Haifa, Israel - New underwater excavations of shipwrecks at the lagoon of Dor (Tantura), Israel, will start in October 2007 under the direction of Dr Yaacov (Yak) Kahanov of the Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Israel, with the cooperation of Chris Brandon of the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS), Great Britain, and Kurt Raveh, who has been investigating the maritime aspects of the site since 1975.
The 2007 excavations will focus on two shipwreck sites in Dor Lagoon.

Historical Background
The eastern Mediterranean has been on major sea trade routes for millennia, with local and international commerce between Egypt, the Levant, the Aegean and Rome.
The weather conditions during the sailing season led to passages generally being made anti-clockwise around the eastern Mediterranean basin. The passage from Rome to Egypt, with a fair wind, took a few days, but the return journey led a ship from Alexandria along the coast of the Levant and south of Turkey to the Aegean, and could take months. St. Paul’s voyage to Rome gives a good illustration of the problems. Coastal passages, including those from the Levant to Egypt with cargoes of oil, wine and wood, were probably made in short hops, during the mornings, when there was an off-shore breeze. The prevailing south-west to north-west winds made the whole Levant coast a lee-shore, with very few natural, and fewer artificial, harbors where shelter could be found in bad weather.
The happy result, for marine archaeologists, was that there were many shipwrecks. However, the warm sea led to rapid destruction of unprotected wood and other organic materials by organisms such as teredo worms and bacteria. Only when a wreck was quickly covered by sand was the organic material preserved. Lead, bronze and copper objects were usually preserved, although being covered with a thick concretion layer which disguised them. Iron objects usually corroded away, but sometimes left an impression of themselves inside the concretion layer. Stone was unaffected, and so was pottery, if it was buried and protected from erosion.

The Lagoon
The Lagoon of Tantura, or Dor, which is its ancient and now modern name, is partially protected from the sea by a string of four small islands, which are separated from the shore by a narrow navigation channel.
The Lagoon is south of the ancient promontory of Dor, the present Tel Dor, which has been extensively excavated under the direction of Ephraim Stern. There is evidence of four thousand years of occupation since the Bronze Age. Dor is mentioned in the Bible and Hellenistic sources. The city is apparently mentioned in an Egyptian inscription dated to the 13th century BC, but its most famous ancient record is from the Golenischeff Papyrus, also known as the Wen-Amon account, dated to about 1100 BC.
To the north of Tel Dor are slipways and purple dye extraction installations; on the southern side there are the remains of the Crusader fort of Merle, also known as Khirbet-el-Burj; and to the east are those of a Byzantine church.
Commercial coasters used to moor in the Lagoon, but now it is only used by fishing boats. Napoleon stopped in Tantura in 1799 on his retreat from Acco (Acre), and used its anchorage for small boats.
Dor Lagoon served as an anchorage for coasters and perhaps also as a refuge in case of moderately rough sea conditions. Local knowledge, professional navigation and seamanship were essential in order to use it safely. Vessels would make for the gap at the southern end to shelter in their lee. As it rounded the southernmost island and turned north a ship would come up against the north-south current and lose way as it came closer to the wind, often resulting in its grounding.
The Lagoon has an interesting life. During winter storms several thousand tons of sand are swept in or out, resulting in changes in the sea bed. The sand layer over the base stratum of grey clay can be up to several metres thick. When it shifts it covers or uncovers whatever is there. It can cover a newly-wrecked vessel and preserve it, and this phenomenon has resulted in the accumulation of nearly three thousand years of material, usually without coherent stratigraphy, but full of interest.
The Lagoon contains remains of more than 20 wrecks, almost complete or fragmentary, piles of ballast stones, pottery (which is washed around the area, so usually cannot be used for dating wrecks with any certainty), stone anchors (more than 200 have been found in the Lagoon), muskets and ammunition left by Napoleon’s army. 
All of these have their story and scientific value in learning about trade, the development of ship construction and local history in general.

Surveys and excavations

The location of Dor, the protected anchorages along the Tel to the north and south, and evidence of marine activities, brought archaeologists to survey and excavate the area. Underwater archaeology has revealed evidence of maritime activities dating back to the second half of the second millennium BC. One of the questions is the location of the ancient harbor.
Organized underwater surveying and excavation have been going on here since 1975, and the survey findings up to 1991 have been published.
Since then there have been several excavations and investigations of shipwrecks in the Lagoon, and additional wreck sites have been identified. Some of these have been described in various publications and international meetings, but have not been reported in complete detail.
All these sites are under the auspices of the Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies and the Department of Maritime Civilizations of the University of Haifa, and are being excavated in cooperation with the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) and Kurt Raveh, who has been surveying and excavating here for more than 30 years. Most excavations are the subjects of Master’s or Doctoral theses. 

The 2007 Dig
The excavation in October 2007 will be directed by Dr Yaacov Kahanov, with the cooperation of Chris Brandon (NAS) and Kurt Raveh. It will focus on two shipwreck sites in Dor Lagoon:
Tantura F, a local Islamic period vessel from the 8th century AC, first surveyed in 1996 by the combined INA-CMS expedition headed by Shelley Wachsmann. This will be the fourth season of excavation. This is the only 8th Century wreck to have been found in the Mediterranean, so we have a unique opportunity to investigate a vessel of this period.
The hull survived up to the turn of the bilge and almost to the bow and stern. The hull, which is based on keel, frames nailed to the keel and longitudinal reinforcing members, to which planks were nailed and later caulked, is clearly of skeleton orientation. The vessel was about 15 meters overall length, with a beam of about 5 meters.
The pottery found includes in-situ jars, some containing fish remains, a juglet and a cooking pot of the Early Islamic period. The organic materials included rope, reed matting, a wooden spoon, a bone needle, and a large amount of fish bones, carobs and olive pits.
Tantura E, another early Islamic period shipwreck. It was discovered on the last day of the 1995 excavation season and a thorough excavation was started in the 2006 season. The upper layer of the hull was exposed, with some finds. Preliminary measurements were made, which allowed an estimate of the overall length at 10 meters.

"This season should be enjoyable and instructive, as usual, and we hope it will add significantly to our knowledge of ancient ships, trade and seafaring", sums Dr. Kahanov.

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Date :	31/07/2010
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