Searching for the Past

A REMUS 100 autonomous underwater vehicle dove through the clear, blue waters of the Mediterranean in September 2011 on a mission to find and survey Bronze Age shipwrecks off the coast of Greece. Because their cargo is often preserved far better than artifacts on land, such ancient wrecks act as a kind of time machine that allow scientists and historians to examine the past with unprecedented clarity. WHOI marine archaeologist Brendan Foley is using cargo found in wrecks to understand ancient trading practices and to trace the spread of ideas that we recognize today as hallmarks of modern civilization.(Photo by Brendan Foley, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)