History's 10 Greatest Wrecks...

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The first scientific archaeological excavation of a shipwreck took place just over 50 years ago. Since then, thousands of wrecks have been discovered, each with an important story to tell. Choosing 10 from among them to represent the endeavor of nautical archaeology is a difficult—and subjective—task. But each offers a profile of an age and a window into the lives of its people, as well as evidence of just how clever and innovative our ancestors were as they took to the seas. Through these stories, we also see why archaeologists continue to devote themselves, despite danger and difficulty, to the examination and excavation of wrecks, wherever they might be discovered. From the rudimentary dive equipment of the earliest excavations to the sophisticated remote-sensing and remotely operated technology of today, archaeologists have shown that no site is beyond the reach of our inquiry into the past.

  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    Cape Gelidonya and Uluburun

    Turkey

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    (INA)
  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    Bajo de la Campana

    Spain

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    (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)
  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    Kyrenia

    Cyprus

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    (Jonathan Blair/National Geographic Stock)
  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    Khubilai Khan Fleet

    Japan

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    (Private Collection/Ancient Art and Architecture Collection Ltd.)
  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    Skuldelev Ships

    Denmark

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    (The Bridgeman Art Library)
  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    Mary Rose and Vasa

    England/Sweden

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    (Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library)
  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    Yenikapı

    Turkey

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    (Courtesy Istanbul University)
  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    Spanish Armada

    Scotland/Ireland

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    (Universal History Archive/UIG)
  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    USS Monitor and H.L. Hunley

    United States

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    (Naval History and Heritage Command)
  • History's 10 Greatest Wrecks... March 1, 2013

    RMS Titanic

    North Atlantic Ocean

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    (AP Photo/RMS Titanic Inc.)
  • Features January/February 2013

    Neolithic Europe's Remote Heart

    One thousand years of spirituality, innovation, and social development emerge from a ceremonial center on the Scottish archipelago of Orkney

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    Adam Stanford/Aerial Cam
  • Features January/February 2013

    The Water Temple of Inca-Caranqui

    Hydraulic engineering was the key to winning the hearts and minds of a conquered people

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    Caranqui-opener
    (Courtesy Tamara L. Bray)
  • Letter from France January/February 2013

    Structural Integrity

    Nearly 20 years of investigation at two rock shelters in southwestern France reveal the well-organized domestic spaces of Europe's earliest modern humans

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  • Artifacts January/February 2013

    Pacific Islands Trident

    A mid-nineteenth-century trident illustrates a changing marine ecosystem in the South Pacific

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    (Catalog Number 99071 © The Field Museum, [CL000_99071_Overall], Photographer Christopher J. Philipp)