Shipwrecks: Why Are Shipwrecks Such Important Time Capsules?

Bob Benway on an Archaeological Dive Surveying the Lake George Radeau
Bob Benway on an Archaeological Dive Surveying the Lake George Radeau

Slowly the shape emerged from the dark water. A diamond-shaped bow jutting out from the glow. As I had decended some 110 feet below the calm lake waters, the  clock spun backwards and now traveled back in time to 1757.

For the wreck I was staring at looked exactly as she had over two hundred years ago. Shipwrecks are time capsules. The Central America lost off  the eastern coast of the United States in September of 1857 yielded news paper and leather products from the period of her sinking. Greek shipwrecks in the Mediterranean provide intimate insights into how the seafarer’s lived and traded.

Traditional terrestrial archaeological sites have usually succumbed to much more destructive process. Conquering armies, fires, floods etc devastate the land locations and buildings while the Hamilton & Scourge in Lake Ontario sit untouched with a full compliment of equipment.

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© Copyright Vince Capone 2013