The identity of a 17th-century shipwreck containing hundreds of gold coins has been revealed, three decades after its discovery. The wreck, which lies at a depth of c.18m in Salcombe Bay, off the south coast of England, was discovered in…
First discovered nearly 30 years ago, the wreck of a ship that sank in Salcombe Bay, Devon, in 1633 has now been comprehensively re-examined in this new British Museum volume. On its discovery, the ship was found to be carrying…
A collection of large cannons from the American Revolutionary War has returned to Savannah, Georgia, after several years of conservation work, as part of a project led by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Coastal Heritage Society. The…
A team of divers believe they have identified the wreck of the USCGC Tampa off the English coast. The vessel was one of six United States Coast Guard cutters sent to Europe in 1917 on America’s entry into the First…
The Outer Hebrides are home to over 170 crannogs (small, human-made islands), some of which are proving to be much earlier in date than suspected. Recently published research centred on Loch Bhorgastail has shed detailed light on the make-up of one such site, and has also pioneered an innovative new approach to documenting its above- and underwater remains. CA reports.
Marine archaeologists have uncovered the wreck of the Dannebroge, a Danish warship sunk during the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. The Dannebroge sat at the centre of a chain of old Danish ships of the line that had…
Ancient footprints are not the only archaeological discoveries that have been brought to light by recent winter storms. At the end of January, gale-force winds and massive waves revealed a large fragment of a 17th-century shipwreck on Studland Beach in…
There are currently 57 nationally important shipwrecks in English waters, spanning the Bronze Age to the 20th century, designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 – including the remains of HMS Invincible (pictured here), a 74-gun warship that was…
Most maritime archaeologists spend their careers trying to tease out what happened before a ship sank by asking questions like who was on board, when was it built, where was it going, and why? While poring over James Delgado’s new…
Singapore’s first shipwreck Underwater excavations have uncovered the first ancient shipwreck to be found in Singapore. The vessel, known as the Temasek Wreck, underwent several stages of investigation between 2016 and 2019, and the results of the research have now…
When it first took to the skies in 1935, the Douglas TBD-1 Devastator represented a significant leap forward in aircraft design, with its all-metal construction and single low-mounted wing. It was the first plane type in the US fleet with…
An ancient Egyptian pleasure barge (thalamagos in Greek) has been discovered by Franck Goddio and his team from the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM). The 35m-long boat was found submerged off the coast of Alexandria in the Eastern Harbour,…
Mesolithic structures identified off the coast of France A series of 11 submerged structures has been found off the coast of France, near Île de Sein in Brittany. They are believed to date to the Mesolithic period and were first…
A changing Rome Maria Barosso is an unsung heroine in Rome’s archaeological story. An extraordinary new exhibition in the Museo Centrale Montemartini provides a flavour of her work as a functionary in the Direzione Generale Antichità e Belle Arti. Born…
Four well-preserved spears have been discovered during underwater investigations in Lake Lednica, west-central Poland. These discoveries are the latest additions to what may be the largest collection of European early medieval weaponry discovered at single site, comprising almost 300 military…
A B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that crashed into the Baltic Sea in 1943 has been located by marine archaeologists more than 80 years after it was lost. The project was led by Dr Piotr Bojakowski from Texas A&M University, in…
Underwater excavations around the Aegadian Islands, off the north-west coast of Sicily, have discovered a 2,200-year-old bronze helmet of the ‘Montefortino’ type. This style of Roman helmet, which has a conical shape with a knob on top, a flared rim,…
The Egyptian Department of Underwater Antiquities has recovered three heavy ancient artefacts from the seabed off the coast at Abu Qir Bay in Alexandria. One of them is a large quartz sphinx bearing the cartouches of Ramesses II. The team…
Large Iron Age settlement found in Czechia Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a large settlement dating to between the 3rd and 1st century BC in the Hradec Králové region of north-east Bohemia, Czechia. First discovered in 2023 during investigations…
A wooden beam decorated with a lifelike human face has been discovered in Lake Lednica, Poland. Systematic underwater archaeological research in Lake Lednica has been taking place since the 1980s and has uncovered a wealth of material. Among the finds…
Underwater archaeological investigations have located the missing bow of the USS New Orleans in the Solomon Islands’ Iron Bottom Sound. The US Navy cruiser was heavily damaged during the Battle of Tassafaronga on 30 November 1942 when it was hit…
Detailed archaeological analysis and archival research has revealed the identity of a mysterious ship whose timbers were recently exposed on an Orkney beach. Carly Hilts spoke to Ben Saunders to learn more.
REVIEW BY ANDREA HAMEL This latest book by James P Delgado, eminent maritime archaeologist and historian, provides a superb overview of shipwrecks, covering hundreds of wrecks from around the world, from the most-famous examples to local fishing boats, and covering…
A community-led project in Costa Rica has identified two wrecks as lost 18th-century Danish slave ships.
REVIEW BY LISA BRIGGS It has been 15 years since A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor was first published and introduced readers to a novel method of breaking down world history into bite-sized, easily digestible…
More than 250 years after she was sunk, the final resting place of the vessel commanded by Captain James Cook on his first voyage of discovery has been confirmed. HMS Endeavour, which Cook used to map the Pacific Ocean and…
A chance discovery at Liman Tepe prompted a pioneering archaeological project that is setting the submerged portions of this ancient city alongside its remains on dry land. Evidence won from the sea is revealing new stories about how a major emporium evolved over the millennia, as Vasıf Sahoglu explained to Matthew Symonds.
Alost British submarine has been found in the Aegean Sea. HMS Trooper struck a mine on 7 October 1943, causing what has been described as an ‘immediate and rapid sinking.’ All 64 men and officers on board lost their lives,…
A French-Egyptian team has begun documenting rock carvings and inscriptions south of Aswan that were submerged when the area was flooded to create the Aswan High Dam in the 1970s. Working in the area between the dam and the reservoir,…
A U-boat that sank off the coast of Germany at the end of the First World War was most likely scuttled, according to new research. Scientists from the University of Dundee believe they have established what happened to UC-71, which…
The remains of temples to Amun and the Greek goddess Aphrodite have been discovered at Thonis Heracleion, the sunken city in Abu Qir Bay, near Alexandria. The team, from the Supreme Council of Archaeology and the European Institute for Underwater…
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a ship that sank in the Mediterranean Sea, approximately 650 metres off the coast of el-Alamein. Dating to the 3rd century BC, the ship was carrying a cargo of wine amphorae imported from Rhodes.…
A diving team has explored the final resting place of a German U-boat that sank off the coast of Shetland during the First World War. SM UC-55 lies on the seabed some eight miles south-east of Lerwick. She was sunk…
The British submarine HMS Triumph was lost in mysterious circumstances off the coast of Greece in 1942. Now she has been located, after a search lasting more than 25 years. The submarine, which was involved in various special operations during…
The cargo comprises around 44 tonnes of marble architectural elements, including Corinthian capitals and marble columns
A round-up of some of the latest archaeological discoveries from across the globe.