At Avery Point, A Marine Study That Spans The Ages

A tape measure weaves through iron pins jutting from a keel as UConn-Avery Point Professor David Robinson leads students from his Methods in Marine Archaeology course through a lesson documenting the wreck of William Gillette's yacht, the Aunt Polly, Wednesday in Lyme.


Lyme — Waves splashed knee-high on Arthur Williams, filling his rubber boots with chilly water as he and other University of Connecticut-Avery Point students surveyed an underwater shipwreck Wednesday.
The remains of William Gillette's steam yacht, the Aunt Polly, still lie on the shore of the Connecticut River. A tangle of timber and metal that burned in 1932, they bear little resemblance to the grand boat that once boasted a fireplace, a library and a piano.
For students of maritime archeology, a new minor offered by UConn-Avery Point, the site, next to the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, provided an opportunity to map actual wreckage.
With feet that seemed immune to the cold, Professor David Robinson waded in the water wearing sandals. He ran a tape measure 144 feet from the stern of the boat downstream, still visible at low tide, to the bow end, buried in the bank.
Wooden pilings stuck up out of the water and peg-like metal fasteners poked out of the wet sand. What appeared to be a tree stump was really a burned timber embedded in the riverbank.
A team in the water, Williams and Laurent Matson, shouted out measurements of parts of the ship. Rachel Sonn, on shore, plotted the data on a map and Dylan McCullough took photographs.
The goal was to monitor how quickly the wreck is eroding, and to help develop a long-term plan to preserve it.
Because it is one of only two shipwrecks in the state designated as an archeological preserve, the information will be used as a permanent part of the historic record maintained by the state.
Ken Beatrice, of the Friends of the Office of State Archeology and a local resident, pushed to get that designation. The remains of the boat have taken a beating over the years from ice that forms on the sides of the river in the winter, snapping off the timbers, and the waves created from boats passing by, he said.
People come to the picnic area and say, “What's this ugly thing? Why don't you get rid of it?” Beatrice said.
Beatrice tells them the history of the boat that served as Gillette's house from 1901 to 1919 while his castle was being built. It was later set in a concrete foundation to be used as a garden house.
There were rumors that Gillette, an actor known for playing Sherlock Holmes, burned Polly himself for the insurance money. But Gillette defended himself in a newspaper, saying there was no insurance. “I did not think of it in time,” he wrote in a letter to the editor.
Another rumor was that Gillette wanted to avoid paying taxes to the town of Lyme. In 1922, the value of his castle and grounds was assessed at $58,300. Gillette protested, declaring the value to be no more than $22,350.
But Beatrice said that the burning occurred in December, and the fire could easily have started from the commonly used kerosene heaters that protect the systems in the boat.
Helen Rozwadowski, an associate professor and coordinator of the maritime studies program, said UConn-Avery Point added the archeology minor as interest in the subject grew.
Students like McCullough hope to make it their career. He started out as an engineering major, and likes the technical side of such underwater documentation.
“I like investigating stuff that's been there for years,” he said.

k.warchut@theday.com , mohjam2@gmail.com

Raleigh colonies locations continue to elude archeologists

Nick Luccketti holds the sparking, green, 16th Century olive jar sherd. This is one of the clues that the archeologists are on the right track in their investigation. Ed Beckley Sentinel




Raleigh colonies locations continue to elude archeologists
By Ed Beckley Sentinel Correspondent

There's good news and bad news surrounding the two-week excavations that concluded Oct. 20, according to principal archeologist Nick Luccketti. "The good news is that we didn't find anything of consequence that could be lost in the future. The bad news is we didn't find anything of consequence."This is the last in a series of articles on the 2006 excavations at Fort Raleigh in search of the original sites of the Sir Walter Raleigh colonies.Luccketti, along with principal archeologist Eric Klingelhofer and First Colony Foundation President Phil Evans remained optimistic, however, and said their team would definitely return next year. "This is just the beginning," Luccketti said.Evans said that one of the primary goals of the excavations was to find out what percentage of the site in question was lost to erosion, and they determined that almost all of that part has been inundated by Roanoke Sound. Klingelhofer added that the team determined there was no major occupation there, but did not rule out the possibility that the village and forts could be adjacent to the digs, and submerged due to hundreds of years of steady erosion on northeast Roanoke Island.The archeologists found 15 artifacts in the test squares they dug parallel to the sound between Waterside Theater and the Prince House. The finds ranged from prehistoric Native American pottery sherds, to 16th Century olive jar sherds, musket charges, 19th Century pharmaceutical bottles and American stoneware, perhaps associated with the occupation of Union Civil War soldiers. The group concluded this area was only peripheral to the colonial residential site, at best.The principals said there were several important and positive outcomes of their visit, however. Evans said they learned that the present land surface on the island isn't that old, and the team has identified the various strata underground. Klingelhofer said that while it would have been nice to have found more artifacts to help date the strata, archeologists now know for certain how far down they need to dig to identify when the early Native tribes occupied the land. "We're starting to see and understand the ancient topography," he said, which would help them in future digs.Evans said the work paid off in other areas, as well. "We have built a good relationship with the National Park Service, and members of the community have shared valuable information on their experiences and findings. People are coming to us, and we're extending our eyes and ears to the people who live here. Klingelhofer said the park service is an important partner, and as long as the present dig site continues to produce artifacts near the eroding shoreline, park employees will keep a sharp eye on it and share what they learn.
He and Luccketti said the First Colony Foundation Board of Directors would meet to discuss future excavations here. Likely, they would focus on Roanoke Island, but perhaps in different locations.Evans said there's an area in Wanchese on private property that may hold some secrets, and the group needs to discuss access with the land owner. He said the group also would review the need for more underwater archeology.Klingelhofer said that modern archeologists have the tools to read the ground more efficiently than in the past, so he believes more geophysical remote sensing projects need to be done within the Fort Raleigh grounds, and particularly to revisit previously excavated areas from the mid 20th Century and later.Luccketti said the list of follow-ups includes the potential to excavate in the Hariot Woods section of Fort Raleigh, where past park service sensors have located underground anomalies. He said he believes "something secondary" is there, however, and not the village and forts.Klingelhofer said the Foundation has a commitment to the park service to continue excavating, and they look forward to returning to Roanoke Island in 2007.

ejbeckleyjr@yahoo.com, mohjam2@gmail.com

UConn Archaeology Students Study, Protect A River Shipwreck

Laurent Matson, a UConn-Avery Point senior, is shin-deep in water with his sleeve pushed up, fishing for the end of a piece of metal. A boat goes by and the wake splashes him. Nearby, Arthur Williams, a junior, is also suffering. Water has long since slopped over his knee-high boots and now it's marinating his cold toes.Ah, archaeology. Ah, water. Ah, the pains of mixing the two on a chilly fall day.In a class assignment that could help protect the East Haddam archaeological site, college students are measuring the effect of the environment on the wreckage of the Aunt Polly, a 144-foot boat once owned by eccentric actor William Gillette.The boat, which burned in 1932, has been hidden in plain sight down the hill from Gillette Castle, a state park. The wreck has been battered by waves and wakes from heavy boat traffic on the Connecticut River. In the winter and spring, ice loosens ship beams like a giant thumb. Friends of the site want something done to protect it from the ravages of the splash zone in which it rests, partially submerged in the sand.The erosion is evident by comparing the site today with images taken as recently as 20 years ago.And though the river temperature is still pleasant, the air and wind make wading an uncomfortable proposition.Matson finds the end of the steel and laughs."I better get an A," he says.But the man guiding the class, David S. Robinson, doesn't even glance up. Robinson is an adjunct professor and senior underwater archaeologist from the Public Archaeology Laboratory in Pawtucket, R.I. Being wet and cold is part and parcel of maritime studies.Robinson warns the group to move quickly. In an hour, the tide will again cover the wreckage. In fact, the tide has kept the site mostly hidden all these years. Outside of archaeology circles and interested neighbors, the boat's remains are often overlooked.On a recent fall morning when the class assembled to work, one area resident was walking his Labrador retriever, Mystic, near the project, and he recited all the better-known facts about the ship.The Aunt Polly was Gillette's second houseboat, an oddly long and slender steamboat built in the late 1800s in Brooklyn, N.Y. Gillette, a Hartford playwright who made his name portraying sleuth Sherlock Holmes, intended to live aboard the ship while building a home on Long Island - until, that is, he motored up the Connecticut River and found the land of his dreams. Work on what would become Gillette Castle - a name he didn't love - began atop a hill in East Haddam. The boat was lengthened by 44 feet in 1903 to include a larger salon. The well-appointed vessel, known as a "little palace afloat," included accoutrements like a working brick fireplace and a piano. Guests included Albert Einstein.The craft may have been named for a woman Gillette knew in North Carolina, where he'd gone earlier to recuperate after the death of his wife, Helen. His first boat - ugly enough to be called an "aquatic freak" by one newspaper - was known as the Holy Terror.When Gillette moved into his decidedly eccentric home in 1919, the Aunt Polly was placed on a concrete foundation and converted into a garden house. There it sat until it burned in December 1932. Firefighters tried to extinguish the blazes, officially said to be of "undetermined origin," but the boat was lost. In a clever note to a local newspaper, Gillette denied destroying the boat for insurance, as had been rumored. That notion, he wrote, "is a trifle incorrect, owing to the fact that there was no insurance. I did not think of it in time."Maybe it's the spirit of Gillette - a playful man whose interests are reflected in a castle that looks like dribbled sand - but students from Robinson's Methods in Maritime Archaeology have learned to expect anything, at this, one of the state's two deep-water archaeological preserves. The class is part of a new minor in marine archaeology, said Joseph Comprone, Avery Point Campus director and associate vice provost. The ocean-based course, and others like it, are meant to be hands-on. On the first day of class at Avery Point, Robinson showed up in a dry suit and hard-hat diving helmet that made him sound, he said, like Darth Vader.It got students' attention, and served to illustrate Robinson's point that fancy underwater technology is only part of what goes into researching sites like the Aunt Polly.The first significant study of the site was conducted in 2002 by a variety of offices and entities, including state archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni. Robinson's class work will help assess the damage from ice and wake action. A small dam may be necessary to protect the site, Bellantoni said. Aunt Polly is among countless significant and unheralded historical sites in Connecticut, he said."I tell people when I do my public lectures, `Every day of your life, you walk over and drive over archeology,'" he said. "It's invisible. It's below ground or below water."Thus far, the one scourge not visited upon the site is vandalism, Bellantoni said. "The great majority of people who come to visit know there's something of significance here," he said. "They're fascinated by it, and they respect it."For those who seek to harm the site or steal artifacts, there's not much to take, and those who vandalize significant archaeological sites are subject to still penalties. In fact, Robinson's project is called a "non-disturbance survey." Nothing is moved, and study is conducted with the approval of the Connecticut Historical Commission and the state Department of Environmental Protection.That scientists and scientists-in-training are paying attention to the site delights Kenneth Beatrice, of the Friends of the Office of State Archeology Inc., a non-profit formed to provide support to Bellantoni's office. A retired mechanical engineer, Beatrice has been taking pictures at the site for nearly 20 years and he assisted in the earlier survey. He'd like to see the site marked, and better-protected, he said."We are looking at a lot of history here," said Beatrice, who was instrumental in getting the site declared an underwater archaeological preserve. "One of the things about marine archaeology is there's a lot that's important there."

Har, me hearties! Crew excavates Blackbeard's ship

BEAUFORT, North Carolina (Reuters) -- Nearly three centuries ago, the notorious pirate Blackbeard ran aground in his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, off what is now a North Carolina beach town.
This month, a crew of 13 heads out to sea each day, hoping for clear-enough weather to dive the 20 to 25 feet to the ocean bottom to excavate what they believe is Blackbeard's ship.
The team has found cannons, a bell, lead shot of all sizes, gold dust, pewter cups and medical devices, like a urethral syringe used to treat syphilis with mercury.
"A saying at the time was 'a night with Venus and a month with mercury.' And mercury doesn't even cure you," lead archeologist Chris Southerly said in an interview.
In past years, Southerly and his team did spot digs to map the debris field measuring 150 feet by 70 feet.
This year, divers are excavating the southern one-third of the site. They use PVC and aluminum pipe to measure five-foot squares and meticulously record where objects are found.
But, working 1 1/4 mile off North Carolina, there are problems that landlubber archeologists don't encounter.
"Once we excavate down 2, 3, 4 feet, because of the currents and sand, it falls back in," said Southerly.
This classic archeology focuses on one of the most unusual men of an unusual era -- Blackbeard.
His real name, which may have been Edward Teach or Thatch, is the subject of speculation, as are his birthplace and birth date. He knew how to navigate, but there is only one sample of what could be his writing -- a ship's log entry.
"We don't know how tall (he was), but he seems to be taller than average for that period. One account calls him a 'spare' man. He certainly had charisma," says Lindley Butler, a retired history professor of Rockingham Community College, in Wentworth, North Carolina. Butler specializes in North Carolina history.
There were accounts that he tied slow-burning cannon fuses to his long black hair before going into battle.
"With the fuses in his hair and heavily armed, he's a frightening person," says Butler, who added that pirates preferred to take ships without a shot. "There were some psychopathic pirates out there, but Blackbeard was not one of them. We have no evidence that Blackbeard ever murdered anyone or ever tortured anyone.
Blackbeard at first fought with the British as a privateer, a kind of legal pirate, attacking Spanish and French ships in the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century.
With the war's end, Blackbeard and thousands of other unemployed sailors turned to piracy. His troop captured a French slaver called La Concorde in a brief skirmish in November 1717, says Butler.
He renamed the ship the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was probably 90 to 105 feet long. The band also had three smaller sloops, with about 400 men under arms.
In May 1718, Blackbeard's pirates sailed into the port of Charleston, South Carolina and, in a stunningly audacious move, blockaded the harbor. The ransom demanded, and paid, was a chest of medicine worth 400 pounds, says Butler.
"In a way, I guess it did sort of terrorize that port. Blackbeard at that time had a fleet of four vessels, with 60 cannons. This was the most powerful fleet in this hemisphere at this time," says Butler.
Shortly after terrorizing Charlestown, Blackbeard lost his lead ship, running the Queen Anne's Revenge aground on one of the many shifting sandbars off North Carolina, says Butler.
After the wreck the governor granted him a royal pardon, and Blackbeard went into at least semi-retirement in June 1718, spending chunks of time in Ocracoke, a barrier island off North Carolina.
But Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood was apparently unconvinced Blackbeard had actually given up pirating.
"Gov. Spotswood was having nightmares about this pirate sitting down here in North Carolina," says Butler.
He sent troops to find Blackbeard, and the two sides battled it out on November 21, 1718 on tiny Ocracoke.
Blackbeard was killed in ferocious fighting. Casualty figures vary but at least eight other pirates were killed, and eight British seamen. Blackbeard's head was cut off and stuck on a stake. His body was tossed overboard.
Blackbeard was probably in his 30s when he was killed, and had been a pirate captain for just about a year. During that time, his force had taken a town hostage and captured 40 ships.
"It's astonishing that he's had such an iconic role in such short a time. It's like a comet almost," says Butler.
With so little known about Blackbeard from primary sources, perhaps the best chance to get to know Blackbeard is through the wreck of the ship believed to be the Queen Anne's Revenge.
Archeologists on the dig, which runs from October 2 to November 9, have found a ship's bell from 1705, a 1713 cannon and stemware that was made made between 1714 and 1720.
"All of the artifacts are in the right time frame," said Southerly, who estimated that excavating the entire ship would take three to 3 1/2 years.
Sailors tend to have few belongings, maybe extra clothes, a pipe, a knife and a few other things. Few of these items have been found.
"The lack of personal effects of what we're finding so far is one of the interesting questions for us," he said. "We're trying to get back to the people."

All humanity derived from common root in African homeland.

Scientific world has finally reached the conclusion that all humans have the same roots and the same place of origin. First Russian archeological expedition going to Northern Iran is hoping to discover world’s most ancient human remains. Scientists will perform field researches in order to determine the oldest location bearing evidence of ancient human migration from Africa.

“The expedition will head off tomorrow. We will lead field research in four Northern Iranian provinces with an aim of finding certain places that still bear witness of human ancestors’ migration from Africa into Eurasia. We are then planning on leading a 5-10 year stationary research at those locations,” graduate Anatoliy Derevianko told “Novosti.” Derevianko is the director of the Siberian department’s Institute of Archeology and Ethnography and the head of the planned expedition.
According to Derevianko the scientific world has come to a realization that all humanity has the same roots and one common place of origin, which is Africa. All archeological, anthropological and paleogenetical data clearly point to this fact, he is convinced.
“The most ancient human remains in the world as well as the stone tools found near the remains are in the eastern part of Africa. Paleogenetic clues also testify that all humanity has the same beginning, and its origin is precisely in Africa ,” the scientist claims.
Approximately 1.8-2 million years ago man left Africa and began settling in Eurasia. Iran was the main territory of transition during the times when the settlers were starting to inhabit Asia and to some degree Europe, Derevianko explained.
“In the past 15-20 years many interesting discoveries were made at the locations adjacent to Iran – in Eastern Georgia, Azerbaidzhan, and Russia (Dagestan). In particular human remains were discovered that date back to 1.6-1.8 million BC. Therefore the territory across Iran has been most important for solving the question of man’s spreading into Eurasia,” the scientist added.
Vzgliad
Translated by Natalia VysotskayaPravda.ru

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) -

Ethiopian scientists unveiled on Wednesday a 3.3 million-year-old fossil of a girl, which they believe is the most complete skeleton ever found. The fossil including an entire skull, torso, shoulder blade and various limbs was discovered at Dikaka, some 400 kms northeast of the capital Addis Ababa near the Awash river in the Rift Valley.
"The finding is the most complete hominid skeleton ever found in the world," Zeresenay Alemseged, head of the Paleoanthropological Research Team, told a news conference.
He said the fossil was older than the 3.2 million year old remains of "Lucy" discovered in 1974, and described by scientists as one of the world's greatest archaeological finds.
"The new bones belong to a three year old girl who lived 3.3 million years ago -- 150,000 years before Lucy," Zeresenay said.
"Evidence indicates that she probably died in a flood from the nearby Awash river," he added.
The fossil has been named "Selam," which means peace in Ethiopia's official Amharic language.
Zeresenay said she belonged to the Australopithecus afarnesis species, which includes Lucy, and is thought to be an ancestor to modern humans.
"We now have for the first time the hard evidence for a clear picture of what early child human ancestors looked like," he added.
Over the last 50 years, Ethiopia has been a hotbed for archaeological discoveries.
The discovery of Lucy -- an almost complete hominid skeleton -- was a landmark in the search for the origins of humanity.
While a hominid skull thought to be between%