The House of the Mediterranean in Alicante will show UNESCO the “historical and cultural heritage” of the seabed
MADRID, June 6 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Tunisia headed the Multilateral Mission of Underwater Archeology in the USA “Skerky Bank” and the Sicilian canal, where they mapped the seabed of the Mediterranean Sea to document the wrecks from the time of the Phoenicians to the Second World War.
The UNESCO-sponsored mission, It was carried out as part of an international expedition between August 21st and September 4th. During those 14 days, researchers on board the French research vessel Alfred Merlin mapped the seabed of Skerki Bank and documented the wrecks using sophisticated remotely operated underwater vehicles.
In this expedition, Casa Mediterráneo de Alicante represents the Spanish State, which signed the 2001 UNESCO Convention on Underwater Cultural Heritage, which provides a unique legal framework for international cooperation in this area.
The Casa Mediterráneo de Alicante will present the results of the multilateral mission of underwater archeology in the “Skerki Bank” and the Sicilian Canal on June 8th at the UNESCO Headquarters (Paris), paying tribute to the “History and Culture” of the Mediterranean Sea.
“The Mediterranean Sea is the origin of the world because everyone has passed through it over the centuries.“, explained the general director of Casa Mediterráneo, Andrés Perelló, who added that the aim of the study is “to show the world what was discovered in this underwater prospecting”.
“It is the first major investigation of underwater and cultural heritage in the Mediterranean that Casa Mediterránea inaugurates to Alicante as a point of reference in the Mediterranean on this occasion of cultural heritage“, confirmed Andrés Perelló.
Photojournalist Ángel Fitor represented Casa Mediterráneo in the technical team of this expedition as the person in charge of its photo report. Fitor has stated that he will be responsible for presenting a photo exhibition that will be the result of his work on board the ship.
“A media team was working on board the ship. I was in charge of the photographic part and a team of filmmakers made a film that will also be released on the 8th at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.” he hinted.
Hundreds of shipwrecks at Skerki Bank
Casa Mediterráneo explains this in detail Skerki Bank is one of the busiest shipping routes in the Mediterranean and at the same time one of the most dangerousas these are reef-strewn waters subject to strong currents that caused hundreds of shipwrecks from Phoenician times to World War II.
The investigations were carried out using two remote-controlled robots that can adapt to geographical areas that are difficult to access. The Arthur robot was used to document shipwrecks on the Italian continental shelf certifies three Roman wrecks discovered by American Ballard-McCann expeditions in the 1990s. Archaeologists checked the good state of preservation of the ships and artifacts while also collecting new data with high-resolution photos and videos that helped identify and date the cargo on the ships.
On the Tunisian continental shelf, archaeologists used the Hilarion robot to inspect and document targets in the previously mapped area and a versatile sonar to get more information about this unknown and dangerous area for navigation. For the first time, Keith’s reef has been scanned, allowing us to document three new shipwrecks dating from ancient to modern times (19th century) and other areas of archaeological interest.