Topic: A Wine-Dark Sea, a Slate-Gray lake, and an Aquamarine Lagoon: understanding human activity (through nautical archaeology) in the region of the ‘Middle Sea’

Speaker: Jerome Ford

Archaeology is the study of humankind through material culture.  Over the past eight decades, our understanding of human enterprise around, upon, and across our planetary waters has evolved from the leisurely pursuits of sport-diving and treasure hunting to the rigorous scholarship of nautical archaeology.  This evening’s presentation illumines several subaquatic discoveries in the Mediterranean world, beginning with a 14th-century BCE merchant shipwreck off the coast of Antalya, Turkey, to a 1st century CE boat in the Sea of Galilee, and ending with a 9th-century CE Arab Period ship in Tantura Lagoon, Israel.

Jerome Hall was born in La Jolla, California and grew up in Pacific Beach. He received his doctorate in underwater archaeology at Texas A&M University where he eventually became the President of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.  For the past two decades, he has been a faculty member in the Anthropology Department at the University of San Diego, instructing introductory courses in archaeology, archaeological research methods, and maritime archaeology.