在地中海发现的罗马沉船的幽灵遗骸

在地中海发现的罗马沉船的幽灵遗骸

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

研究人员使用先进的声纳技术探索地中海东部，发现了迄今为止最大的罗马沉船之一。

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.

这艘古代商船位于希腊Kefallinia岛海岸197英尺深的地方。剩下的只有1200个被称为“双耳”(amphorae)的陶罐，它们躺在沉船令人难忘的轮廓中。

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.

乔治·费伦蒂诺博士和其他9位学者在《考古科学杂志》上详细介绍了这一发现，他说，双耳岩的有序分布可能排除了这条110英尺高的小火山因恶劣天气而下沉的可能性。

"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."

“海底双耳船的外形与当时船只的外形相似，”费伦蒂诺斯对MNN说。“双耳船”是以附近的一个渔村命名的。“这表明货物保持了船的轮廓，表明这艘船以上莱特式的缓慢下沉，然后停在龙骨上，然后逐渐倾斜，船体保持整体结构。因此，可以假定这艘船不是由于暴风雨天气而沉没的，而可能是由于船体中双耳板的移动而沉没的。”

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.

这个研究小组是帕特雷大学“大洋洲”网络的一部分，由INTEREG greech - italy 2007-2013项目资助。他们收集到的数据表明，双耳罩被放置在船体的五层。因此，据估计，当这艘船沉没时，船上可能有多达6000个陶瓷罐。

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.

根据它的货物和测量，人们相信像Fiscardo这样的大型罗马商船完全有能力运送400吨的货物到整个地中海甚至更远的港口。

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.

在对双耳型尺寸进行了详细的分析之后，研究小组确定了这艘商船的年代在公元前1世纪到公元1世纪之间。

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.

根据Ferentinos的说法，在研究这些集装箱的过程中可以学到很多东西，这些集装箱在古代经常被用来运输干货和液体产品。

"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."

他解释说:“可能有些双耳罐仍然是密封的。”“然而，即使双壳层被打开，通过从双壳层内壁提取样本，你也可以通过测定壁内被吸收物质的DNA找到它们被填充的部分。”

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.

除了货物之外，研究小组还表示，他们希望这艘可能延伸到海底9英尺(约合3米)的船的木质船体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解释说:“一般来说，几个世纪后，由于有氧细菌的存在，躺在海底的船的木制部分会分解。”“然而，如果船的木质框架被泥土和/或沙子掩埋，由于沉积物中的孔隙水中溶解氧含量低，细菌的存在将是有限的。”这样就可以减少木制部件的解体。”

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.

如在上面的声纳图像中所示，由于锚沿着海底被拖曳，沉船也遭受了“冲刷”的结果。随着近年来游客人数的增加，停泊在岸边的游艇和游船也越来越多。作者希望这次发现的无价之宝能够促使人们更加努力地提供永久性的近海停泊处，以减少损害，并保护这些遗址，以备未来的勘探。

"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."

他们在研究中总结道：“所有这些都表明，沉船一方面涵盖了科学、文化、社会、经济和教育等广泛的价值观，“但另一方面，旅游业持续快速增长，如果不尽快采取保护措施，就会影响上述所有内在价值。”