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Ballard Finds Traces of Ancient Habitation Beneath Black Sea
Abundant wooden beams and branches were located in the vicinity of the archaeological site. This beam shows signs of being worked by implements or tools.
Today Ballard, famous for finding Titanic, confirmed that his research team, sponsored in part by the National Geographic Society, has identified a wooden structure on a gently sloping shelf near the convergence of two submerged ancient river beds.
This is an incredible find, Ballard said in a telephone call to the National Geographic Society from the expedition ship Northern Horizon. It consists of [the remains of] a single building with a hewn beam and wooden branches that formed the walls and roof of a structuremost likely a house. We have also found and photographed stone tools, possibly a chisel or an axe, and ceramic storage vessels, all untouched since the flooding of the Black Sea.
The find represents the first concrete evidence for the occupation of the Black Sea coast prior to its flooding, says expedition archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert, of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. This is a major discovery that will rewrite the history of civilizations in this key area between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
The wooden structure is the only building sighted so far during the expedition. As the search continues, the team hopes that additional finds will suggest a settlement pattern along the ancient coastline. Using sonar profiles, Ballards team has identified more than 50 potential search areas similar to the site of the structure.
IN SEARCH OF NOAHS FLOOD
Last year, Ballard and his colleagues found proof that a catastrophic flood inundated the Black Sea in the region north of Turkey. The place and date of the floodwhich may have occurred around 5,500 B.C.correspond to the time and location of the Old Testament account of Noah.
Following a theory proposed by marine geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman, Ballard searched for evidence that the Black Sea, originally a freshwater lake, filled rapidly with salt water spilling from the Mediterranean Sea about 7,500 years ago through what is now the Bosporus. The flood, apparently the result of thousands of years of meltwater collecting in the Mediterranean following the end of the last ice age (about 12,000 years ago) would have spread over an area of land the size of Costa Rica. The flood may have buried coastal settlements as it engulfed the ancient landscape.
During the 1999 expedition, Ballards team discovered a submerged ancient shoreline with a flat beach area beneath about 550 feet(168 meters) of waterevidence supporting Ryan and Pittmans theory.
Radiocarbon dating and paleontological evidence from a sample of shells and sediment collected from the site suggested that a massive flood occured about 7,500 years ago. However, carbon dating using marine life is notoriously vague. Dates can be off by several hundred years. Dating a sample of wood from the site would provide a much-needed confirmation for Pitman and Ryans proposed flood date.
Among the sediment samples was a piece of obsidian, which was used by people in the ancient Near East to shape blades and arrows. Hoping that the obsidian suggested the presence of humans, Ballard returned this year to search for signs of human occupation.
SIGNS OF LIFE
Early last week, using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Argus, Ballards team spotted a rectangular feature about 12 meters (13 yards) long and 4 meters (4.4 yards) wide at the intersection of two ancient inland river channels . It appeared to be made of wood. Though intrigued, they were forced to wait for the arrival of the more nimble ROV Little Hercules, whose superior video capability enabled the crew to get closer to the structure and get a much clearer look.
Through Little Hercules robotic eyes, on Friday the team looked again at the mysterious structure, and confirmed it was a type of dwelling. The building [has] carved wooden beams, wooden branches, and stone tools collapsed among the mud matrix of the structure, Ballard said.
Archaeologist Hiebert noted the presence of a stone axe, which looked exactly like one in a Sinop archaeology museum, located just 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the find.
The structure was likely made of wattle and dauba framework of wooden sticks covered with mud or clay. This type of construction, with wood supports sunk firmly into the ground, would account for the fact that the wood was not carried away by floodwaters. As the waters rose, the mud probably melted away, leaving the wooden bones behind.
Though the structure does not lie within the Black Seas anoxic dead zone, the site is well preserved due to its proximity to those deep, oxygen-free waters. Such proximity might have prevented wood-consuming organisms from devouring the site as they would likely have done in shallower waters.
THRILL OF DISCOVERY
The excitement aboard the ship is unbelievable, said nationalgeographic.com producer Sean Markey in a telephone call from the Northern Horizon.
Markey joined the expedition to chronicle the search for evidence of human habitation in the preflood landscape of the Black Sea. Finding any signs of human occupation was a long shot for the team, which had planned to devote just two weeks to the search.
All of that has changed, says Markey, who reports that the team on the Northern Horizon is working around the clock to search other potential locations, and photograph and map the search areaand look for signs of ancient artifacts.
If Ballards team gets permission from the Turkish government, they may take a sample of the wood for dating. This would not only confirm the date of the structure, but help to establish a more precise date for when the flooding of the Black Sea took place.
I expected to write it off, said Ballard shortly after the team first spotted the remains of the structure with the ROV Argus. Ive never seen anything like that before, and Ive seen a lot of things.
Says Markey, this was the long shot, and it turned out to be the winner.
The expedition will continue to file dispatches from the Black Sea as new discoveries are made. Check Ballard & the Black Sea for updates.