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MBL Falmouth Forum Series 2009-2010
"Archaeology in Deep Water"
November 19, 2010 - - Lillie Auditorium, 7:30 PM
Lectures are free and open to the public.
Brendan Foley, Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Read the press release
Lecture Abstract:
Ancient shipwrecks litter the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. These wrecks are direct evidence of trade and communication between the earliest civilizations, a bonanza for archaeologists. However, until very recently, these sites were impossible to reach. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists now have access to these wrecks. By deploying our advanced submarine robots and sensors with partners in Greece, Egypt, Cyprus, and Algeria, we have begun to explore the sea's deepest regions. Hi-def digital imagery, precise acoustic maps, and ancient DNA from artifacts allows our teams reveal the earliest trade and exchange networks, the invention of civilization, and the birth of the modern world.
Dr. Brendan Foley is WHOI’s first formally trained shipwreck expert, with degrees in the history and archaeology of seafaring technology from UNH, Tufts, Southampton England, and MIT. He builds on WHOI’s long tradition of shipwreck investigations, from lost nuclear submarines to Titanic and Roman shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. His research goal is to explain the invention of civilization by studying very ancient Mediterranean shipwrecks dating from the Bronze Age through Classical Greece – that’s 3000-300 B.C. With colleagues at WHOI and throughout Europe and North Africa, he has pioneered new methods and techniques for archaeology, including surveys with Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, 3D imaging, and identification of Classical Greek cargoes through ancient DNA analysis. With these techniques, the team has investigated dozens of ancient wrecks and glimpsed the origins of Western Civilization.
Admission to this MBL Falmouth Forum presentation is free and open to the public. A buffet dinner is available before the lecture at 6:00 p.m. in the Swope Center located near the auditorium. Dinner tickets are $30 and must be purchased in advance at either Eight Cousins Children’s Books, Main Street, Falmouth, or at the MBL’s Communications Office in the Candle House in Woods Hole. Dinner seats are limited and tickets are only available until they sell out or until 5:00 on the Tuesday before the lecture. For more information, contact the MBL Communications Office at: (508) 289-7423 or
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