Underwater Archeology 9789689342519

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Underwater Archeology

Flor Trejo Rivera

Underwater Archeology Index 1. Water: a seducing frontier..................................................................... 1 2. Achieving the Impossible: inventions to stay underwater................. 4 3. And if we tried underwater archeology?.............................................. 8 4. Underwater Archeology........................................................................10 4.1. Searching and Identification Techniques 4.2. Underwater Archeological Techniques 4.3. Methodology A. Route B. Reconnaissance C. Register and recovery of materials 5. Conclusion.............................................................................................30 Geographical References.........................................................................31 Glossary.....................................................................................................32 Bibliography..............................................................................................36 Selection of Pieces...................................................................................37 Credits.......................................................................................................78

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Prolog

We are about to go deep into a world that, until recently, was still unknown. A world made of many worlds, real time-capsules that for hundreds, or even thousands of years, remained protected by the oceans or by the waters in a Cenote or in a cave and that, although if it now finds itself submerged, it once was a dry shelter for extinct animals, or groups of humans that for the first time where stepping into those places. All that archeological and historical richness constituted by human and animal skeletons, prehispanic offerings, colonial objects and the remaining of vessels from different nationalities, of ships that saw their end when sailing trough our oceans within the last five Centuries, these, who constitute the underwater cultural heritage of Mexico, a legacy that is as important as the one found inland and that makes Mexicans feel equally proud of. Along this route, prepared by the historian Flor Trejo Rivera, a researcher from the Historical research area for the Underwater Archeology section at the INAH (National Institute for Archeology and History), we will get to know the efforts that men had to endure to reach the ocean bottoms, in distant periods of time and with war-intended ends or when looking for worthy offerings for their deities, and in more recent times, to extract the fragments of history that remain there. We will also get to know the complexities of Underwater Archeology. What is this world´s relatively new discipline all about? What is its purpose when scrutinizing aquatic depths? What does an archeologist find in the ocean depths, or when descending into the murky waters of a Mayan Cenote? How to study this material, how to preserve it, how to be able to share it with those who do not have the privilege of visiting those places? We hope that at the end of this immersion in this important part of the cultural heritage that lies underneath the waters of our country, we will be able to better understand the value of this legacy that has remained waiting for us for so long to tell us the facts that it has witnessed and that tell stories about our own past. Archaeologist Pilar Luna Erreguerena Deputy Director of Underwater Archaeology National Institute of Anthropology and History

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The Water: A seducing Frontier

When we walk along the sea front, a river or a lagoon border, who

hasn’t felt the curiosity of touching the water, to feel it under your feet, to watch the animals and the plants that live in it? Even its constant rumor seems like a voice inviting us to submerge. Men, creatures of terrestrial nature, have always seen a challenge in water, and along history, they have proved their audacity by going beyond the boundaries of the unimaginable, pursuing the hidden secrets in this, to them, an oblivious environment. It is easy to picture that the first approaches to water bodies where similar to those of a child that dares to submerge little by little, to touch the sand, the plants, the shells and the conchs that he had first felt with his feet.

To conquer the fear of a different element was one of the biggest challenges for the first human groups, firstly moved by their curiosity and then motivated by the search of food and pieces such as corals and pearls so as to use them as decorations or for commercial exchange. The water, even by being a constraining element to breathing and to human motor capacities, it did not stop underwater military operations, neither did it stop the recuperation of remains of sunken vessels. History shows us how underwater, but mainly at the ocean’s bottom, there were enough stimuli to submerge to recuperate treasures and mysteries.

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In the mural painting of Chichén Itzá (in the State of Yucatán) you can appreciate how the Mayas were able to take profit from the extensive coastline surrounding the region. The mural is witness of an efficient navigation system that allows a products exchange amongst different regions. We can also see representations of diverse aquatic fauna.

In the case of Mexico, in some of the codex where our prehispanic ancestors are represented sailing, we are able to appreciate in their drawings the knowledge they possessed on some of the aquatic inhabitants such as mollusks, crustaceans, fishes and reptiles.

The Meaning and Usage of conchs amongst the Mesoamericans The conch, being associated with the sea, acquired magical meanings and a religious value. In the ancient towns of Mexico, conchs could represent birth or sacrifice and were considered the symbol of some godly figure, such as Tecuciztécatl, God of the marine shell. The mollusks were used as food and their conchs generated an industry dedicated to the making of ornaments, utensils, tools, weapons and musical instruments (trumpets, rattles, whistles and marimba).On top of being a raw material, the conch was used as a currency, either on its natural form or sculpted into a beaded-shape.

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Ink Producing Mollusks Mollusks, besides being a source of food, were also used to produce ink. From a certain genus of gastropods such as the Purple Murex Bandaris or the Spiny DyeMurex the purple color, that was then traded, was extracted from, this, since ancient times, in the Mediterranean, in the East and in Mesoamerica.

Image of a yellow ray (Urolophus jamaicensis), a species frequently found amongst the archeological sunken remains.

For example, on the mural found on the Temple of Warriors, at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, we can see shells, crabs, rays, turtles and fish, which make their use of it as food, exchange merchandise and adornment obvious. The objects made out of a conch called spondylus, located in some of the offerings and archeological sites, are the material evidence of the underwater excursions during the prehispanic period. Nevertheless, this activity cannot be registered in any of the codex, for what we can only imagine that they had to use the basic technique of free diving.

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Achieving the Impossible: inventions to stay underwater

The constant experience of

fishing an gathering of ornaments, that are valued according to their characteristics, rareness and extraction difficulty, allowed the familiarization with the water bodies and gave way to the use of wit to be able to submerge, to pass unnoticed and to perform military strategies. From a bamboo stick to hide underwater, the inventions became more and more complex, until the design of an underwater bell to submerge and the first diving suits were created. It is interesting how this fights between several societies motivated men to conquer the fear of such a different element. Mastering water was a need, as it was considered as a strategic mean of transportation for war. There are registers of remote times, as remote as those of Ancient Greece, where they narrate how they would use wineskin leather filled with air to submerge and damage the enemy ships, drilling their hull or cutting loose the ropes of the ship so that they would go adrift and crash.

Depicts a 1720 illustration. Hydroandric machine or clothes used to cover underwater.(1)

Besides this inventiveness, the observation of nature gave them inspiration to find the way to breathe underwater. The reeds and rushes were used as breathing tubes, the predecessor to what we know today as a snorkel. But challenging the depths led some of the inventors to search for a way to provide air for longer periods of time, as some of the activities, such as the research for submerged underwater secrets or the recuperation of sunken ship remains, required so.

1583. Drawing of a diving bell invented by José Bon.(2) The inventor assured it gave men the possibility to stay for more than 15 minutes under water. It consisted in a bronze bell with four rows of vertically placed anchorage that was evenly apart from the holding ends that allowed it coming up or down when circulating.

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The diving bells were the first solution to be able to obtain an air deposit underwater that would allow the diver to perform an activity for a determined time period. But that invention had two main drawbacks: the air contained in the bell would be scarce and made breathing difficult; you would also run the risk of losing the device´s stability, sinking from within the bell’s insides and putting the diver’s life in danger. The materials and working systems of the bells were modified from the heavy oak ones covered with led to the ones made of a steel sheet, going through those one-piece melted in bronze or melted iron. When made out of wood, they would hinder movement by adding extra weight with led ingots, stones or sand bags to make them sink and stay perpendicular to the water surface. As time went by and the acquired experience in immersions, the idea evolved until it found a solution for the air supply coming from the surface by means of pumps or compressors. This change increased the immersion time. The technological impediments were not an obstacle for the conquest of depths. The underwater experience, the animals they observed, the perspective of building decks and bridges, on top of the possibility to recuperate sunken ships, were enough motivation to keep designing and improving inventions to increase the underwater staying –time, working with less effort and more safety. At the end of the 16th Century, Jeronimo de Ayanz presented a series of inventions to undertake underwater work for the Spanish authorities. The designs of his inventions were outstanding as they were almost four centuries ahead of diving and underwater navigation technical developments that would follow. Amongst its designs, he suggested two versions of a breathing tube with a purging valve made out of a goat skin’s hide filled with air and with a tube and a breathing entrance, a concept that would allow the diver to move around underwater when swimming; with a diving mask; a vest with air supply coming from the surface, as well as of a submarine wooden craft with paddles to move forward underwater. As a result, the king Philip the Third, in 1605, granted him with a 20 year patent.

Diving helmet. The diving suit is a special suit designed to stay underwater. The metallic helmet has three glass peepholes to be able to have a three directional vision and it is crewed and attached to a waterproof fabric suit. These are Jeronimo de Ayanz’s inventions’ illustrations.

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Experiments were undertaken for three centuries with immersion machines. In some cases, depths of nearly 40 meters were reached and an underwater stay of around three to four hours was accomplished. Nevertheless, the design of these rudimentary diving suits was kept secret by their inventors so as to retain for themselves the benefits of technology. Not sharing the characteristics of their inventions gave as a result a certain delay in the solving of difficulties that diving presented, such as decompression problems. For most of the 18th Century, work was made to improve and perfect the suit for diving, which gave way, in the first years of the following century, to the birth of the diving suit. For a couple of decades, experiments were done regarding the difficulties the diver would encounter when using an open helmet, as sudden movements would get it to flood, until the use of new materials allowed the transition to the design of a closed suit, a success, through which we had finally achieved a waterproof or watertight suit, and that gave way to the modern history of diving. In 1819, the British engineer Augustus Siebe, presented the first suit and helmet invention. It consisted of a metal diving suit fitted to a mid-length watertight canvas, so as to the air sent by a pump would come out from underneath the canvas. The inconveniency was that if the diver was to bend too much during his work, the device would fully fill with water. 18 years later, the same inventor managed to perfection its equipment by transforming it into a full-length closed suit. Nevertheless, the diver needed a mayor movement range and also a system where he could carry his own air so as to breathe without depending of the surface. All through the 19th Century research was made on finding a way to give the divers an autonomous and automatic, submarine breathing device, an achievement that was reached until the first decades of the following century, mainly by the French.

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Augustus Siebe’s Diving Suit.

First Diver´s Manual In 1836, the English brothers Juan and Carlos Deane, actively dedicated to rescue operations, published a Diver’s Manual were they captured their experiences. This was the first time that a document of this sort was edited in the World.

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The earliest reference of a propelling system for the feet is found in the Codex Atlanticus (1500) by Leonardo Da Vinci and it consists in the athletes drafts. A century later, the physician Giovanni Alfonso Borelli analyzed the anatomic mechanics of animals and adapted some sort of membranes that resembled those of a frog’s legs to a fitted swimming costume. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until 1924, with the invention of the Frenchman, Louis de Corlieu, that the authentic vulcanized rubber flippers were made, the same ones that appeared for the first time in the market in 1935.

The success and technological improvements in the use of compressed air, allowed, in the 40´s, to culminate with the contribution of the revolutionary invention of two Frenchmen: Jacques Yves Cousteau, at that time he was lieutenant in a ship for the French Navy, and Emile Gagnan, an engineer with an expertise in industrial gas equipments. They both managed to design an automatic mechanism that would supply air to the diver and would be known as Aqua-lung; the new regulator added to several bottles with enough stored air and flippers that allowed the man to easily go deep in the mysterious world of depths. From this point onwards, the immersion equipment has become more perfect to allow more movement, safety to the diver and complete autonomy form the surface, and even to achieve a descent to larger depths. The whole diving equipment is currently known as SCUBA that stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, i.e., autonomous diving equipment. Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997) was a French Navy official that stood out for his passion for the ocean and its mysteries. Together with Emile Gagnan, he invented the autonomous diving system known as “Aqua-lung” that allowed diving to become popular to the point it is now considered a Sport.

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And if we tried Underwater Archeology?

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if humans have always tried to constantly devise different methods to extract objects from the water, whether natural, such as conchs and corals, or man-made, such as ship remains, the sole action of extracting does not mean that they are doing archeology. The practice of collecting devices originated so that the long antique-dealer tradition became a science. During the first decades of the 20th Century we began adopting a conscience of the value and the purpose of the archeological study. At the beginning the difference wasn´t as obvious between excavating and taking the found objects to be placed in display cabinets, and to do a scientific excavation were the materials are registered in a systematic manner and where each element is considered an indispensable piece of the puzzle that is yet to be solved. This exact same principle is applied to a cultural heritage that is found underwater: the sole extraction of an object does not mean we are doing archeology. What could an underwater archeologist find? For hundreds and even thousands of years, the bodies of water have protected the material remains of human activity in the past cultures. However, once the means to be able to submerge existed in safe ways and for certain time periods, the archeologists saw the possibility to expand their discipline underwater. As archeology deals with the study of the cultural submerged remains in any body of water, it is

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Archeological register entry for the site known as “El pesquero” located in Champotón, in the State of Campeche. The archeologist is working on a grid and draws on her registry pad.

possible to find, in submerged caves for example, historical remains of activities as ancient as in the prehistoric times or remains of Pleistocene fauna; in the cenotes and lagoons, evidence of the prehispanic cultures and in the ocean, parts of crafts that suffered from an accident when sailing. Summing it up, they are all the prints that our ancestors left behind from their activities relating to bodies of water, such as rituals, offerings, sailings and trades.

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Extraction and first treatments on the fossil remains of an extinct proboscidean mammal (related in evolution with the elephants) found in a cenote in Yucatán´s Peninsula.

It is needed to say, that underwater archeology went trough various looting stages, meaning that the first divers that enjoyed using the SCUBA equipment invention didn´t let the opportunity pass of extracting objects from the remains of shipwrecks or prehispanic pieces that they found during their immersions.

Archeologists working on the registry of the remains of a cargo shipwreck of the 20th Century known as “Far Star” in Banco Chinchorro, in the State of Quintana Roo.

Ten years after Cousteau and Gagnan made diving popular, an American archeologist named George F. Bass decided to learn the discipline in order to undertake underwater archeological projects. The challenge wasn´t easy as on top of only extracting things from the water, he set out to apply in an underwater way, the excavation and registry techniques that were applied inland. That is why he is considered as “the father of underwater archeology”. From his works, other archeologists from different parts of the world became interested in doing the same and that is when underwater archeology began to acquire scientific validity.

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Underwater Archeology

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extracting ancient objects from the bottom of the ocean, cenotes or lagoons is not considered underwater archeology, then, what is it all about? In essence, it is a specialty that is looking to broaden the knowledge we have on past cultures trough the historical remains that are found underwater. Archeologists want to be familiar with their subjects and to do so, they use all the information that an object can provide and, what is more important, not only of the object itself, but of all the elements surrounding it and that when put together, become an archeological site. Remaining of the engine of a modern vessel that had an accident in Banco Chinchorro, in the State of Quintana Roo.

For example, if we found the remains of a vessel´s rudder that sank in the 16th Century and we extracted it without registering where it was found and what was its position relating to the rest of the objects, we would be destroying clues to understand what happened hundreds of years ago. The rudder, by being the key piece of a ship when giving direction, was always found in the stern, i.e., in the rear part of the vessel.

The archeologists taking note of the remains of an English shipwreck in Champotón, Campeche.

By eliminating this object from the context, meaning from the place where it was found originally, how do we recognize the stern from the bow? In other words, how do we understand this group of pieces of timber and metallic elements if someone extracts certain parts of the puzzle? Underwater archeology represents a series of challenges. One of the biggest problems of underwater archeology is the time that can be destined to work in submerged sites. The main restriction is the provision of air, as when diving in major depths, the stay time becomes shorter.

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In the ocean we must take into account various circumstances, such as marine currents and scarce visibility, factors that can make the archeologist’s work difficult. In the same way, marine fauna can present certain dangers. Some species, such as the moray or scorpion fish who like to hide amongst the tubes and wood hollows, the stingrays who get camouflaged under the sand. If you are not cautious when registering or when you observe, the intruder, in other words, the archeologist could get hurt.

Maybe the most feared aquatic animal is the shark. Nevertheless, when one of these appears, it is important to keep calm, to stay put at the bottom and to observe its movements. Except rare occasions, sharks do not find divers appetizing; actually what they perceive is a strange being, of considerable size that sends out bubbles, something they rather stay away from.

In the case of flooded caves and cenotes, the difficulties are different. To dive in the cave systems is like going blindfolded into a labyrinth. Occasionally the tunnels get too narrow or you reach a point where you need to go back before the air in your tank finishes. In these environments, one of the major dangers can be crocodiles.

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Due to these risk factors, there are diving rules that must never be forgotten. One of the main rules is to never dive alone, as a fellow team member would be paying attention to any problems that might occur during the immersion. It is very important to respect underwater life. The small diving knives are only purposed to cut ropes or nets in case the diver is stuck, but never to hurt or hunt any animal. In the coral reef zones you must dive very cautiously not to cause damages, as the coral colonies take decades to re-generate and the coral reefs take hundreds of years to go back being a healthy ecosystem. Respect to underwater life is fundamental to an underwater archeologist and as they should be conscious, firstly of the privilege of submerging into a different world to their own and secondly, of the importance of taking good care of it so that they don´t interfere with its natural balance. Finally, the fish, the corals and the algae find a new habitat in the remains of shipwrecked ships. What was once the residue of a tragedy it is now part of the underwater landscape. On top of the diving rules and of the ethics towards underwater life, an underwater archeologist needs certain specialized techniques to search and locate the submerged cultural remains. If the extension of the ocean is so big, then where do we start looking? What does an underwater archeologist do once he locates something of scientific interest?

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4.1

Searching and Identification Techniques

Besides

being a scientific discipline, underwater archeology is something fascinating that must follow certain requirements, such as taking thorough precautions, to strictly fulfill the diving rules and to work in a systematic manner so as not to loose information. First we need to search. Sometimes fishermen and recreational divers of a community inform the archeologists on their findings, which is highly valuable, as this saves them time, effort and economical resources.

But if there is no direct reference to the location of cultural historical remains, then, to be able to locate them, they use tracking devices in the water. From the simplest system, such as the towing planks system to a more sophisticated one, such as the systems of geophysical survey. The towing planks are, in fact, very simple systems of tugging on the surface of the water so that the diver can visually locate something. The archeologist wears a diving mask and a snorkel, sits on a small plank that is tied by a cable to a boat, holds himself to some handles located on an acrylic plank (so that he can observe) and when he is ready gives out a signal.

Underwater archeological project in the Moon Lagoon located in the Nevado de Toluca, State of Mexico.

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Use of metal detectors.

Carefully and at very low speed, they are tugged on the surface of the water. When he takes note of something interesting at the bottom of the sea, he gives out a signal and he is released from the plank to do free diving and verifying if what he saw is of archeological interest. At first, it is not easy to identify the objects, as after a long time they tend to be covered with coral or tend to be concealed amongst marine life. The secret is to remember that in nature there are no geometrical shapes, in other words, if you observe a squared coral formation or a perfectly round one, then, underneath it there is certainly some metallic geometrical shaped object. With time and experience, the archeologist’s eye becomes trained until he it is able to quickly recognize the cultural remains of shipwrecked vessels. This system is useful in small depth waters with good visibility. There are, nevertheless, two main restrictions: it is not possible to cover large extensions and the tracking time limits itself to the archeologist’s or diver’s ability to endure certain time on the tug. This type of tracking can only be done trough free diving, in other words, with a snorkel and flippers, as during the maneuvers, the diver constantly changes his depth, which would be dangerous if it was to be done with SCUBA equipment. The method changes when you need to cover larger extensions, to search in deep waters or with little visibility, or if there is a dangerous fauna. For it, the archeologist uses high tech technology, meaning that he uses a system of geophysical survey and remote sensoring.

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4.2

Underwater Archeological Work Techniques The most relevant thing about the system of geo-

physical survey and remote sensoring is that it is not an intrusive process; in other words, through the use of measuring instruments of the bottom’s characteristics it is possible to know if there are cultural remains of historical value underwater. It is a major vessel that is used in the plank tugging system, a group of devices made out of a caesium magnetometer; digital side scan sonar and an echo sounding are tugged on the water surface to capture certain data on the seafloor.

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With the magnetometer you can identify elements with a ferrous content, such as cannons, bullets, anchors or even smaller pieces such as the ironworks or nailing of a ship.

As far as it is concerned, the sonar sends out sound signals that can draw in relief the seafloor and detect the presence of historical and cultural remains.

This is an example of a Sonarproduced image.

Lastly, the echo sounding is used to know the depth of the place where we are sailing, as if a sudden change of depth would occur, the devices that are being tugged can collide, get damaged or even get lost.

Same as with the tugging planks, there must be a previous, systematically made plan of the area where the activity will take place. In both cases, before you start the tracking, you must take important facts into account, such as the current, the waves, the wind and the depth of the potential tracking and searching area. A lapse of concentration could provoke the archeologists to end up in a shipwreck as they try to study maritime accidents form the past. Doing this part of the job in a systematic manner helps to guarantee that the whole area has been checked and to know if there is or if there isn´t any archeological material in it and where exactly would it be located in.

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As it was mentioned before, the support of the people that is daily in contact with bodies of water turns out to be valuable for archeologists. The fishermen and the recreational divers, during their activities, can find the material historical remains of maritime accidents or, in the case of flooded caves or cenotes, with the evidence of pre-historical or prehispanic culture. Even if they do not always give notice of this, when they do participate along with the scientific community a good working team is created. When receiving news on a sea finding and if the informer provides the location of the site, another method of research and location is then used. Once the archeologists are in the précised area, they map a work plan before the immersion. First through free-diving, by using led as way of ballasts in order to submerge, they submerge by withholding their breath in apnea to see if they can observe anything of a cultural characteristic.

Depending on the visibility, the divers position themselves next to the distance tape measures that can vary from half a meter to five meters long, and with a previously agreed signal they start to move forward in the same direction, without losing the previously established formation, trying to take the tape at ground level so that it doesn´t get stuck. In case they run into a natural obstacle, they dodge it to continue their route until they complete a circle. If in that operation they do not locate anything, they repeat the operation until they conclude the scheduled diving time or until one of the researchers has problems with his air supply or temperature.

Video recording of the site known as “Far Star”, at Banco Chinchorro, in the State of Quinatana Roo.

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The other variant of the route with a determined orientation is used to reach bigger extensions. Just as the latter, the archeologists take a tape measure and locate themselves at determined distances, but instead of forming a circle, they form a line by taking a fixed course with their compass. Once an area is searched thoroughly and there was no success, they go back by taking the opposite course that the one taken at the beginning but changing its quadrant. Again, the decision of the distance to be covered depends on factors of visibility, tank duration and the diver’s condition. This is a photographical register of the “Boris” site. You can appreciate the ballast mound of the rests of the vessel.

And what happens if they find something? Under any of the research and prospecting systems, once the evidence is located, the next step is the register. This stage of the archeological work is very important as if it is rigorously and carefully made, the obtained data will become a valuable and essential tool for further research, when once on solid ground they try to solve the puzzle. The site to be studied is marked with a flag and then with a buoy in order to have a fixed point of reference. Before you start the register by means of drawings, video takes are taken by slowly going through the area to obtain the largest amount of possible detail that can then be analyzed at the office as many times as necessary. The following step is to do an exploration around all the area where the material remains are spread. This is necessary so as to be able to identify the boundaries of the place that will be studied. Sometimes, maritime accidents leave evidence in very extensive areas, as before they shipwreck they tend to throw heavy material overboard to free the vessel. Then, we proceed to setting a tape measure along the area that holds the evidence so as to be able to divide it into quadrants. Example of a Prehispanic ceramic piece located at a cenote at Yucatan´s Peninsula.

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Archeologist takes note of the route and distance of the tape, necessary data to then sketch the site’s scale drawings. With a more complete panorama on the archeological scene and before starting the detailed register, the researchers go on the motorboat so as to discuss the work plan to follow without the limits that being submerged requires. The quadrants are spread, they choose the person that will draw, and then chose the person to take the measurements and establish a risk level according to the priorities of the investigation. Once they have a well assembled working plan, the archeologists prepare themselves for the next immersion. What are the tools needed by an underwater archeologist? Just as a ground archeologist, he requires of equipment to be able to draw measure and guide himself, but one that can be used underwater.

Conic-shaped Copal remains found in the Nevado de Toluca, in the State of Mexico.

On a small acrylic plank, the archeologist sticks with tape a piece of waterproof herculene paper on which it is possible to draw very well. With an elastic band holding the small plank he ties a pencil or an automatic pencil that has no metallic parts so as to avoid it rusting; not to lose the small plank, he holds it with a bronze broach to one of the rings on his diving vest. He also ties a plastic measuring tape, a compass and inside of a net he places other useful tools in case they need to mark something, such as small flags or even an inflatable buoy. Those in charge of filming the work and of taking pictures of the pieces or materials descend with waterproof cameras and even sometimes with lights and a tripod. Something that the photographers must not forget is an arrow-shaped ladder that is places next to the object and is positioned to face north, so as its photographic shots can reflect the size of the object and its orientation, something that will be of great help to the research. Here is an example of the use of metal detectors in an underwater archeological research site at Campeche’s coast.

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Once the working plan is ready and their equipments are assigned, the immersion time is determined and the proceedings to follow in case a diver gets separated from his workmate are set. The safety protocol is very important, as once underneath the water, communication can be confusing. Now they are ready to submerge and start working. Underwater archeology can be something very exciting. The first sensation is that one of freshness when the water filtrates in small threads inside the neoprene suit. Listening to our own breathing, seeing the bubbles surrounding us when we exhale, floating on a new world and finally reaching the bottom, are unforgettable experiences. The show can be magical, as marine life gets hold of the ships remains, transforms them and decorates them to finally turn them into their own habitat.

An underwater archeologist finds the evidence disguised, and so, as a detective, he needs to start by deducing what is this show he is watching all about. When he gathers the experience, he learns to identify the objects and establishes register priorities. Occasionally he only sketches in order to get the basic information of the site but sometimes a map of the place is elaborated. Legends about treasure chests filled with jewels and golden coins have created the tendency to easily confuse an archeologist with treasure hunters and led to think that the main function of archeology is to excavate in order to only extract things. In fact, experience shows that the best thing for the objects is to remain underwater; in theory; from the moment they sank they suffer a process change in their chemical properties until they reach stability. To take them out of the water would mean to expose them again to an abrupt change of surroundings, and they can go out of shape, deteriorate or even go to pieces, as in the case of the anchors and cannons that we can see at some ports.

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In another hand, to take them out is also a great responsibility, as the researcher must guarantee a process of stabilization and conservation that can last for years, something that can turn to be very costly. Also, after the extraction, a place to store it or else exhibit it needs to be found. We add this to the fact that a piece with no information doesn´t say much, for what it feels the need to make a research and to bring sense to all the extraction work and its following processes.

Anchor found in the “Los Olvidos” site, Sonda de Campeche.

These days, the idea of only extracting one object in case it is found in danger of being sacked or if it is a diagnosed piece, still applies. In other words, it must be a key object that can provide chronological information of cultural origin or affiliation. As it can be appreciated, to take an object out of the water is a decision that requires putting several elements on the balance and if it is decided to do so, it must be done with responsibility.

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4.3

Methodology

A.- Route Actually, the underwater work is minimal if it is compared to the amount of work and hours that are destined later in the office. The result of the underwater register, the drawings and the video and photographical images will be the main elements to look for when searching for the answers to the stated questions made by the archeologists. Practice of photographical registering in a swimming pool.

Before they begin with the research, the archeologists must decide what is that they want to know about these sites, meaning that they need to ask themselves a question and search for its answer. Depending on this question they will perform the necessary tests and research. For example, if they want to know the site´s chronology, they will then focus their attention in certain key objects. Occasionally, cannons have melting dates; some nautical objects such as the astrolabe also carry the mark of the year they were made and if coins are found, it is possible they are also marked. These three examples can provide, at least, a limiting year of the period belonging to the vessel that carried them, because to be able to know the date of the shipwreck you need to go to the historical archives and look for the event’s file, if it even exists. That is to say, a ship can transport a 16th Century cannon but shipwrecked in the following century, as the artillery was a material that could last for more than a hundred years. The same thing happened with nautical instruments; their elaboration was quite costly and the material, generally bronze, allowed a lasting life, unless the technology evolved and other sorts of instruments were needed.

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B.- Reconnaissance To investigate on the origins of a ship and its cultural affiliation, in other words, the place where it belonged, other elements are taken into account. The origins and belongings do not refer necessarily to the same place. For example, the ship could belong to the British Empire but made stops in several harbors along its route. At the moment of the shipwreck, in its hold, it would contain merchandise from the last harbor it stopped at.

The challenge really becomes difficult as a Spanish Empire ship could be transporting English cannons, hold American merchandise and carry instruments built in Holland. When faced with these information labyrinths, the researcher needs to take many elements into account, analyze them and deduce what place is given to each of the puzzle’s pieces. That is why the team that makes up the research group devoted to the study of underwater archeology involves more disciplines besides the one in archeology.

Register of camelid bone remains found in a cave in Quintana Roo.

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Bronze 16Th Century cannon (Half culverin) found at Cayo Nuevo, Sonda de Campeche.

C.- Register and recovery of materials Besides needing archeologists, also historians, anthropologists, biologists, geophysicists, oceanologists and all of the sciences that can contribute to the understanding of the human relationship to its aquatic surroundings are needed. That is how underwater archeology becomes a multidisciplinary branch of study where we search to relate the participating sciences to obtain a more complete panorama that takes into account the different facets of its main objective.

For example, the research on historical archives is fundamental. When an archeologist registers underwater, when he sees the remains of some cultural event, he asks a lot of questions. What sort of ship was it? Where did it set sail from? Who were the ones sailing it? Why did it shipwrecked? How to identify all of those material fragments on something that happened hundreds of years ago? The answers lay kept amongst the thousands of documents kept in the archives. Luckily for the researcher, the administration in Colonial times was extremely bureaucratic; therefore, all of their activities generated a bulky quantity of files in order to do the necessary paperwork to be able to sail towards the New World. The institution in charge was the House of Trade (Casa de la Contratación de las Indias), located in Seville, Spain.

17th century engraving where the rescue of a shipwrecked galleon is illustrated.

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Sample takes at the Moon Lagoon at the Nevado de Toluca, State of Mexico

From there, government employees supervised and authorized the trade between both sides of the Atlantic; they performed inspections in the fleets before they set sail and they followed anything related to sailing, including maritime accidents. That is why it is possible, if you look patiently, to find the files that hold the constructive characteristics of the ships, the name of the owners, the list of passengers and crew, the merchandise, artillery, list of nautical instruments, etc. In some cases, it is even possible to find out what the crew ate. But to be able to understand what happened when they were sailing and why they never reached their harbor of destiny, the testimonies of the survivors of the accident, if there was one, are part of extremely important information.

But not all of the information is found registered in ancient papers. That is why it is important to consider that there are cultural behaviors that still remain to our days. That is why the anthropological work with fishermen and related towns linked to the aquatic environments are very important, whether they are maritime or inland water bodies such as cenotes, lagoons or rivers. Those who usually work in the water have greater chances of locating these submerged cultural remains and, if they share this information with the archeologists, they will save them a huge amount of work.

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Nevertheless, researchers are also interested in learning how these people conceive the ocean or the bodies of water, the mythology surrounding it, the products that they obtain for their nourishment and trade, the way they sail and even how sometimes sea experience can be more useful than technology. Many of these world vision related-activities and fragments are ancestral experiences concealed amongst modern life forms. So if the analysis of the objects and of the documents leave out questions unanswered, the thorough study of the life of certain groups and their relationship with water as a main axis on their activities is a way to continue to build our past ’s History.

As for biologists, they contribute to the study of communities that live amongst the underwater material remains. Occasionally, when they transform them into their homes, they help wood or metal stabilize in their chemical processes of deterioration when they get in contact with water and its components. But sometimes the contrary might occur. Some crabs happen to feed off wood and with their little pincers they can turn the remains of a sunken ship into a real feast. .

Identifying the species that will help preserve the underwater conservation and those that will raise the speed of deterioration is vital in order to take extraction decisions. In another hand, if you perform controlled experiments on how to interact with the natural environment and with the material historical remains that can be monitored in the time it takes, for example, for the coral to build a colony or even a reef on top of the metallic objects. This information is very useful to extrapolate and, with the experiment’s information, to be able to deduce how long has the studied material been underwater.

A biologist gathering species samples and noting physical-chemical data parameters.

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An image of the remains of a shipwreck known as “La Carmelita”, located in Campeche´s coast.

With it, a rough chronology of the event can be set out. It is also important to study the preferences of underwater communities, as the objects made out of different materials are inhabited and transformed by very diverse species. According to the material, there will be a certain type of fish, coral or algae appearing. This fact has even given way to the formation of artificial reefs. It is not enough to understand the human groups that sailed trough the sea or that used bodies of water to perform rituals or to feed themselves, but it is also vital that we study the animals that, are totally alienated to the intentions of men, and that by recycling their waste in order to live or to feed out of the sea, and the natural forces that also have a voice in this story. Geophysics is important to develop sophisticated systems of water research. As we saw it, such a fast technological development in the last years has allowed a lift in the activities that before, used to be unthinkable. The machines that were invented to explore the marine depths, such as the magnetron and the sonar, allow us to search large water extensions, by supplying a shorter time of effort for the divers. These machines register the magnetic information of the water floor and they can detect, trough sound emissions, the presence of objects lying under the sea. Nevertheless, not just anyone can interpret this information. It is necessary to go to a specialist so that he can read on screen the different colors and number so as to translate them into understandable concepts for the archeologist. The ocean has a life of its own, and to be able to understand it, we need oceanologists. They are able to study the currents and behavior of the sea when dealing with a climate phenomenon. For instance, when there is bad weather, such as northern winds or storms, the direction of a current can radically change; this makes the ships that go trough the sea to modify their navigation strategy so as not to perish in the waters. Even a really strong current could provoke the remains of a vessel to spread on the marine bed with larger distances between them.

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In conclusion, underwater archeological research is a complex equation between different sciences and knowledge. You need to be acquainted with antique ships, of the social customs of those that sailed as well as of their technical knowledge, to understand their rituals, trading and feeding systems, to recognize the habits of the aquatic species and the way they associate with submerged cultural remains, and in another hand, to be able to coexist wit sophisticated sciences such as geophysics and the oceanography to be able to understand the complexity of the sea’s behavior and of its natural forces. With time, the new appearing underwater archeology has started to get specialized, as it is obvious that the different cultures all over the world can specifically relate to their aquatic environments. In order to increase knowledge on past cultures, whose cultural remains lay underwater, it was decided to define different fields of application.

In theory, underwater archeology includes the large spectrum of studies covering the study of immersed cultural remains, which can be found in any marine or inland body of water and also on islands The aquatic spaces would then be the cenotes, lakes, rivers or submerged caves. For the marine environments, two sub-specialties were created: underwater archeology and nautical archeology.

A conic-shaped copal found during the underwater archeological season of the Underwater Archeology Sub-direction, at the Nevado de Toluca, in the State of Mexico.

In general, maritime archeology studies the material remains belonging to ships that suffered an accident during their crossing and as a result of multiple factors: human error during the sailing, the deterioration of the ships or because of a natural phenomenon. Underwater archeologists refer to shipwrecks as “time capsules”, as they say that the loss of a ship can make everything that was on board deposits itself at the same time as the ship’s remains in the seabed, which gives a sensation of it freezing in a precise moment in time.

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Register of an almirantazgo-typed anchor at the site known as “Boris” located in Banco Chinchorro, Quitana Roo.

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In the other hand, nautical archeology only studies the technological aspect of sailing. The archeological findings frequently reveal parts of ships, building constructions and, in some occasions, of vessel types that were completely unknown.

The field of action in nautical archeology covers submerged and out of the water contexts, where there was cultural evidence of vessels, like ships that ran aground, decks, shipyards or other places where ships were built or repaired.

Registry of sea-extracted cannons and now located inland. The one cannon on the left is at Champotón, in front of the Baluarte. The one cannon on the right is located at the Puerta de Tierra in the city of Campeche.

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5.0

Conclusion

What started thousands of years ago as a simple cu-

riosity for the underwater world and with the passing of time started to become a challenge to finally turn into a science. The clever machines that were able to submerge became more and more evolved and men never stopped before breathing difficulties and underwater comfortable and safe mobility issues. The challenge that is now faced by those who study the depths is the respect for the hidden wonders found underwater. Marine life has harmoniously integrated itself amongst cultural and historical remains, as a whole, it is a secret-filled treasure box. To discover it and to share it is the real treasure.

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Mexico

Nevado de Toluca

State of Mexico

Mexico City

Pacific Ocean

Oaxaca

Veracruz

Gulf of Mexico

Chiapas

Tabasco

Champotón

Geographical References

Guatemala

Campeche

Belice

Quintana Roo

Yucatán

Chichen Itzá

Campeche’s Coast

Yucatán’s Peninsula

Glossary Archaeological site

It is considered the smallest unit studied by the archaeologist. It is a place exposed by natural agents and human activity. Through a meticulous research and study, original evidence of humankind’s past is obtained.

Astrolabe

Also known as the “star carrier”, it is a measuring instrument that provides a two dimension image of the firmament. It is used to determine the position of the stars above the horizon, making it a fundamental device in astronomy and navigation. It consists of five parts: net, which is the skeleton showing the important stars or the zodiac; plates, which provide information on the position of stars, tropics and coordinates; matrix or frame where the index or scales plates are mounted; index, which is a spinning hand showing positions; and the alidade, which is a spinning ruler mounted on the center with lateral sights which measure the angle formed in relation with other stars.

Ayanz, Jerónimo de

He was a Spanish soldier born in 1553. He is remembered for his inventions in the fields of physics, mining industry, metallurgy and science. He was named General Administrator of the Kingdom’s Mines, position that allowed him to test his inventions and perfect them, obtaining more than 45 patents signed by the king Phillip III. He died in Madrid in 1613.

Bass, George F.

He was born in 1932 in North Carolina, United States. Professional archaeologist, he was the first one to excavate a shipwreck in its totality, reason for which he is considered the father of aquatic archaeology. Most of his work was done in the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas, although he made terrestrial explorations in Greece, Turkey and Italy. In 1973 he founded the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA), where some of the most important aquatic explorations of the twentieth century were done.

Cenote

Cenote is the name given to the empty spaces located in Yucatán, formed in limestone due to the filtering and storage of rain water. They have a sacred character because they are considered as “gates to the insides of Mother Earth”. For this reason, offerings and human sacrifices were performed in these places.

Chichén Itzá

A Mayan city with Toltecan influence located in Yucatán. Built around the year 550 BCE during the Postclassic period, it is considered one of the most important archaeological sites due to the presence of the ceremonial, spiritual and commercial structures of the Mayan empire. Built in the jungle over limestone, it is formed by large spaces that used to shelter the military elite. The Ball Game and the Shrine of the Skulls, or Tzompantl, are among its most impressive buildings.

Codex

Manuscripts shaped as folding screens, made in amatl paper or in deer skin, where the history of villages, including their ceremonies, tributes, lineages and religious scenes were drawn and registered.

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Cousteau, Jacques Yves

Seaman, oceanographer and French explorer, he was born in 1910 in Saint André de Cubzac. He studied in the Naval School of Brest and afterwards joined the French Marine Force where he made it into an artillery Officer and where he began his first oceanic explorations. In 1938 he took his first environmental studies and finally in 1943, with Emile Gagnan, he perfected a breathing device for divers which consisted on a compressed gas cylinder connected to a mask with which, through a valve, pressure can be controlled. This device was named Aqua Lung and with it, a whole new era in the perfection of immersion devices began. For his numerous contributions to Oceanography and for his ecological campaigns, he was named Director of the Oceanography Museum in Monaco, Member of the Scientific Academy in France and General Secretary of the International Commission for Scientific Exploring of the Mediterranean. He also receives the Cataluña award given by the Institute of Mediterranean Studies and created the Group of Submarine Researchers of Toulon. Simultaneously, he made numerous films and series such as The world of silence (1956) and The World without Sun (1964), both recipients of Academy Awards for best documentaries. In 1997, at the age of 87, he died in Paris.

Decompression

Series of operations through which a diver may emerge to surface without suffering damages in his body due to the over saturation of nitrogen bubbles in his blood. To avoid accidents, special charts provide the quantity of nitrogen absorbed in relation to the depth and the time of immersion.

Diving chambers

Water and gas isolating containers, they provide vertical transportation and a refuge for a diver, which keeps them warm, dry and lighted without alterations caused by physical efforts. The diving chambers must have hatches, gates, adapting systems, weights, gas supplies, energy and communication.

Diving suit

Impermeable suit with a closed helmet bearing a frontal sight and recycling air tubes used to submerge into great depths in the ocean. Two kinds of diving suits exist: the classic, which allows a hands-free mode, with a flexible tube that supplies air coming from a pump installed in the vessel; and the rigid, where hands remain in the inside, replaced by exterior pliers.

Echo sounding

Electronic detection device used to capture measure and register objects located underwater through the use of the echoes produced by the bouncing of sound waves. It is a portable equipment employed in small vessels which requires an active operator sending signals in the proper direction.

Gagnan, Emile

Born in Burgundy in 1900, he graduated in the technique school in 1920 as an engineer specialized in gases. He is the inventor of a valve used to regulate the pressure of gas, or air, in different pressure conditions. He perfected, along with Jacques Cousteau, the air liquide for the gas supply. In 1946 he moved to Canada where he established the laboratory where he continued designing oxygen inhalers. He died in 1979.

Geophysical survey system

Field of study that detects and establishes closed structure parameters. Through it, maps, information and physical data of the Earth, such as the gravitational force of attraction, electric charges, earthquake waves, amonst others, can be obtained. The geophysical survey system has several modalities: electric, magnetic, radiometric, geochemical, geothermic and of extraction, and witness analysis. Archaeology only uses its electric modality (in its two variants: passive, which studies the electric potentials as a reaction to natural chemicals, and the active, which studies the electric potential as a reaction to an applied stimulus or a deliberate electric charge) and its magnetic modality, that detects the anomalies in the geomagnetic field through the presence of different types of minerals.

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Geophysics

Minor discipline of the Earth’s Sciences which applies physical principles to the Earth’s structure and evolution related phenomena. It is divided in internal geophysics, which studies the surface, and external geophysics, which studies the atmosphere and the climate.

Herculene Paper

Paper characterized for its transparency, waxed surface and resistance, it is used to draw and make aquatic registers.

Immersion devices

Instruments used to submerge in water which allow, with basic knowledge, to practice correctly and securely the practice of diving. These devices may vary according to the types of diving performed. The basic equipment consists of flippers, a mask, a snorkel and a buoyancy compensator; for more complex immersions: a welding belt, weights, a compass, a thermometer, an aquatic flashlight, a diving net and a compressed air tank, amongst others.

Indies’ House of Trade

Spanish organization that existed during The Colony, created in Seville in 1503 by the Catholic Kings to control commercial trade in the Indies, that is, to take charge of the accountability, transportation and the buying and selling of people, animals, merchandise, etcetera. It had judicial, tributary and scientific attributions as well. In 1717 it was transferred to Cadiz to finally disappear in 1790.

Lung diving

Also known as apnea, it is a modality of diving where no external devices are used to breathe and which allows the diver to move freely according to its physical capabilities and without any connection with the surface. The apnea may vary according to the technique employed: static apnea, dynamic apnea and free apnea.

Magnetometer

It is a device that measures the intensity of a magnetic field through a magnetic needle that shows its intensity and deviation. Two types of magnetometer exist: the aerial, which measures Earth’s magnetic field and allows the exploration of mineral deposits; and the protonical, which measures the resonance frequency of underwater protons. It is used to discover underwater archeological sites.

Maritime archaeology

Also known as aquatic, submarine or nautical, it is the modality of Archaeology which studies the vestiges located underwater which may help in the analysis and corroboration of past events. Archaeologists, historians, geologists and divers practice it mainly. These aquatic studies began in 1943, with the improvement of diving equipment and the creation of the Aqua Lung. Later, in 1950, George Bass made the first explorations. Maritime Archaeology was formally installed in Mexico with the creation of the Aquatic Archaeology Department of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH for its abbreviation in Spanish) in 1980.

Oceanography

Minor discipline of the Earth’s Sciences that studies the ocean’s characteristics and the physical environment that constitutes it, as well as the relation between hydrosphere, atmosphere and temperature. It is divided in physical, chemical and biological Oceanography.

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Pleistocene

It is the geological period of the late Cenozoic Era (2’000,000 and 15,000 years before our time). It is characterized for being a glacial period which provoked the migration of some species and the disappearance of others. Its most important peculiarity is the development of the Neanderthal man and of the Australopithecus pithecanthropus.

Prehistory

It is the Period in History that goes from the appearance of men, and until the discovery of writing (first written texts).

Remote sensing

System employed for the monitoring of the terrestrial surface. It is considered the most effective method to acquire information on the global environment through the interpretation of energy reflected by the components forming the surface of the Earth.

SCUBA

Abbreviation for Self Container Underwater Breathing Apparatus, which is a type of autonomous diving, employing devices that determine the air reserve and the underwater time. The maximum depth for this practice is thirty meters.

Sonar

Device employed for submarine detection which allows the localization of underwater objects through the time that takes ultrasound waves to bounce back. It works automatically and is installed permanently in ship’s hulls.

Spondylus

The scientific name is Spondylus pictorum; it is known as mull in quechua. It is a mollusk that, through a membrane, segregates substances such as lime carbonate, lime phosphate and conchiolin, which together form the shell that serves them as a shield. It inhabits the tropical seas of the Pacific Ocean of Ecuador and Peru. The spondylus is associated with Peruvian’s religious beliefs for it was offered to their Gods in hope of good productivity in their lands.

Temple of the Warriors

It is a Mayan sanctuary of the postclassical period, with a clear toltecan influence, located in Chichén Itzá. The building consists of a pyramid with a staircase decorated with eagles, jaguars and rattlesnakes. In the entrance, the Chac Mool figure can be recognized.

World Vision

Way of understanding and assuming the creation of the world and its structure through sacred or religious aspects or experiences learned through traditional behaviors.

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Bibliography

IVARS PERELLÓ, Juan; CUEVAS RODRÍGUEZ, Tomás.

(1987). Historia del buceo su desarrollo en España, Barcelona. Ediciones Mediterráneo S.A.

BOWENS, Amanda (edit.).

(2009). Underwater archaeology. The NAS guide to principles and practice. Second edition. UK. Blackwell Publishing. Archivo General de Indias. (1995). Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura. Lunwerg Ed. Pesca de perlas y busca de galeones 1623. (1986). Madrid. Edición facsímil del Ministerio de Defensa.

SUÁREZ DIEZ, Lourdes.

(1998). “De los modos y maneras de hacer un objeto de concha.” En Arqueología Mexicana. Vol. VI No. 35. México. Editorial Raíces, S.A. de C.V. e INAH.

GALINDO DOMÍNGUEZ, Roberto.

Arqueología subacuática, (texto inédito). México. Archivo de la Subdirección de Arqueología Subacuática, INAH. Photographs Subdirección de Arqueología Subacuática / INAH. Except from: (1) Archivo General de Indias, Ingenios and samples, 248. (2) Archivo General de Indias, M.P. Ingenios and samples, 5. Some of the images that are part of the information presented in this production were gathered from a bibliographic research with the purpose of spreading the archaeological heritage in Mesoamerica. The photographs in the Selection of Pieces are part of the photographical collection and cultural heritage of the Armella-Spitalier Cultural Foundation.

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Selection of pieces

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01

Conch earring of as totally modified type. In the Mayan offerings they have found several objects made out of conchs, such as beads, figurines etc. These findings are testimonies of the exploration of aquatic systems in the prehispanic world, whether it is to find food, or with religious purposes or commercial motives.

ORIGIN: El Petén (Northern Guatemala). CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (600 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Lenght: 6 cm. Width: 5 cm.

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02

Polychrome receptacle in red, orange and black colors with a flanged decoration. The piece has been killed, meaning it was broken whilst performing a ritual to avoid it been used again. Generally these types of vessels were part of some offering. Amongst Mayans, the cenotes were considered as gates to the underworld, the Xibalbá.

ORIGIN: Mayan Region. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Diameter: 15.4 cm. Height: 12.2 cm.

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03

Plumbate glass with the representation of anthropomorphous being. This piece was covered by an engobe so as to symbolically kill it so it could be part of some funerary offering. This type of vessel is more common in the Late Classic and Early Postclassic and it has been proved that the region where they find them the most is in the Soconusco Province (in the far South of Chiapas)

ORIGIN: Chiapas. CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic and Early Postclassic (600 - 1200 CE.). MEASUREMENTS: Diameter: 12 cm. Height: 18.2 cm.

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04

Mayan receptacle. Presenting a polychromatic decoration in red and black on an orange base. This type of vessel appears in the area of the State of Campeche. From the moment when Spaniards arrive on the Yucatán peninsula they knew about the human sacrifices that the Mayans used to perform by throwing human bodies into the cenotes. In underwater archeological works, the remains of children, youths and male and female adults have been retrieved, this as well as stone and ceramic fragments.

ORIGIN: Campeche. CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (600 - 900 CE.). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 6.7 cm. Diameter: 16.7 cm.

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05

Zoomorphic-shaped receptacle. Showing remains of stucco on the piece’s exterior, as well as of an inner orange paint. A characteristic of pottery with this type of representations was that it was used in ceremonies and religious offerings, thus proving the importance of fauna in the prehispanic Vision of the World.

ORIGIN: El Petén (Northern Guatemala). CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 7 cm Length: 20.7 cm.

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06

Mayan vase. It is common that this sort of vessel is found decorated wit scenes that show characters from royalty and calendar dates. Unfortunately its decoration has completely been lost.

ORIGIN: Mayan Region. CHRONOLOGY: Unknown. MEASUREMENTS: Height: 21 cm. Diameter: 13.5 cm.

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07

Small Mayan receptacle. Shows fluting and furrowed lined edge. In the northern-central region of the peninsula of Yucatán, the use of cenotes and flooded caves as a sacrificial and offering deposit has been beneficial to the archeological studies, as the environmental characteristics of these spaces allow a high level of conservation.

ORIGIN: Center of the Northern Region of the Yucatán Peninsula. CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (600 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Diameter: 9.9 cm. Height: 5.2 cm.

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08

Whistle. This is a zoomorphic-shaped figurine in the shape of an armadillo or snail. These types of figurines are common in Jaina Island, from where ceramic objects were exported to neighboring cities. In Chichén Itzá’s cenote, archeological cultural remains of several sites have been found. Underwater research in the cenotes around the Mayan region started with Désiré Charnay in this ancient Mayan city.

ORIGIN: Jaina Island, Campeche. CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (600 - 900 CE.). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 8.3 cm. Width: 6.7 cm. Height: 5.8 cm.

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09

Conch-shaped clay figurine that works as a musical instrument. It resembles the real snails that are taken out of their apex in order to make a mouthpiece to blow in so as to produce a sound. In aquatic contexts, this object was used in some of the performed ceremonies.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE.). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 29 cm. With: 25.4 cm.

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10

Conch-shaped clay figurine. I the “Jaguar Group”, in Teotihuacan, mural paintings are conserved where you can see felines holding shells from which some drops that could represent the rain are dropping from. These representations are related to Tlaloc, the God of Rain.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 29.6 cm. Width: 10.5 cm.

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11

Receptacle with a vertical fringe decoration painted in a negative technique. Near the base you can appreciate a black on cream painted skull. The vessels are allusively decorated with funerary contexts or were used in rites and ceremonies. For the Mayans, the caves and the cenotes were symbolic passageways to the underworld, they represented the space that divided the terrestrial world from the underground one and therefore were considered as perfect places to perform their rites and ceremonies.

ORIGIN: Mayan Region. CRONOLOGIA: Late Classic. (600 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Diameter: 22.3 cm. Height: 6.6 cm.

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12

Tetrapod zoomorphic-shaped pot representing a stingray. The aquatic fauna designs in everyday and ritual-purposed objects were associated with fertility and water.

ORIGIN: Mayan Region. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 7.2 cm. Width: 8.9 cm. Length: 9.4 cm.

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13

Orange-colored censer with an undecorated receptacle. The handle represents a reptile whose head has been inverted. Through the studies of zoomorphic representations in ritual-intended instruments, today, we know that fauna had an essential importance in the sacred World Vision of Prehispanic cultures.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 4.1 cm Length: 24 cm. Width: 12.2 cm.

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14

Polychromatic Mayan plate that is simply decorated on the outside. Inside of the piece, we can see designs that are shaped as volutes and spirals and painted with the negative technique on an orange engobe. When water levels raise, funerary caves become cenotes and inside of them we can find historical remains of offerings.

ORIGIN: Mayan Region. CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (600 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Diameter: 27.2 cm. Height: 5.1 cm.

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Jar representing Tlaloc, the god of rain. During works performed along the crater of the Nevado de Toluca, in the State of Mexico, several objects related to this deity were found. Most of the rites and ceremonies that were performed in this lake were intended in order to ask for rain to come. The objects were thrown into the water as an offering to Tlaloc.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Late Postclassic (1200 - 1521 CE.). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 15.2 cm. Width: 9.8 cm.

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Polychromatic receptacle wit aquatic animal-shaped representations. Amongst the domestic vessels that were used to contain foods or liquids, we found signs that they were mass produced with commercial purposes with other cities. These pieces even managed to reach the North of the peninsula of Yucatán.

ORIGIN: Campeche. CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (600 - 900 d. C.). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 13.5 cm. Diameter: 25 cm.

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Polychromatic Mayan receptacle. Showing a flower-shaped decoration painted in red. The pigment has a mica-content, a characteristic feature of pottery in the regions of Yucatán and Campeche during the Classic period.

ORIGIN: Mayan Region. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 d. C.). MEASUREMENTS: Diameter: 10.1 cm. Height: 6.9 cm.

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Plate-shaped vessel with inner marine fauna decorations. Amongst Mayans, fish had an essential role as in some of the ancient cities of this cultural group they were represented as sacred elements, symbolizing some deity.

ORIGIN: Mayan Region. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 d. C.). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 5.9 cm. Diameter: 35.3 cm.

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Polychrome vase. Its decoration has greatly been affected and most of it lost. At the edge of the vessel, some glyphs, painting decorations and external flanges remain. Whenever a ruler passed away, their personal objects were placed in the funerary spaces in order to accompany the deceased into the world of the death.

ORIGIN: Mayan Region. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Diameter: 11.2 cm. Height: 16.2 cm.

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Snail earring of the partially modified type. For the researcher Mr. Eric J. Thompson, these materials were related to the underworld. The cave-related contexts reflected the entrance to this underground world, a place where water was essential.

ORIGIN: El Petén (Northern Guatemala). CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 3.4 cm. Width: 1.9 cm.

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Conch earring of a partially modified type. Offerings to Chaac, the Mayan equivalent of Tlaloc, have been found made out of conch-made objects; those standing out are earrings, beads, inlays and pectorals. Many of these offerings purposes were to ask for rain and in some sites they were performed in aquatic contexts.

ORIGIN: El Petén (Northern Guatemala). CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 4 cm. Width: 2 cm.

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Conch earring of the partially modified type. The use of conch amongst Mayans was very intense as it as linked to fertility.

ORIGIN: El Petén (Northern Guatemala). CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE.). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 3.7 cm. Width: 1.8 cm.

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23

Small stone axe presenting no signs of wearing away and, therefore, suggests a ceremonial and even offering usage. Mayans used these types of tools as ways of offerings to ask for rain and were accompanied by other objects such as jade and pyrite mirrors. Mayans took advantage of the natural water deposits conditions, whether it was in sacred or in everyday actions.

ORIGIN: Mayan Region. CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (600 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 10.5 cm. Width: 6.8 cm.

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Small metal ax. It is very common to find this type of tools in underwater archeological contexts. Underwater archeology in Mexico isn´t only committed to the marine environments, but also to the rivers, cenotes, lakes and flooded caves.

ORIGIN: Western Mexico. CHRONOLOGY: Postclassic (900 - 1521 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 11.3 cm. Width: 14.7 cm.

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Small metal ax. In Mesoamerica, the first metallic objects are dated from 600 to 700 CE. As far as bronze is concerned, it appeared 500 years later. For the Colonial Period, the use of metal increased in an intensive way and spread all over the territory known as Mesoamerica. It is common to find metal objects during underwater researches.

ORIGIN: Western Mexico. CHRONOLOGY: Postclassic (900 - 1521 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 9.1 cm. Width: 3.2 cm.

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Obsidian exhausted nucleus. From this kind of pieces we can deduce the way in which small blades were elaborated as commonly used domestic cutting instruments and as objects laid as offerings. Obsidian considerably expanded by being the quintessential material used by most of the Mesoamerican people.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Unknown. MEASUREMENTS: Height: 9.7 cm. Width: 3.3 cm.

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Earthenware receptacle with an outer carved zoomorphic-motif decoration. This type of decoration is very frequent during the Late Classic period in the Petén area. When decorating the vessels with animal shapes, the object acquires a higher ritual value.

ORIGIN: El Petén (Northern Guatemala). CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (600 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 7.5 cm. Diameter: 21.5 cm.

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Anthropomorphous sculpture carved in basalt representing a character that according to its facial features could be an elderly. He is kneeling and with his hands tied at the front. This indicates that maybe he is a war prisoner. The aim of captivity was to strip the person from his essence to prepare them for the subsequent ritual sacrifice. Some of the sacrifices were dedicated to Tláloc, the God of the Waters.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Late Postclassic (1200 - 1521 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 12.5 cm. Width: 8 cm.

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Human skull craved in basalt. When a sculpture exhibits death-related motifs we can deduce that it took a predominant place in the culture where the piece belonged to. Archeology, biological anthropology, the analysis of written sources and other aspects tend to highlight an immense attachment of the indigenous man to Death. In different Mesoamerican sites, rituals were dedicated to Death in aquatic contexts.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Unknown. MEASUREMENTS: Height: 15 cm. Width: 10 cm.

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Anthropomorphous figurine sculpted in clay and decorated with tar. It represents a character that seems to be an elderly. In Mesoamerica, the elderly played an important social role, as they were considered like the wise beholders of the Truth, one that they would transmit onto new generations. They had power within their communities; they could organize and lead different religious ceremonies with different contexts and certain aims, such as the request of rain. Also, they were considered as the keepers of History, as they would narrate and recreate several happenings of human future.

ORIGIN: Central Veracruz. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 16.3 cm. Width: 9.8 cm.

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Female anthropomorphous figurine representing a kneeled woman, she is wearing a skirt and a large headdress on her head. The decoration is polychromatic; it is red and black and appears over a cream-colored base. At the back of it, a support that serves as a whistle. Mesoamerican cultures, as well as other civilizations in the World, presented musical manifestations where they would symbolize their World Vision, one that they would regularly relate to water. The use of musical instruments, such as whistles, had religious reasons.

ORIGIN: Central Veracruz. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 d. C.). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 12.8 cm. Width: 9.7 cm.

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Ceramic figurine representing a closed-eyed character. It is wearing a zoomorphic-shaped headdress representing the head of a reptile. It is decorated with red paint and tar. This piece was possibly part of the application of a vessel. At the Gulf of Veracruz, it is common that the shapes representing priests are wearing head dressings related to animals that in certain ceremonies were thrown into the rivers, lakes or into the sea.

ORIGIN: Central Veracruz. CHRONOLOGY: Late Classic (600 - 900 d. C.). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 9 cm. Width: 7 cm.

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Human head molded in ceramic, what it is wearing in its mouth and the black paint in its eyes attracts our attention. This character could represent a deceased. The ancient Mesoamericans saw death as a life-generating factor. Life was a product of duality between Death and Existence, and the religious ceremonies that were offered to this duality were related to the underworld. The aquatic means were considered as a direct passageway to this mythical place.

ORIGIN: Central Veracruz. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 5.7 cm. Width: 4.2 cm.

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Jade bead that is remarkable for its length. This type of piece was worn as a pectoral ornament. In the rituals intended for certain deities, Mesoamericans laid these kinds of objects in aquatic environments. Sometimes these objects were laid with their owners when they died and some other times thrown as offerings.

ORIGIN: Southern Veracruz. CHRONOLOGY: Middle Preclassic (1200 - 400 BCE). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 8.1 cm. Width: 1.5 cm.

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Foot-shaped vessel with a sandal. In Mesoamerica, some objects were decorated with human shapes, giving them a religious value that would go beyond the practical value. In high-altitude places, such as in the mountains, Tlaloc rituals were performed, to whom they offered objects in places like the lagoon located at the top of the Nevado de Toluca, one of the most important volcanoes for the World Vision of central Mesoamerica.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Late Postclassic (1200 - 1521 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 8 cm. Length: 16.2 cm. Width: 7.2 cm

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A funerary polychromatic urn. The decoration corresponds to the Puebla-Mixteca style, very much spread during the Postclassic in codex and ceramics. It is thought that this tradition was a whole language through which the government classes would communicate, by illustrating their ideas on objects that only the élite would use. The mixteca region had important commercial relationships with the Central High Plateau.

ORIGIN: Oaxaca -Mixteca. CHRONOLOGY: Postclassic (900 - 1521 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 23 cm. Diameter: 31 cm.

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Tripod receptacle with negative-style decoration. During the Classic period, Cholula was strongly influenced by Teotihuacan. Due to its strategic position, Cholula was a commercial and religious center where many cultures fused together some of the religious traditions converged, traditions such as the performing of ceremonies in places with water, like lagoons and rivers.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau, Cholula. CHRONOLOGY: Classic (200 - 900 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 9 cm. Diameter: 20.3 cm.

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Very well preserved Mixteca jar with polychromatic decorations. When a vessel spends various centuries underwater, its physical constitution will not deteriorate, unless the piece is taken out with no specific conservation techniques. During the Postclassic Period, the mixteca zone exerted a great deal of influence in the ceramics from Cholula; an example of this would be the so-called iconographic Puebla-Mixteca tradition. It is thought that this tradition was part of a language managed only by the élites, it is found in codex and ceramics.

ORIGIN: Oaxaca - Mixteca. CHRONOLOGY: Postclassic (900 - 1521 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Height: 15.8 cm. Diameter: 15.3 cm.

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Flute molded in clay or tlapitzalli in Nahuatl language. Amongst Mesoamericans, the music represented an important focal-point in their World Vision. The person in charge of the music was named tlapitzcalzin and was considered as one of the key elements for the ceremonies related to aquatic contexts.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Late Postclassic (1200 - 1521 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 28.6 cm. Width: 3.8 cm.

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Two-faced obsidian knife. This object does not particularly presents traces of very forced usage, which indicates that it was probably only used a couple of times only, it was then sharpened again and was laid as part of an offering. Some obsidian objects were located in high-mountain and underwater archeological works in the lagoon located on top of the Nevado de Toluca. In the Mayan region, obsidian prismatic vessels were placed inside caves that were subsequently flooded by the rivers.

ORIGIN: Central High Plateau. CHRONOLOGY: Postclassic (900 - 1521 CE). MEASUREMENTS: Length: 9 cm. Width: 2.5 cm.

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Credits

Carlos Armella Sánchez Chairman Valeria Armella Spitalier Executive Direction Nathalie Armella Spitalier Editorial Direction Flor Trejo Rivera Original Text Alva Sánchez Arredondo Glossary Research Emmanuel Hernández López Graphic Design Acervo de la Subdirección de Arqueología Subacuática / INAH (SAS / INAH Archive) Germán Hernández Hernández Sofía Armella Spitalier Emmanuel Hernández López Photography Carlos Topete Bustamante Yuri Pavel González Díaz Archeological Curators Jesús de los Santos Pérez Restoration Jovan Rabel Guzmán Gómez Emmanuel Hernández López Iván Montesinos Mendoza Photo Retouching and Edition Sofía Armella Spitalier Paula Flores de los Reyes Yuri Pavel González Díaz Sorting of Photographic Documents Romy Malagamba Steffen Translation

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Flor Trejo Rivera She is the historian and coordinator for the Historical research area for the underwater archeology section at the INAH (National Institute for Archeology and History). Her main line of research is to study shipwrecks during the West Indies Run period, the study of seaculture during the Viceroyalty, Transatlantic Navigation (in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries) as well as to study everyday life on board of these ships. Amongst her publications we can find La flota de la Nueva España de 1630 - 1631. Vicisitudes y naufragios, (Mexico: Conaculta - INAH, 2003) and several other articles and treaties on the appliance of historical research to better understand shipwreck processes.

The Fundación Cultural Armella Spitalier started its work in April 2004 with the purpose of spreading archeological knowledge about Mesoamerica. With a heritage of more than 4000 prehispanic pieces and objects carefully listed, restored, researched and registered according to the INHA’s standards, the Cultural Foundation has developed several approaches to History that come from academic and technological points of view. The research enabled by the well-kept cultural heritage and protected by the Fundación Cultural Armella Spitalier, has been published in different platforms, looking to catch the attention of a diverse audience and to generate an interest into discovering the mysteries surrounding Prehispanic History.

Underwater Archeology

The attraction that men have had for water bodies along history offers us today the chance to discover a wonderful world of submerged cultural and historical remains. Underwater archeology implies a series of challenges and risks that turn underwater exploration into a fascinating professional exercise, a rediscovery exploit and a natural preservation lesson that comes from a historical past that we thought had been forever lost.

www.fundacionarmella.org

ISBN: 978-968-9342-51-9 Editor: CACCIANI, S. A. de C. V. Prol. Calle 18 No. 254 Col. San Pedro de los Pinos, México, D.F. 01180 (+5255) 5273-2229 (+5255) 5273-2397 [email protected] [email protected] Year of Publication: 2009