A multi-method approach for benthic habitat mapping of shallow coastal areas with high-resolution multibeam data Abstract The coastal waters of the Maltese Islands, central Mediterranean Sea, sustain a diversity of marine habitats and support a wide range of human activities. The islands’ shallow waters are characterised by a paucity of hydrographic and marine geo-environmental data, …
The Levanzo I Wreck, Sicily
A 4th-century AD merchantman in the service of the annona? Between 2005 and 2009 a deep-water shipwreck was located, mapped, and partially excavated by a joint team from RPM Nautical Foundation and the office of the Soprintendenza del Mare, Sicily. Located off Levanzo Island, one of the Egadi Islands off north-west Sicily, this wrecked merchantman …
The Weapon That Changed History
Evidence of Rome’s decisive victory over Carthage is discovered in the waters off Sicily In his work The Histories, the second-century B.C. Greek historian Polybius chronicles the rise of the Romans as they battle for control of the Mediterranean. The central struggle pits the Romans against their archenemies the Carthaginians, a trading superpower based in …
MBS Technology & Geology to Interpret Subsidence
Multibeam Sonar Technology and Geology to Interpret Ancient Harbor Subsidence off Crotone Peninsula, Italy Multibeam sonar (MBS) technology was developed to examine in great detail large stretches of the seafloor surface, providing accurately positioned and excellent 2-D and 3-D images of features as small as a few centimeters or covering areas as large as hundreds …
New Evidence For Old Sites
A response to the ‘reassessment’ of the survey data from Capo Colonna, Italy This response to the ‘reappraisal’ by Bartoli (2010) of the author’s original paper in this journal (2008) requires only a brief note. The subject of the discussion is the interpretation of stone formations discovered during one of RPM Nautical Foundation’s (RPMNF) surveys in Calabria, …
The Adriatic’s Uncharted Past
Once closed to exploration, the waters off the Albanian coast begin to give up their secrets The R/V Hercules is anchored in the Adriatic Sea near Saranda, Albania, and the crew of the 110-foot-long research vessel is at attention. “Back deck, stand clear of the wind!” RPM Nautical Foundation (RPMNF) founder George Robb bellows into …
The Finale – Rome Against Carthage
This feature in Antike Welt (Ancient World, Journal of Archaeology and Cultural History) focuses on the last battle between Rome and Carthage and the archaeological finds, specifically the ram discovered by RPM Nautical Foundation. Download the Article to Learn More (in German)
In Distress: Rescuing a Roman Merchantmen 1700 Years Later
This article takes a look at the the Levanzo I wreck, discovered by RPM Nautical Foundation in 2006. Described here is the discovery of the wrecksite, its location, its condition and the condition of the artifacts–with a particular focus on the destructive influence of dragnets–as well as the excavation of the site in 2009. Download the Article to …
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At the Transition from Late Medieval to Early Modern
The Archaeology of Three Wrecks from Turkey During surveys in the Rhodian Straits in 2005–06, the staff of the RPM Nautical Foundation discovered three deepwater wrecks which reflect elements of the transition from late medieval to early modern seafaring. The assemblages, and their plotting on site-plans generated from photographic evidence, point to the finding of …
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HMS Volage Discovery
In Albania With the RPM Nautical Foundation This article details RPMNF’s survey work along the Albanian coast in conjunction with the Albanian Institute of Archaeology, the Albanian Ministry of Defense, and INA. The goal of the surveys is search for shipwrecks and other submerged sites–history that would be otherwise lost. Described here is the incident …
Revisiting an Early Naval Incident of the Cold War
Archaeological Identification of the Bow of HMS Volage Sunk During the Corfu Channel Incident of October 22, 1946 Introduction Following the Second World War, Britain asserted that the Corfu Channel, a narrow seaway separating the island of Corfu from the Albanian coast, was an international strait. Albania, at that time a Communist State under the …
Illyrian Coastal Exploration Program The 2009 Campaign
Overview Fieldwork along the eastern Adriatic coast in 2009 marked the initial campaign conducted and coordinated under the research initiative of the Illyrian Coastal Exploration Program (ICEP). The goals of the program, introduced in this publication (Royal 2009), are to bring together numerous research institutes in an effort to investigate the eastern Adriatic coast. At the …
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