Soon after the discovery of the "Tortugas " shipwreck site over 1,300 feet (405 meters) deep, a Phantom Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) outfitted with video and still camera capabilities and a manipulator arm for recovering artifacts was launched from the Research Vessel Seahawk. The first artifact retrieved—a bronze bell—was used to establish an admiralty claim to the "Tortugas " site. The video revealed a site approximately 10 meters (33 feet) wide and 15 meters (49 feet) long with evidence of wooden timbers, piles of ballast stone and dozens of 17th century Colonial-style ceramic amphorae known as “olive jars.” The depth of the "Tortugas " site required a robotic archaeological excavation which at the time had never been tried before. New systems were developed, technologies were adapted, and innovation was vital to every phase of the project. During the 1990-1991 excavation seasons,the "Tortugas " site yielded nearly 17,000 artifacts, and would make history as the first deep-ocean remotely-operated archaeological excavation of a shipwreck. |