George Fletcher Bass, Ph.D.Although

George Fletcher Bass, Ph.D.

Although he began reading everything he could find on diving at an early age, and had more books about the underwater world than about archaeology even when he was a graduate student, George Bass never dreamed that he would ever dive. Certainly not that one day he would receive the Historical Diving Society's Pioneer Award.

His diving began in 1960, shortly after he began doctoral studies in classical archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania. He already had an M.A. in Near Eastern archaeology from The Johns Hopkins University, and between 1955 and 1957 had attended the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, where he gained field experience by assisting on preclassical terrestrial excavations in Greece and Turkey. From 1957 to 1959 he had learned how to direct and take care of people in remote camps while serving as the lieutenant-in-charge of a 30-man U.S. Army detachment in Korea.

So George already had the interest and most of the needed experience when, soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, he was asked by his department chairman if he would learn to dive in order to excavate a Late Bronze Age shipwreck reported by journalist Peter Throckmorton off the Turkish coast. In early 1960, after taking six diving lessons at a local YMCA, he left with Peter for Turkey, where he directed the excavation of the wreck, about a hundred feet deep off Cape Gelidonya. It was the first ancient wreck excavated in its entirety on the seabed, and the first shipwreck excavation directed and published by a diving archaeologist. At the end of the excavation, with permission from the Turkish government, George started a museum of underwater archaeology in the Bodrum castle; now fully Turkish, it is the nation's most visited archaeological museum.

George concluded that the ship, which sank around 1200 B.C. with a cargo of copper and tin ingots, and scrap bronze, was Near Eastern in origin. He further claimed, based on contemporary cuneiform documents and Egyptian tomb paintings, that such ships were common in the Mediterranean, although most scholars then believed that Canaanite, or early Phoenician, maritime commerce began only in the following Iron Age. George believed the Semites had not been recognized because their goods, raw materials like tin, copper, ivory, and gold, left no traces once they reached port and were manufactured into artifacts typical of the importing cultures. His controversial view was widely scorned.

George devoted the rest of the 1960s to the development of new techniques for underwater research while excavating Byzantine, Late Roman and Ottoman shipwrecks at Yassı Ada, Turkey: a submersible decompression chamber without surface support; a method of mapping wrecks by stereo-photogrammetry; and a two-person submersible, the Asherah, launched in 1964, the year he received his doctorate and joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty. To tend Asherah, the first commercially built American research submersible, he acquired on loan from the U.S. Navy an Army T-boat, Virazon, which he shipped to the Aegean. In 1967 his team was the first to locate an ancient wreck with side-scan sonar, a 280-foot-deep site inspected from Asherah.

In 1968, George returned to land to assist the Greek excavation at of a Bronze Age city covered by volcanic ash on the island of Santorini. Then, after another campaign at Yassi Ada, and a sabbatical year at the University of Cambridge, he decided to return to terrestrial archaeology and in 1971 began excavating a preclassical site in southern Italy.

He soon regretted leaving a field with such promise and formed the American Institute of Nautical Archaeology in 1972, when he gave the University of Pennsylvania a year's notice of his resignation. AINA's first field project was a Turkish coastal survey that located a dozen ancient shipwrecks, three since excavated, including a cargo of large jars lost around 1600 B.C. at a place called Sheytan Deresi, or Devil Creek. AINA was based on Cyprus, but war on the island in 1974 forced it to seek another home, which it found at Texas A&M University, with which it affiliated in 1976. Texas A&M in turn initiated a graduate program in nautical archaeology, which George headed until 1993.

AINA, which dropped the "American" to reflect its international staff and board of directors, becoming simply INA, quickly expanded its research to four continents. George began the first excavations of shipwrecks of the American War of Independence, the American Defence in Penobscot Bay, Maine, and one of General Cornwallis’s British ships in the York River, Virginia, before turning them over to other scholars.

Between 1977 and 1979 George excavated at Serçe Limanı, Turkey, an 11th-century A.D. ship with three tons of broken glass; mended from a million shards over 20 years, it is the largest collection of medieval Islamic glass in existence. The site also yielded the largest collections of Byzantine tools and weapons, the world’s oldest dated chess set, and the earliest known modern hull, as opposed to Greco-Roman hulls. In 1979, INA bought the old Virazon and outfitted it with a double-lock recompression chamber and equipment for underwater surveys and excavations.

In 1984, George began excavating a ship lost around 1300 B.C. at Uluburun, Turkey. Its cargo of raw materials—elephant and hippopotamus ivory, nearly 200 glass ingots, half a ton of terebinth resin (used as incense), ebony logs, a ton of tin ingots, and ten tons of copper ingots—as well as Near Eastern personal possessions, provided evidence that George’s theory of Bronze Age Near Eastern trade, presented in his book on the Cape Gelidonya wreck, was likely correct. After 1985, George turned the Uluburun excavation over to graduate student Cemal Pulak, now on the Texas A&M University faculty.

Between 1999 and 2003, George excavated fifth- and six-century B.C. wrecks in Turkey with Deborah Carlson and Elizabeth Greene. During that time, INA acquired the two-person submersible Carolyn and built a 45-foot catamaran to transport, launch and retrieve it. In just one month in 2001, archaeologists in the submersible located 14 wrecks and ten possible wrecks, while revisiting a dozen wrecks known from earlier surveys.

In 1986 George received the Archaeological Institute of America's Gold Medal for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement, and a Lowell Thomas Award from the Explorers Club. The next year he received an honorary doctorate from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, and in 1998 another from the University of Liverpool. The National Geographic Society awarded him its La Gorce Gold Medal in 1979 and, in 1988, one of its fifteen Centennial Awards. In 1999 he received the JC Harrington Medal from The Society for Historical Archaeology. President George W. Bush presented him with the National Medal of Science in 2002.

George has written or edited ten books and over a hundred articles. He and his wife Ann divide their time between College Station, Texas, and Bodrum, Turkey, where they have a house next to the INA Research Center.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

George Fletcher Bass, Ph.D.Meskipun ia mulai membaca segala sesuatu yang dia bisa menemukan di menyelam pada usia dini, dan memiliki lebih banyak buku tentang dunia bawah laut daripada tentang arkeologi bahkan ketika ia masih mahasiswa pascasarjana, George Bass pernah bermimpi bahwa dia akan pernah menyelam. Tentu saja tidak bahwa suatu hari dia akan menerima menyelam Historical Society's Pioneer Award.Nya menyelam dimulai pada tahun 1960, segera setelah ia mulai studi doktoral di arkeologi klasik di Universitas Pennsylvania. Dia sudah memiliki M.A. di Timur dekat arkeologi dari Johns Hopkins University, dan antara tahun 1955 dan 1957 menghadiri sekolah Amerika klasik studi di Athena, di mana ia memperoleh pengalaman lapangan dengan membantu pada pra-klasikal terestrial penggalian di Yunani dan Turki. Tahun 1957 ia telah belajar bagaimana untuk mengarahkan dan merawat orang-orang di kamp-kamp yang terpencil bertugas sebagai Letnan-di-charge detasemen US Army 30-man di Korea.Jadi George sudah memiliki minat dan sebagian besar yang diperlukan pengalaman ketika, setelah tiba di Philadelphia, ia ditanya oleh Ketua Departemen nya jika ia akan belajar untuk menyelam untuk menggali sebuah kapal karam akhir zaman perunggu yang dilaporkan oleh wartawan Peter Throckmorton lepas pantai Turki. Pada awal 1960, setelah mengambil enam pelajaran menyelam di YMCA setempat, ia meninggalkan dengan Peter untuk Turki, di mana ia mengarahkan penggalian bangkai kapal, sekitar seratus kaki mendalam dari Cape Gelidonya. Itu pertama bangkai kuno digali secara keseluruhan di dasar laut, dan penggalian kapal karam pertama diarahkan dan diterbitkan oleh arkeolog menyelam. Pada akhir penggalian, dengan izin dari pemerintah Turki, George memulai sebuah museum arkeologi bawah air di Bodrum castle; Sekarang sepenuhnya Turki, ini adalah museum arkeologi paling dikunjungi bangsa.George menyimpulkan bahwa kapal yang tenggelam sekitar dalam tahun 1200 SM dengan kargo ingot tembaga dan timah dan tembaga memo, dekat Timur berasal. Dia lebih lanjut klaim berdasarkan dokumen runcing kontemporer dan lukisan makam Mesir, bahwa kapal-kapal tersebut adalah umum di Mediterania, meskipun kebanyakan sarjana kemudian percaya bahwa Kanaan, atau awal Phoenician, perdagangan Maritim mulai hanya dalam zaman besi berikut. George percaya orang Semit belum diakui karena barang-barang mereka, bahan baku seperti timah, tembaga, gading, dan emas, tanpa meninggalkan sisa setelah mereka mencapai pelabuhan dan diproduksi ke dalam artefak khas budaya mengimpor. Pandangan kontroversial luas diolok.George setia sisa tahun 1960-an perkembangan teknik-teknik baru untuk air riset sementara menggali Bizantium, terlambat Romawi dan Ottoman bangkai kapal di Yassı Ada, Turki: chamber dekompresi submersible tanpa dukungan permukaan; metode pemetaan bangkai kapal oleh stereo-Fotogrametri; dan dua orang submersible, Asherah, diluncurkan pada tahun 1964, tahun ia menerima gelar doktor dan bergabung sebagai dosen di Universitas Pennsylvania. Cenderung Asyera, pertama komersial dibangun Amerika penelitian submersible, ia memperoleh pinjaman dari US Navy tentara T-perahu, Virazon, yang ia dikirim ke Aegean. Pada tahun 1967 timnya adalah yang pertama untuk menemukan bangkai kapal kuno dengan sisi-scan sonar, situs 280-kaki-jauh diperiksa dari Asyera.Pada tahun 1968, George kembali ke tanah untuk membantu penggalian Yunani di sebuah kota zaman perunggu yang ditutupi oleh abu vulkanik pulau Santorini. Kemudian, setelah kampanye di Yassi Ada, dan tahun Sabat pada University of Cambridge, ia memutuskan untuk kembali ke darat arkeologi dan pada tahun 1971 mulai menggali situs pra-klasikal di Italia Selatan.Ia segera menyesal meninggalkan lapangan dengan janji seperti itu dan membentuk American Institute of Archaeology Bahari pada tahun 1972, ketika ia memberikan University of Pennsylvania setahun pemberitahuan pengunduran dirinya. AINA di bidang proyek pertama adalah survei pesisir Turki yang terletak selusin bangkai kapal kuno, tiga sejak digali, termasuk kargo besar botol kehilangan sekitar 1600 SM di tempat yang bernama Sheytan Deresi, atau setan Creek. AINA didasarkan pada Siprus, tetapi perang di Pulau pada tahun 1974 memaksa untuk mencari rumah lain, yang ditemukan di Texas A & M University, yang berafiliasi pada tahun 1976. Texas A & M pada gilirannya dimulai program sarjana di Bahari arkeologi, yang George hingga 1993.AINA, yang menjatuhkan "American" untuk mencerminkan staf internasional dan Dewan Direksi, menjadi hanya INA, dengan cepat meluas penelitian untuk empat benua. George mulai penggalian pertama bangkai kapal perang Amerika kemerdekaan, Pertahanan Amerika di Penobscot Bay, Maine, dan salah satu umum Cornwallis British kapal di Sungai York, Virginia, sebelum berbalik mereka atas untuk sarjana lainnya.Antara 1977 dan 1979 George digali di Serçe Limanı, Turki, abad ke-11 A.D. kapal dengan tiga ton pecahan kaca; diperbaiki dari pecahan satu juta lebih dari 20 tahun, ini adalah koleksi terbesar kaca Islam abad pertengahan di keberadaan. Situs ini juga menghasilkan koleksi terbesar alat Bizantium dan senjata, set catur tanggal tertua di dunia dan paling awal diketahui modern lambung, sebagai lawan hulls Yunani-Romawi. Pada tahun 1979, INA membeli Virazon tua dan dilengkapi dengan double-lock recompression ruang dan peralatan untuk survei bawah air dan penggalian.Pada tahun 1984, George mulai menggali sebuah kapal yang kehilangan sekitar 1300 B.C. di Uluburun, Turki. Muatan bahan baku — gajah dan kuda nil Gading, hampir 200 kaca ingot, setengah ton tarbantin resin (digunakan sebagai dupa), ebony log, satu ton ingot timah, dan sepuluh ton ingot tembaga — serta barang-barang pribadi Timur dekat, memberikan bukti bahwa George teori zaman perunggu perdagangan Timur dekat, disajikan dalam bukunya tentang bangkai Cape Gelidonya, mungkin benar. Setelah 1985, George diserahkan penggalian Uluburun kepada mahasiswa pascasarjana Cemal Pulak, sekarang di Texas A & M University Fakultas.Antara 1999 dan 2003, George digali abad kelima dan enam B.C. bangkai kapal di Turki dengan Deborah Carlson dan Elizabeth Greene. Selama waktu itu, INA memperoleh dua orang submersible Carolyn dan dibangun 45-kaki catamaran untuk transportasi, peluncuran dan mengambilnya. Dalam hanya satu bulan pada tahun 2001, arkeolog di submersible terletak 14 bangkai kapal dan sepuluh mungkin bangkai kapal, sementara meninjau kembali bangkai kapal selusin dikenal dari survei sebelumnya. Pada tahun 1986 George menerima medali emas arkeologi Institute of America's terhormat pencapaian arkeologi, dan Thomas Lowell Award dari penjelajah Club. Tahun berikutnya ia menerima gelar doktor kehormatan dari Universitas Bogazici di Istanbul, dan pada 1998 lain dari University of Liverpool. National Geographic Society diberikan kepadanya dengan La Gorce medali emas pada tahun 1979 dan, pada tahun 1988, salah satu penghargaan Centennial nya lima belas. Pada tahun 1999 ia menerima medali Harrington JC dari masyarakat untuk arkeologi sejarah. Presiden George W. Bush disajikan kepadanya dengan National Medal of Science pada tahun 2002.George telah menulis atau menyunting sepuluh buku dan lebih dari seratus artikel. Ia dan istrinya Ann membagi waktu antara College Station, Texas, dan Bodrum, Turki, di mana mereka memiliki sebuah rumah di INA Research Center.