Probably the most famous shipwreck in the world, the Titanic sank to the bottom of the Atlantic >almost 100 years ago on April 15, 1912.

Recently new sonar photographs were made of the wreck site two miles down where it came to rest in two large sections. The debris field stretches for many miles on the sea bed.

These photos are the by-product of a multi-million dollar, two-month expedition that used a number of different approaches to get never-before-seen views of the wrecked ship.

For much of August and September 2010, explorers from the Woods Hole Oceanic Institution used robotic vehicles to collect images during programmed sweeps of the surrounding areas.

Side-scan and multibeam sonar was used to store the minute details of the ship and to evaluate what has changed since previous exploratory expeditions.

During these sweeps, the robots stored ‘ribbons’ of data, with the products of the repeated attempts then collected together and observed as a whole unit.

The process, which is referred to as ‘mowing the lawn’, worked over the entire area of the ship and the surrounding seabed.

In total, the area in question measures three miles by five miles.

What is truly original about the latest batch of photographs from the site is that it allows interested viewers to gain a better contextualized understanding of where the different pieces of the wreck come in together, which piece was once part of another.

The side views of the two main parts of the ship are particularly telling because the images speak volumes about the speed at which they crashed into the ocean floor.

The bow, or the front half of the ship, was the first to fall into the ocean depths. After being pierced repeatedly by the edge of the iceberg- some holes of which are still visible today in the top photo- the bow then plummeted to the ocean floor.

Because the front of the ship was designed to have a shape that allowed for smooth sea travel, the bow streamed nose first into the bed of the ocean.

That was not the case for the stern, or back end, of the ship.

Since the Titanic had snapped in half, the lower portion of the stern was the breaking point and water filled the ship from there.

What that meant was that when the stern proceeded to sink to the ocean floor, that descent was much more dramatic. Entire floors collapsed, water smashed the internal structure of the ship as it descended at a rapid pace.

The fast speed and incomparable power of the water essentially had a ‘corkscrew’ effect on the ship as it mangled the steel so that it no longer even looks like the ship it once was. 

Immortalized in films and brought to life with exhibits throughout the world featuring artefacts from the cabins that now lay 12,415 feet below sea level, the ship is undoubtedly one of the most famous in history.

Source

The oily Spanish lawyers are at it again.

In February the modern day conquistadors made of with over 600,000 silver coins after winning a claim that they belonged to Spain in Federal court in Florida.

The original owners of the silver loot from Peru were not able to press their claim due to being slaughtered by the thieving Spanish a few centuries ago.

Not only do they want the silver, they now want to make Odyssey Marine Exploration pay for all the court fees.

A federal judge in Florida is currently deciding if Florida deep-sea explorers must hand over more treasures from a 200-year-old shipwreck to authorities in Spain.

In February a Spanish military plane flew more than 600,000 silver coins and other artifacts back to the country after winning a five-year legal battle over ownership of the shipwreck from Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration.

While a bulk of the ships discovery was returned Spain is now demanding that the artifacts left behind in Gibraltar be returned including at least 100 silver coins, personal effects of sailors and various pieces of ship equipment.

The frigate Nuestra Senora de Las Mercedes was sunk by British warships in 1804.

In what might be the most insulting part of the case, Spain officials want the Odyssey to pay for their court fees, despite the fact that Spain would not have recuperated the treasure without the company’s direct involvement.

Spain claims that the Odyssey has hidden certain facts from the case in order to conceal part of it’s find, a claim that the crew and company vehemently deny. Odyssey lawyer Melinda MacConnel said Odyssey has not been able to properly inventory the storage crate for years, largely because Spain intervened in the case.

Complicating the lawsuit is the fact that people claiming to be descendants of the ships original owners have sued in Gibraltar court in order to gain rights to the treasure.

Perhaps its my cynical nature but if you lose a ton of treasure during war you shouldn’t get it back, especially when you couldn’t even be bothered to find it on your own dime over a 200-year period.

Source

Scurvy tomb robin’  archaeologists diggin’ near Cambridge have turned up a mighty queer and wondrous thing. The skeleton of a 7th-century teenage wench buried in her ornamental bed with a gold and garnet cross, an iron knife and a purse full of glass beads.

The wench’s grave, dates from between 650 and 680 A.D. and was uncovered about a year ago in a corner of Trumpington Meadows, a rural plot outside Cambridge that is marked for development.

In this undated image made available by the University of Cambridge in England early Friday March 16, 2012, shows a cross. There is very little known about this funerary practice, which one archaeologist, Alison Dickens, said would open a window of knowledge into the transitional period when the pagan Anglo-Saxons were gradually adopting Christianity.
(AP Photo/University of Cambridge)

Experts say the grave is an example of an unusual Anglo-Saxon funerary practice of which very little is known. Just over a dozen of these “bed burials” have been found in Britain, and it’s one of only two in which a pectoral cross — meant to be worn over the chest — has been discovered.

One archaeologist said the burial opened a window into the transitional period when the pagan Anglo-Saxons were gradually adopting Christianity.

(AP Photo/University of Cambridge)

“We are right at the brink of the coming of Christianity back to England,” said Alison Dickens, the manager of Cambridge University’s Archaeological Unit. “What we have here is a very early adopter.”

Dickens said the teen’s grave was interesting because it had a mix of traditional grave goods — the knife, as well as a chain thought to hold a purse full of beads — along with a powerful symbol of Christian devotion.

The grave, she said, indicated “the beginning of the end of one belief system, and the beginning of another.”

The teenager’s jewelry — a solid gold cross about 3 1/2 centimeters (1 1/2 inches) wide, set with cut garnets — marks her out as a member of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy. She was about 15, but her skeleton hasn’t yet been subjected to radiocarbon dating or isotopic analysis. Those techniques might help experts determine where and under what circumstances she grew up.

Howard Williams, a professor of archaeology at the University of Chester who is not connected to the discovery, said bed burials were very rare. He noted that they were an irregular feature of wealthy female graves in England and mainland Europe, suggesting that Anglo-Saxons may have looked across the Channel for inspiration.

“It’s part of a broader pan-European elite identity in life and in death,” he said.

Three sets of Anglo-Saxon remains were also found nearby, but it’s not clear to what degree any of the people buried there were related. As for the bed itself, there’s little left of it other than its iron fittings.

The rationale behind bed burials remains a matter of speculation.

“The word in Old English for ‘bed’ and ‘grave’ is the same because it’s ‘the place where you lie,’” Dickens said. “It is interesting that you have that association. You’re lying there — but just for a much longer time, I suppose.”

Source RAPHAEL SATTER | Associated Press