site.btaBlack Sea MAP Project Places Bulgaria on Maritime Archaeology Map - Experts

November 27 (BTA) - With the series of shipwrecks it has
discovered, the Black Sea MAP maritime archaeology project has
placed Bulgaria on the map of maritime research. Such finds are
very few and extremely rare, and they cannot be found elsewhere,
 the head of the Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Sozopol
(on the Black Sea), Dr. Kalin Dimitrov, told a news conference
Tuesday.

He explained that the reason for this are the conditions in the
Black Sea which preserve the remains; as a result, a find is the
 ship itself, not just parts of the cargo as is the case
elsewhere.

Participants in the news conference included Prof. Jon Adams,
founding Director of the University of Southampton's Centre for
Maritime Archaeology, Assoc. Prof. Lyudmil Vagalinski, Director
of the National Institute of Archaeology with Museum at the
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Kroum Batchvarov,
Assistant Prof. at the University of Connecticut.

In the period between 2015 and 2017, the team discovered some 65
 shipwrecks dating from antiquity to modern times. In the last
three years, the international team of archaeologists and other
researchers studied the Black Sea bed to learn more about the
changes of the sea level after the last Ice Age. The project
team used state-of-the art technology to explore over 2,000 sq m
 of sea bed.

The oldest vessels discovered by the expedition date from
antiquity. One most probably dates to Greek colonization in the
4th century BC, while the other registers Roman presence in
Bulgaria about the 1st-2nd century AD.

The scientists collected sondage samples which were studied at
the University of Southampton. Their discoveries include
volcanic material from two periods, Prof. Adams said. There was
an eruption 22,500 years ago, as well as another one dating
3,500 years ago. In his opinion, the latter caused the
destruction of the Minoan civilization. The expert said they had
 not expected to find information about the volcanic eruption so
 far to the north.

The explorations of the team have revealed evidence that the
level of the Black Sea was 110 m lower than it is now, after
which it rose gradually. However, no evidence of catastrophic
flooding was established./RY/BR