The Medieval Shipwrecks of Novy Svet: A Reassesment

Summary

Since 1997, Dr. Sergey Zelenko of the Centre for Underwater Archaeology (CUA) at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev has been conducting survey and excavation near the resort town of Novy Svet on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula. CUA researchers have discovered the remains of three medieval shipwrecks spanning the 10th to the late 13th centuries, illuminating much about Black Sea seafaring. Recently, multi-national CUA teams discovered hull timbers, anchors and vessel materials dating from the early Classical to the Medieval periods. Careful mapping of these materials has shown that they have discrete distributions. While it has commonly been held that organic preservation at the site is poor, recent finds challenge this and demand a renewed effort to ascertain the full extent of the assemblage. Further, these findings demonstrate that in situ or nearly in situ preservation of wreck sites may be found even in dynamic littorals. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recognizing, Reassessing and Reconstructing European Maritime Cultural Landscapes from the Late Neolithic to the 20th Century   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 180