Thanks to new excavations in Mauritius and Madagascar, as well as archival and museum research in France, Spain, England and Canada, a group of international scholars paint a new portrait of the world of piracy in the Indian Ocean.
The story of the Trojan Horse is probably one of the most famous stories ever told: after ten years of bloody war, the Greek coalition decides to lift the siege and depart, but not before leaving at the gates a huge wooden horse, which the Trojans confidently lead into the city. A few hours later, the once invincible Troy goes up in flames. What exactly happened? Is this myth true or false?
A short distance from Marseille, at Cape Morgiou, in the depths of the Calanques massif, lies the Cosquer cave, discovered only about thirty years ago by a diver, Henri Cosquer. With its bestiary of hundreds of paintings and engravings - horses, bison, jellyfish, penguins - the only underwater decorated cave in the world allows us to learn a little more about Mediterranean societies 30,000 years ago. Today, threatened by rising water levels accelerated by global warming, this jewel of the Upper Paleolithic is in danger of being swallowed up. To save the cave from disappearing, the Ministry of Culture has chosen to digitize it. From this virtual duplicate, a replica has been made on the surface to offer the public a reconstruction that allows them to admire these masterpieces.
For thousands of years, gold has been the most treasured and coveted of all metals. But extraction sites are dwindling and what little gold that remains is harder and harder to mine. However, there is a place where you can still find vast quantities of gold. Underwater archaeology has revealed that 3 million shipwrecks litter the ocean floor, 3,500 of which sunk with cargoes of ’precious metals’ onboard. Billions of dollars worth of gold, just sitting there, at the bottom of the sea. With today’s technology, this gold is in reach.
With an area three times larger than Pompeii, Baia, about 15 km from Naples and within the volcanic area of the Phlegraean fields, is the largest underwater archaeological site in the world. In 100 BC Pompeii is an ordinary city of small traders crouched on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius, while Baia gains a peculiar reputation: it gradually becomes the ancient Las Vegas or Monte Carlo of the Roman Empire, a real posh center for noble gens and the powerful . Nestled in the center of the Gulf of Pozzuoli, Baia is flanked on one side by the port of Puteoli (ancient Pozzuoli) and on the other by the port of Capo Miseno.
In early 2023 Historic England‬ commissioned MSDS Marine and Michael Pitts to produce a film to celebrate fifty years of Protected Wreck sites and the role volunteers have played in their management. The film draws on Michael’s extensive film archive as well as new footage to really showcase protected wreck sites through stunning imagery and explores the role volunteers have had on working on them through a series of interviews.
