The Çamaltı Burnu I in Progress

The Çamaltı Burnu I shipwreck excavation, ending in 2004, was the fifth and last phase of a twenty-year period of field work. Phase 1 began in 1984, when I started working on my doctoral dissertation, a classification of medieval Byzantine amphoras. During this phase, I also discovered work-shops / kiln areas that produced amphoras that belonged to Type I in my classification. In Phase 2, I surveyed the work-shops’ areas and found an half ruined kiln. In Phase 3, I excavated the kiln and resurveyed the area by magnetic prospection in an effort to estimate the probable level of amphora production. In Phase 4, having concluded that substantial numbers of amphoras had been produced in the workshops/ kiln areas and noting that Type I amphoras had been widely found in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, I started to conduct underwater surveys in the Sea of Marmara in search for the wrecks of ships loaded with these amphoras. Finally, over a period of seven years, I excavated one of the shipwrecks that I found, the Çamaltı Burnu I Wreck, dated to the 13th century. It was a pioneering effort: the first Turkish shipwreck excavation, which served as a field school for students, most of whom have since become successful colleagues of mine.
This brief notice is to let you know that we are working on the final publication, a task that I am afraid will take a number of more years to complete. As I am sure you all know, the excavation itself is just the visible part of the iceberg!