Mljet, Croatia.
The archaeologist is using a water dredge to remove spoil (unwanted sediments loosened in the process of revealing archaeological material), that is generally less consolidated than on land. The water dredge
is effective for delicate work. Alternative devices are the airlift
or the water jet. A merchant
ship wrecked on the Sveti
Pavao shallows off the southern shores of the island of Mljet was passing along the chief trade
route betweenVenice and the commercial ports of the east that ran through the eastern Adriatic Sea in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.The extensiveTurkish Empire was becoming an expansive market and a growing number of merchants benefited from the lucrative opportunities, sailing the Adriatic Sea to the Levant with goods coming from across Europe. Oriental merchandise travelled the same route to western ports. Research at the Sveti Pavao locality star ted in 2007, and has to date seen 3 campaigns, which have yielded numerous valuable finds. The ship’s structure and ship’s equipment, a large iron anchor
and 8 bronze cannon were located at the site. Based on these objects, the shipwreck has been dated to thesecondhalfofthe16th century,whichisconfirmedbysilver coins found among the other finds.What sets this shipwreck apart from other sites is that it
is completely intact, which will contribute greatly to the quality of the research and its interpretation. The results of this research will complete the picture of life and material culture in the 16th century, provide insight into the links between centres of manufacture and commerce in the Levant with thoseinthesouthwestofEurope, and confirm that the
Objective, methodology and techniques