Christmas in Israel: Diving Apollonia 2

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Photos:  (photo 1) top of human skull discovered by Randi this AM;  (photo 2) rib fragments adjacent to skull;  (photos 3) examples of encrusted metal objects in Apollonia harbor;  (photo 4) recorded for Dr. Eva Grossman, documenting dredging that took place through near Byzantine breakwater;  (photo 5) aerial photograph of Apollonia & the harbor, with dredged area circled. 

For video footage of this dive, see BOT.

Knowing that a storm system was on the way, I hopped into the water first thing this morning.  Eva asked that I investigate a cut in the breakwater, created two years ago when a boat ran aground and required dredging to be freed.  It is Eva's belief that the breakwater once held construction, evidenced by the abundance of ashlar stones (cut stones) around sections of the breakwater.  (Note photo 5 above and the video footage at ashlar stones.)  She was interested in the seeing whether the dredging might offer further evidence in support of her working theory.  While the video might not be interesting for you, I've uploaded a clip at breakwater.

One develops an eye for metal on an underwater archaeological site.  All metals tend to become encrusted with thick layers of calcium carbonate, along with shells, stones, and other forms of marine life.  Bronze and copper tends to develop a blue-green patina when exposed to saltwater.  Iron turns black.  I include photo 3 above as an example of an encrusted object, unidentified;  note also the video footage at metal.  These objects might be ancient or modern.  There's an abundance of modern junk here in the sea, and distinguishing between something modern and ancient is difficult.  I have observed that the marine encrustation around copper-bronze and lead objects simply knocks off, revealing a clean surface.  Not so with iron, where the metal seems to chemically bond to the encrustation.  Break the casing, and break the metal object.

While I was off diving, Randi roamed the bluffs and found two objects of note:  a coin, heavy with corrosion, likely Byzantine, judging by its size;  and a second human skull, this time exposed at the top, with the suture lines clearly exposed in the bone.  We went back to explore the area after my dive, and discovered other bone material scattered around.  Note the video footage of this at bones1, bones2, and bones3.