We stood in the ruined fort looking down at the sea. Each one of us was exhausted from months of excavation, but feeling rejuvenated by our climb to the top of Castle Island. From our vantage point we could watch the ocean churn amongst the reefs lying out beyond the small barrier islands. Far beneath […]

At last – the Warwick Excavation blog is up and running! Veronica and I are in beautiful Bermuda helping to uncover and document the sunken English galleon Warwick. For the next two months we will be blogging live from the project at http://warwick1619.wordpress.com/ Warwick sank in Castle Harbour, Bermuda almost 400 years ago. The galleon […]

We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of enthusiasm since we were Freshly Pressed. We deeply appreciate every comment, like, and read – and are thrilled for every new follower. For us, this has been an incredible introduction to hundreds of new blogs! Thank you all so much! So here’s what’s next: We hope that […]

There is nothing compared to the physical experience of being aboard a historic sailing vessel. Neither of us has ever been aboard the full sized replica of Batavia, but after reading “The Power of Replicas” posted by Kelby Rose, we are determined to go. He posted stunning pictures of both the vessel and shipyard on […]

In 1619, when Sir Robert Rich ordered his Galleon Warwick to sail to the American Colonies with a load of much needed supplies, he may have had more than merchant work in mind. Sir Robert, the Earl of Warwick, was a major shareholder in the Bermuda Company. Although his stake in the joint-stock company was […]

Some of the angels I encountered in the Greek cemetery, described in Angels over Alexandria.  The poems are from our favorite poets, Constantine Cavafy and Juan Ramón Jiménez. “I am not I. I am this one walking beside me whom I do not see, whom at times I manage to visit, and whom at other times […]

It was a blustery day in Alexandria (El Eskanderia) and the sea was full of chop. The northerly, known by the ancients as the Etesian wind, was blowing strong.  During the summer months this wind would pick up strength and provide favorable conditions for ancient mariners sailing to Egypt from Greece and the Aegean.  Just […]

I am wearing $28,000 of sensitive electrical equipment and sinking deeper into the rice paddy with every step. By this point, its pretty apparent that I am going to need some help. I am carrying a device called a gradiometer. It measures anomalies in the earths magnetic field. Our team is using it to look […]

In the fall of 1619, a hurricane dashed the English Galleon Warwick against the cliffs of Bermuda’s Castle Harbor. After lying beneath the sand for nearly four centuries, the ship has been uncovered again. Some people believe the most valuable thing that we can get from a shipwreck is information about the past. Others think […]

At the dawn of civilization in the Nile Valley, people settled upon four levees of the Mendesian branch of the Nile.  These sandy embankments protruded from the landscape in a southwest to northeast direction and provided the earliest settlers a safe abode from the annual floodwaters.  Here the first settlement of Mendes, initially known as […]