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Late Bronze Age Shipwreck Excavation
- mcguire 10y ago"...more than 22,000 dives logged to depths in excess of 150 feet." How many divers did they lose?
- cobbzilla 10y agoI recently read a really good book about the systems collapse that occurred towards the end of the Bronze Age. The book is "1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed" [1]; it provides a vivid look into the ancient world, with some eerie parallels to our world today. The Late Bronze Age was a fascinating time around the Mediterranean; there was extensive trade between Egypt, the Hittites, Minoans, Assyrians, Mitanni, and others; shades of "globalization" and a multi-cultural aesthetic had emerged, then it all came crashing down in the 12th century BCE. [1] https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-Turning/dp/0691140898 https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-Turni...
- douche 10y agoA truly excellent book. This late Bronze Age collapse is particularly interesting in that so much of the earliest works of "Western" literature arose in this aftermath (Homer, much of the Old Testament).
- stygiansonic 10y agoNice book! I'll add it to my reading list. Just to add to what you said, the part of the Bronze Age collapse that was specific to Greece has been dubbed, the "Dorian Invasion".[0] After the Dorian Invasion, the culture and languages/dialects in Greece were replaced by those prevalent in Classical Greece, the era of Greece most people think of when referring to "Ancient Greece". 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_invasion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_invasion
- cobbzilla 10y agoYou should definitely read the book -- one theory the author challenges is the idea that the Dorian invasion was the proximate cause of the Greek Dark Ages. Instead, he finds evidence that the Dorians were moving in prior to the Dark Ages; they were more opportunists than invaders, taking advantage of the collapse rather than causing it.
- speeder 10y agoMaybe it was both? The Foundation series by Asimov talk about the Foundation, that aimed to hasten and then control a still inevitable collapse, and ensure itself would be the replacement culture. Al Qaeda, that can mean "The Foundation" in Arabic, is speculated to have this aim too, using immigration, intermarriage, and dragging western civilization in a extended unpayable war with the same idea: hasten the inevitable collapse, and be ready to rebuild and replace from the ashes. (And ISIS is an impatient Al Qaeda, and wants to trigger a total war, to overextend western countries even faster, and cause a refugee-driven diaspora)
- stygiansonic 10y agoThanks for the info! I'm always interested in learning more about this area of history and taking in alternate viewpoints.
- duaneb 10y agoNote, you should look at the Dorian Invasion like the PIE invasion—metaphorical. So it's visible via the archaeological record, but it's not that there was conquest so much as deep change where the Dorian culture clearly spreads over time. Although conquest could be one such way of spreading culture, it's generally more by intermarriage than displacement (e.g. see the saxon and normandy invasions of britain or the romanization of gaul).
- Kinnard 10y agoI'm under the impression that there was widespread democide during and after the Norman Conquest, particularly with the goal of eliminating the anglo-saxon nobility and aristocracy.
- erikpukinskis 10y agoI think the main difference with today's civilization is we will watch the collapse minute by minute, collectively. Hopefully we can lay down the most important parts of our civilization gently and swap in redesigned culture quickly enough to avert the worst of the death and chaos.
- Radim 10y agoEric Cline, the author of that book, is also an entertaining speaker. I recommend his 1h youtube talk about the bronze age & genesis of "1177 BC": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyry8mgXiTk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyry8mgXiTk
- cobbzilla 10y agoI did not know about this talk, really appreciate the link. Thank you.
- philliphaydon 10y agoThanks for the link! (HN needs a fav feature)
- contingencies 10y agoI was lucky to meet the ex director of the Musee Guimet by chance, and he explained to me that his career started on nautical sites in the Philippines.
- curtis 10y agoThe Uluburun shipwreck is famous enough to have a Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluburun_shipwreck https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluburun_shipwreck
- hackaflocka 10y agoAnd we don't even know the name of the sponge diver who found this. The find should be named after them.