By
The Associated Press
MOMBASA, Kenya - Diving in the shadow of a 16th-century fort off Kenya's coast, marine archaeologists said Wednesday they have found new treasures in the Indian Ocean and conducted Africa's first undersea archaeological survey.
After 10 days searching the waters around Mombasa Island, the archaeologists said they have discovered at least four sunken vessels, including a Portuguese frigate destroyed during a battle in the late 1690s, and ceramics created between 3000 B.C. and 10,000 B.C.
But they said those finds are just the rewards of a more important accomplishment: A comprehensive survey that takes in the landscape of both the shoreline and the adjacent seabed.
"It is the first time we have mapped the (underwater) landscape," said Colin Breen, one of the divers and an archaeologist from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. "Prior to this, the focus was on single wrecks. What we are trying to do is map out the whole region."
Marine archaeology focuses not only on individual shipwrecks but on the whole environment, analyzing how life has evolved in coastal areas, said Breen.
And the Africa's eastern coast - visited for centuries by Asian, Arab, African, and later, European sailors and traders - provides a rich hunting ground.
"We are looking to create awareness among archaeologists about the potential of East Africa. Much of African archaeology is either overlooked or ignored," said Breen.
Using a mix of centuries-old maps, acoustic sonars and geophysical technology to chart the seabed, the archaeologists have discovered ancient Swahili settlements swallowed up by the rising ocean, Breen said.
They have also found two sailing dhows, a 1920s barge that sank while carrying tiles from Calcutta, India, and the Portuguese frigate, he said - as well as ceramics from China, Europe and the Middle East.
Since Jan. 15, 22 divers and archaeologists from the University of Ulster, collaborating with the National Museums of Kenya and the British Institute in Eastern Africa, have surveyed the waters and shores around Mombasa, East Africa's largest port and one with a rich history.
"For a long time we have concentrated on ... archaeological sites that we can see on the land, but then there is this other heritage out there ... that has been washed away," said Athman Lali, a Kenya coastal archaeologist. "It's important to preserve them together."
The area's original inhabitants, called the Swahili from the Arabic word "sahel" or coast, traded with Arabs from the Arabian peninsula and the Persian Gulf area.
Seeking an all-water route to India, Portuguese sailors landed in Mombasa in 1498 and made it their main base in eastern Africa. In 1593, the Portuguese built Fort Jesus on a bluff overlooking the harbor. A century later, residents appealed to the Sultan of Oman, whose forces began a successful two-year siege of the fort in 1696.
The Portuguese lost four ships, one of which the archeologists are 90 percent certain they have discovered.
"Without excavation you are never 100 percent sure," Breen said.
The ship is buried under a mound of sand that is 46 feet beneath the surface at low tide and looks like a whale on its back, Breen said. The archaeologists do not want to raise the vessel and will instead try to preserve it where it lies.
"Archaeology by nature is destructive. This way it's nondestructive," said Breen, describing a trend in archaeology toward preservation. "It's happened on this continent before, things have been extracted and sold off."
Raising a ship from its grave costs millions of dollars and makes the wreck costly to preserve. The vessel will last longer if it remains covered, with minimal exposure to oxygen, Breen said.
