在地中海發(fā)現(xiàn)的羅馬沉船的幽靈遺骸

在地中海發(fā)現(xiàn)的羅馬沉船的幽靈遺骸

Researchers exploring the eastern Mediterranean Sea using advanced sonar technology have uncovered one of the largest Roman shipwrecks ever discovered.

研究人員使用先進的聲納技術探索地中海東部，發(fā)現(xiàn)了迄今為止最大的羅馬沉船之一。

The ancient merchant vessel lies at a depth of 197 feet off the coast of the Greek Island of Kefallinia. All that remains visible are 1,200 ceramic shipping jugs known as amphorae, resting in a haunting outline of the wreck.

這艘古代商船位于希臘Kefallinia島海岸197英尺深的地方。剩下的只有1200個被稱為“雙耳”(amphorae)的陶罐，它們躺在沉船令人難忘的輪廓中。

A scale reproduction of the wreck site showing an estimated 1,200 amphorae outlining the remains of the Roman vessel. (Photo: Ionian Aquarium)

According to Dr. George Ferentinos, who along with nine other academics detailed the find in the Journal of Archeological Science, the organized distribution of the amphorae likely rules out sinking of the 110-foot vesel due to inclement weather.

喬治·費倫蒂諾博士和其他9位學者在《考古科學雜志》上詳細介紹了這一發(fā)現(xiàn)，他說，雙耳巖的有序分布可能排除了這條110英尺高的小火山因惡劣天氣而下沉的可能性。

"The outline of the amphorae on the seafloor resembles the outline of ships at that period," Dr. Ferentinos told MNN of the 'Fiscardo' wreck, named after a nearby fishing village. "This indicates that the cargo has kept the outline of the ship, suggesting that the ship sank very slowly in an up-wright position and and came to rest on its keel and then gradually tipped in the one side with the hull keeping its overall structure. Therefore, it may-be assumed that the ship did not sink due to stormy weather but probably due to amphorae shifting in the hull."

“海底雙耳船的外形與當時船只的外形相似，”費倫蒂諾斯對MNN說。“雙耳船”是以附近的一個漁村命名的。“這表明貨物保持了船的輪廓，表明這艘船以上萊特式的緩慢下沉，然后停在龍骨上，然后逐漸傾斜，船體保持整體結構。因此，可以假定這艘船不是由于暴風雨天氣而沉沒的，而可能是由于船體中雙耳板的移動而沉沒的。”

A floor mosaic representation of a Roman merchant vessel dating back to about A.D. 300 and discovered in Lod, Israel. (Photo: Carole Raddato [CC by 2.0]/Flickr)

The team, part of the Oceanus network of the University of Patras and funded by the INTEREG Greece-Italy 2007-2013 Programme, was able to collect data that indicates the amphorae were stowed in five layers of the ship's hull. As a result, it's estimated that as many as 6,000 of the ceramic jugs may have been aboard when the vessel foundered.

這個研究小組是帕特雷大學“大洋洲”網絡的一部分，由INTEREG greech - italy 2007-2013項目資助。他們收集到的數(shù)據(jù)表明，雙耳罩被放置在船體的五層。因此，據(jù)估計，當這艘船沉沒時，船上可能有多達6000個陶瓷罐。

Based on its cargo and measurements, it's believed that large Roman merchant ships like the Fiscardo were fully capable of shipping up to 400 tons of cargo to ports throughout the Mediterranean and beyond.

根據(jù)它的貨物和測量，人們相信像Fiscardo這樣的大型羅馬商船完全有能力運送400噸的貨物到整個地中海甚至更遠的港口。

Amphorae from the wreck of the Roman merchant vessel 'Fiscardo.' (Photo: Ionian Aquarium)

After a performing a detailed analysis of the amphorae dimensions, the team was able to date the merchant vessel to sometime between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D.

在對雙耳型尺寸進行了詳細的分析之后，研究小組確定了這艘商船的年代在公元前1世紀到公元1世紀之間。

According to Ferentinos, there's much to be learned from studying these shipping containers, which were often used for transporting dry and liquid products throughout the ancient world.

根據(jù)Ferentinos的說法，在研究這些集裝箱的過程中可以學到很多東西，這些集裝箱在古代經常被用來運輸干貨和液體產品。

"Possibly, some of the amphorae may remain sealed," he explained. "However, even if the amphorae are opened, by taking a sample from the inside wall of the amphorae you can find with what they were filled by determining the DNA of the absorbed material in the wall."

他解釋說:“可能有些雙耳罐仍然是密封的。”“然而，即使雙殼層被打開，通過從雙殼層內壁提取樣本，你也可以通過測定壁內被吸收物質的DNA找到它們被填充的部分。”

Photomosaic of the Roman wreck on the seafloor. (Photo: Ionian Aquarium)

Cargo aside, the team also expressed hope that the wooden hull of the ship, extending possibly nine feet into the sea floor, may yet remain preserved under the sand.

除了貨物之外，研究小組還表示，他們希望這艘可能延伸到海底9英尺(約合3米)的船的木質船體仍能在沙子下保持完好。

"In general after a few centuries the wooden parts of the ships that lie on the seabed disintegrates due to the presence of aerobic bacteria," Ferentinos explained. "However, if the wooden frame of the ship is buried by mud and/or sand, due to the low % of dissolved oxygen in the sediment pore-water, the presence of bacteria would be limited. Thus the disintegration of the wooden parts would be reduced."

Ferentinos解釋說:“一般來說，幾個世紀后，由于有氧細菌的存在，躺在海底的船的木制部分會分解。”“然而，如果船的木質框架被泥土和/或沙子掩埋，由于沉積物中的孔隙水中溶解氧含量低，細菌的存在將是有限的。”這樣就可以減少木制部件的解體。”

As shown in the sonar image above, the wreck has also suffered from what's likely the result of scouring due to an anchor being dragged along the sea floor. As tourism has increased over the years to the Fiscardo embayment, so too has the presence of yachts and cruise ships anchored offshore. The authors hope the discovery of priceless ancient treasure such as this one leads to increased efforts to provide permanent off-shore moorings to reduce damage and preserve the sites for future exploration.

如在上面的聲納圖像中所示，由于錨沿著海底被拖曳，沉船也遭受了“沖刷”的結果。隨著近年來游客人數(shù)的增加，停泊在岸邊的游艇和游船也越來越多。作者希望這次發(fā)現(xiàn)的無價之寶能夠促使人們更加努力地提供永久性的近海停泊處，以減少損害，并保護這些遺址，以備未來的勘探。

"All the above demonstrate that the shipwreck on one hand covers a wide range of values such as scientific, cultural, socio-economic and educational," they conclude in the study, "but on the other hand lies in an area of continuously fast growing tourism which affects all the above intrinsic values if protective measures are not taken very soon."

他們在研究中總結道：“所有這些都表明，沉船一方面涵蓋了科學、文化、社會、經濟和教育等廣泛的價值觀，“但另一方面，旅游業(yè)持續(xù)快速增長，如果不盡快采取保護措施，就會影響上述所有內在價值。”