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The shipwreck hall
The hall consists of three sections. Just inside the entry, finds from the Cape Gelidonya (late 13 th century
BC) and Seytan Deresi (16 th Century B.C) shipwrecks are exhibited.
On the left side of this room are artifacts gathered by the first scientific shipwreck excavation in the world,
at Gape Gelidonya. The site of the wreck was shown to the archaeologists by Captain Kemal Aras, a Bodrum sponge
boat owner. The shipwreck was excavated in 1960 under the direction of George F. Bass.
This was a Syrian merchant's trading vessel. The artifacts excavated from the wreck shed light an the international
relations of the period.
Organic materials are preserved under water much better than on land and this also was valid
for the Uluburun shipwreck. Glands, almonds, figs olives and even pomegranates were found. We do not know was it
provisions or freight. Partly the pottery on board for sure was used but also big jars were found with carefully
packed pots from Cyprus. Gold- and silver jewelry was found as tools and arms made from bronce.
The founds.click on pictures to enlarge
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statuette
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log book
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goblet
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gold work
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Of the 354 complete copper oxhide ingots and 121 bun ingots found on the Uluburun wreck, 81 were cleaned, drawn,
recorded, and examined between June and November of 1995, bringing the total that have been studied to date to
180. Particular attention was devoted to the modification of the oxhide ingot typology first established by H.
G. Buchholz, and later modified by G.F. Bass in his study of the 34 examples from the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck.
There are 31 ingots of a type unique to Uluburun, provided with only two handle-like protrusions, one on each corner
of one of the ingot's long sides. We have designated these as type 4. For the purpose of our research, the traditional
type 3, as well as type 4, have each been divided into 4 subtypes. These subdivisions are primarily based on the
ratios of the ingots' dimensions and on the shape of the handle-like protrusions.
In addition to the morphological features of these ingots, we have documented and studied the marks chiseled into
their surfaces. Although most of the ingots still need to be cleaned of surface encrustation, preliminary examination
has revealed that at least half of the oxhide ingots, or about 160 examples, are incised with at least one, and
possibly as many as three, marks on their upper or rougher surfaces opposite their mold sides. In addition, six
oxhide ingots bear linear incisions along their shorter edges, but only three of these six examples are also associated
with marks on the upper surface. In contrast, only 28 out of the 121 bun ingots appear to be marked. This is still
a high percentage, considering that (so far as we know) no marked bun ingots have been found in any other land
or underwater site. On the Uluburun bun ingots, these marks are always single marks on their lower, or smoother
mold sides. An exception is KW 1088, which shows an incised mark on its rough surface.
In some cases, the incisions are preserved sufficiently to document the individual chisel strokes in the mark,
thereby allowing us to determine not only the sequence in which the strokes were made, but also the shape and size
of the chisel used and the angle at which it was struck. Close attention should be given here to the traces of
wear discernible on the chisels found on board the ship to determine if some of these tools may have been used
to mark the ingots. If so, this discovery may provide some information about when these marks were made.
The 64 marks thus far examined on the surfaces of oxhide and bun ingots comprise only 32 different shapes. Of these
marks, 13 appear more than once (fig.1: 1b,1d, 2c-d, 3b, 4b-d, 5a, 6c-d, 7c-d) and one is repeated at least six
times (fig.1: 4d). Some marks are common to both the oxhide and bun ingots, but there are fewer types of markings
on the latter variety of ingot. Of the six types of marks observed on the bun ingots, five are also found on the
oxhide shape (fig.1: 2d, 3b, 4b, 4d, 6d). The sixth mark, however, is found only on the oval bun ingots and appears
on all six of them. The precise location of the marks on the surfaces of the oxhide ingots, and the diverse mark
combinations, do not appear to follow any specific pattern. The specific marks cannot be associated with certain
ingot subtypes. The marks vary in complexity from a simple cross (fig.1: 5a) or a fishhook (fig,1: 1c) to a complicated
trident (fig.1: 2b), a fish-like shape (fig.1: 7b) or a sailing boat (fig.1: 5b). One of the Uluburun marks (fig.
l: 3a), also seen on a copper oxhide ingot from Ayia Triada in Crete, seems to find its parallel in the later 11th-century
B.C. northwestern Semitic syllabary. In only one instance does a perfectly identical mark, almost certainly made
by the same hand (i.e. same orientation of stroke, depth of incision, size of tool, etc.) appear on two separate
oxhide ingots (fig.1: 2c). Each of the two ingots thus marked also has a second V-shaped mark chiseled along one
of its shorter edges. These two ingots do not belong to the same ingot subtype, but future studies may reveal identically-marked
examples on the same subtype. Any markings of this nature may have profound implications for our understanding
of ancient metallurgical practices and the mechanisms by which these ingots were distributed.
Lead-isotope analysis is also imperative for determining the source(s) of copper from which the ingots were most
likely cast, and establishing possible correlations between copper source, ingot types, and incised marks. Samples
for lead-isotope studies were also taken from 71 other bronze and copper objects from Cape Gelidonya, and 14 tin
ingots from Uluburun. This may enable further correlations between the sources of the ingots and the sources of
the metal in the artifacts.
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Bodrum is the ideal starting point for the famous
Blue Cruise
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