Projects

Since the early 1980’s Franck Goddio and his team from the Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM) have worked throughout the world on a number of different underwater archaeological projects, some of them are still ongoing. The map gives you an overview on where research is currently ongoing or where it has taken place.

Sunken Civilizations

The section on Sunken Civilizations presents the archaeological sites off today’s coast of Egypt: Alexandria’s eastern harbour and the cities Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus in Aboukir bay. All fell prey to natural disasters and sank from sight beneath the Mediterranean more than a thousand years ago. In Thonis-Heracleion’s case an entire city was swallowed by the waves. And what was left of the sites lay forgotten on the seabed, covered by layers of sediment.

Ancient Trade Routes

The section on Ancient Trade Routes focuses on the excavation of shipwrecks off the coast of the Philippines. Remains of junks, Spanish galleons and ships from the British East India Company tell the story of ocean seafaring and trade. Each excavation project serves as a time capsule which explains history.

Others

In the section on Other Projects you will find information on the excavation work on Napoleon Bonaparte’s fleet lost in the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and on the discovery of the Adelaide, a French slave ship sunk in 1714 off the coast of Cuba.