SCIAA's Maritime Research Division Lends Helping Hand to Mexico Christopher F

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3-2005 SCIAA's Maritime Research Division Lends Helping Hand to Mexico Christopher F. Amer [email protected]

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On a nearly cloudless day in Jtme, propagated~by aii Jjm Spin~k and I stood in the com urgent request puter cabin of the research vessel tlieprevious year ITMARIll starjng-at the 'array of from Pilar Luna familiar-looking co¥1puters and Erraguenena, cables linking the units to each other, Subdirectora de the Trimble GPS antenna set high Sub.direcci6n de atop the bridge and the remote Aquelogia sensing "fish" ra cked on the'aft deck. Subacuatica for The only other familiar thing was the Mexico's lnstituto oppressive neat and humidity. .1'h ~ Nacional de scene au t of the porthole was not tha t Antropologia e of a South Carolina marsh. Rather, Historia (INA H), around us, shrimp boats were the Mexican stacked two or three deep at the equivalent to our quays, their equipment spread National Park Service. In 1998, remains of Nucsira Seliora Del Juncal, around the docks while crews INAH had purchased a custom-built which sank in 1631, some 150 welded superstructures, creosoted marine remote system from Sandia kjlometers west of Campeche. cables, and repaired nets in prepara Research Corporation in New Pilar requested that SCIAA assist tion for the upcoming shrjmping Mexico. The ESPADAS system was th em with troubleshooting season, which was to open in less one of only two units produced by ESPADAS, which was not working, than two months. Behind the port of Sandia, the second, identical, system setting up the system and the survey, Lerma, the main port for Campeche, (ADAP III) going to the Maritime and training their archaeologists and Mexico, the hills reflected the heat Research Division of SCIAA (see staff in the use of the equipment, back on us and caused the hot wind Legacy, Vol. 3, No.2, 1998) . Their marine archaeological survey streaming across the Yucatan to archaeologist, who had operated teclmiques, and ship construction. speed across the Gulf of Mexico. ESPADAS since 1998, left INAH in She also brought down Marc Andre Our presence in Mexico was 2003 to pursue a PhD elsewhere, Bernjer from Parks Canada's leaving them with Underwa ter Archaeology Unit to little experience in train their team of divers, many of using and trouble whom had limited archaeological shooting the experience in underwater survey and system. INAH recording techniques. The course was about to begin Marc conducted, was based on one its fourth field developed by the Nautical Archaeol season since 1997 ogy Society in England, and was very of an ongoing similar to the one developed by Lynn project to inven Harris for SCIAA's Sport Diver tory and diagnose Archaeology Management Program the submerged in the early 1990s to train Hobby culhlral resources divers to assist SCIAA. in the Gulf of With all expenses paid by the Mexico and to look Mexican government, Jim Spirek and for the sunken I agreed to fly to Campeche and

20 Legacy, Vol. 9, Nos. 1/2, March 2005 often stretch Gulf. Owned by Pemex, Mexico's hom Florida to largest oil and gas company, this rig Mexico City supplies oil to nine pumping and descend stations, each of which can accommo on the unwary date a half-million ton tanker. At boater rapidly night the scene looked like a floa ting and w ith a city with a huge castle lit up like a vengeance. Christmas tree. By day, the rigging of Our initial IT1\1lAR III was the home to dozens of departure frigate birds, which kept us company from Lerma throughout much of the survey. was delayed After two days, the storm passed, due to the and we could begin our survey. The approach of location chosen was one of the areas one of these where historical documents sug Fig. 3: Jim Spirek instructs Lisseth Pedroza, one of the INAH l1ortcs, which gested the wreck might have gone archaeologists, in the use of the ESPADAS system. (SCIAA photo by Christopher FAme!') closed the port down. The Spanish fleet had left to all outgoing Veracruz in October 1631 and Nuestra work with Pilar's group. Roberto vessels. A week later, with a second SeJ'iora Del Juncal, the capitana of the Galindo was in charge of the window of opportunity rapidly fleet, had become separated from the ESPADAS and the survey logistics closing, IT/\IlAR III slipped out of other ships due to a broken for the project, while Vera Maya, a port shortl y after dusk and headed mainmast. Caught in a norte, the recently graduated archaeologist into the sunset. Early the next crew attempted to reach the safety of from Mexico City would handle the morning we awakened to the Campeche when the ship was Geographical Information System crashing of waves against the hull overcome and foundered. (GIS). During three weeks in and the shouts of lTMAR Ill's erevl'. The balance of the survey was November and December 2003, The nine members of the survey crew fairly uneventful, except for periodic utilizing experience gleaned from stumbled out onto the heaving deck computer shutdowns, usually caused working on our own system, we to discover that another El Norte was by conflicts in the software, and one worked with Roberto and the crew headed our way checking connections, tracing wiring and th e waves and bundles, reconfiguring computer wind ahead of the settings, installing software, and front had sunk the performing numerous other "tricks" launch, which was to get the system up and nmning. towed behind the Unfortunately, Jim had to return to vessel. After South Carolina just before we put to recovering the sea to test the system and conduct stricken launch, the the survey. However, he did not get captain headed for off that easily and returned to Mexico the only shelter in for the last week of survey. But more the area, Cayo on that later. Arcas. By the time Fall and winter are the season for we reached Arcas, El Norte in the Gulf of Mexico. These El Norte was upon Fig. 4: Cayo Arcas as the t of EI Norte approaches. photo by Christopher F Amer) bands of storms swoop down across us and by late the Gulf at fairly regular intervals, evening the lee of this tiny islet was event when the magnetometer tow bringing with them high winds and home to dozens of fishing boats and fish hit the bottom in 20 meters of torrential rain. The Mexicans take El craft associated with the oil and gas water causing damage to the tailfin Norte very seriously, and so they industry. Astern of us sat one of the assembly. Jim arrived back on the should. The fronts of these storms larger oil drilling platforms in the second day of survey, ferried out the

See MEXICO, Page 22

LegaClj, Vol. 9, Nos. 1/ 2, March 2005 21 MEXICO, From Page 21 100-plus kilometers to !IMAR III in a INAH computer technicians, Campeche Police Boston Whale!' the computer operating which also deliveresonar survey area in IS-meter-Iane incre field season was cha racterized by surveys at reported shipwreck ments, but detecting only a few small software conflicts and problems, locations provided to us by the local magnetic anomalies, However, the 2004 was the season of equipment fishermen, If a survey revealed an survey afforded the Mexican crew an failures and logistical problems, anomaly and / or acoustic contact at a opportunity to get used to the Two doys before we flew to Mexico, reported location, the dive team was equipment and put into practice the the project's funding was pulled, dispatched to ground truth the site, If training we had given them, while which meant that INAH could not nothing was picked up on the survey working in a variety of sea condi pay for ITlvlAR Ill, This was an equipment, the divers did not have to tions, ranging from calm to stormy inauspicious start to the fi eld season dive that location, This methodology seas, Shortly after finishing our last because the team had survey lane of the season, ITMAR III already left their base in was buffeted by another Norte thot Mexico City and was swooped down on us with amazing assembled in Campeche, speed, Jim had missed the Norte at This wrinkle in the the beginning of the survey. Now he project led us to devise a was treated to a nine-hour ride back revised methodology. to Campeche riding the front of one, Instead of continuing the When we returned to Campeche, search for Nues tra Se1'iom Jim and I set about training their Del Juncnl offshore, we archaeologists in post-processing would coordinate with procedures, setting up 0 GIS project their dive team and for the survey, and interpreting the implement a near shore

survey results, With the assistance of coastal survey using a Fig, 7: The author investigates the wreck (SCIAA photo by Eugenio Aceves)

22 Legncy, VoL 9, Nos, 1/2, March 200S INAH 's chief we were forced to operate the computer techni remainder of the fi eld season with no cian, Mario, who backup tow cables and onl y the right ca me aboard and channel of the sonar receiving data. after several hours By the time we got everything practically crawling more or less functioning I had only a inside the comput week until my return to South ers, announced that Carolina. During that week, we we were facing investigated several reported massive hardware shipwreck locations along the coast problems. Mario and found a previously unknown replaced the wreck. During that time, I also had motherboard in the magnetometer Fig . 8: Deploying the magnetometer towlish aboard Zayosal. computer, but (SCIAA photo by Christopher F. Arne!') persistent and allowed the team to rapidly verify ongoing problems with the other two the veracity of a number of reported computers necessitated him sta ying wreck sites in a day without having with us throughout the survey. Over to deploy divers. the course of the next few days, wires One of the drawbacks of survey in both the magnetometer and side ing in a small open boat became clear scan sonar tow cables broke, leaving to us on the fourth day when we us with onl y one cable for each piece were caught 25 kilometers along the of equipment. Th en, a collision of the coast from Campeche in one of the sonar towfish with the bottom numerous rain squalls that frequent damaged the remaining cable the Yucatan and Gulf during the reducing the sonar to a single rainy season. Judicious use of tarps charmel system. To add insult to and bai lers by the crew, and the injury, just as we began imaging a presence of the sheltered harbor of a new shipwreck target wi th the sonar, Fig. 10: Members of INAH team resort at just the right moment the motherboard in the sonar climbing the palace at Santa Rosa Del Xtampak. (SCIAA photo by Eugenio averted ca tas trophe. A couple of computer melted after the cooling days later, INAH's funding was fans stopped. Ma ri o solved the latter the opportunity to dive on, and restored, and we could move the problem by building a new sonar record , several sites with the Mexican ESPADAS system onto ITMAR III computer at home one evening, but archaeologists and experience the and prepare that range of sites present off vessel for survey the coast of Campeche. operations. And th is These included, a 19th is where th e equip century steamboat, a ment problems began. 1970s shrimp boat, the A tes t of the scattered remains of a survey system quickly large diesel-powered led us to the reali za vessel, and a long, natural tion that all was not depression possibly well. The ESPADAS caused by a subterranean system was not tunnel collapse. Before functi oni.ng properly. each of these dives the After several phone crew met to discuss calls, we managed to methodology, which gave enlist the services of Fig. 9: The main te mple at the Mayan site of Edzna. me an opportunity to Christopher F. Arne!') See MEXICO, Page 24

Legacy, Vol. 9, Nos. 1/ 2, March 2005 23 MEXICO, From Page 23 suggest revised or alternate strate jungle was qoing its best to reclaim. that was symbiotic, was trouble gies. At the end of each day weagain The road, that often resembled a shooting the troublesome ESPADAS met to review the day's underwater streambe-d, did not allow us to even system. Until 2003, ESPADAS was •drawings, still iniages, and video reach half the 70 km/hr speed limit, used infrequently. Now that it is footage ofthe sites and to discuss a limit obviously imp~sed at an being used on an annual basis, the various interpretations of each site. earlier time. , equipment is assembled and disas With my,impending departure . he following day, I left sembled for each field season and rapidly approaching, the team-took a , Campeche and flew east over Cayo transported great distances by road day to make the pilgrimage to , Arcas, OI1e of the numerolls islets that from its base in Mexico City to the apother Mayan site. Santa Rosa indicate th'e transition between the survey locales. This treatment takes Xtampak is the site of a huge Mayan relatively shallow water of the Gulf a toll on six-year-old computers. In I _ . .-.. city that WSIS once a regkmal capi!al and the line of.·darker blue water contrast, the MRD's ADAP III system . of the Mayan world:' Covei:in!2,~QP1e where the seafloor drops away to largely remains installed in our C lO-square kilometers on a hill whose mor~ than SOD meters deep some 170 Hawk survey vessel and is used on a top-had beenJeveled, XFal1,1pak ·!ies kilometers east·of the city. I knew fairly regular basis thanks to grants, some 120 kilometers south of that the Mexican crew still had many of which come from the Campeche.· Unlike many of the another month of surveying remain Archaeological Research Trust. Mayan sites in the area that have ing near Arcas and Los Triangulos. Consequently, after the initial been reconstructed for tomi.sm, However, with the two seasons of problems, including Y2K compatibil Xtampak is in a relatively early stage training and experience, as well as ity issues, had been rectified, we of excavation, having only two having Mario onboard, I knew they have little need to perform surgery

Fig. 11: The survey and vessel crews of the 2003 Survey Expedition. (SCIAA photo by Christopher F. Arne!)

structures reconstructed. The site, would do well. on the inner workings of the system, like most cultural sites in Mexico, is During the two field seasons that which was assembled the same year managed by INAH. While officially Jim and I worked with INAH, we as ESPADAS. The work in Mexico open for tourists, Xtampak has only met our primary goal of training afforded Jim and I the opportunity to received four visitors in the last year. their archaeologist in preparing and deal with issues that, touch wood, The trip to the site took us over 3 conducting marine archaeological our system may never experience. hours to go the 120 kilometers, half surveys and post processing and However, if it does 50, we are ready. that time spent traveling the last 32 interpreting the results. However, kilometers along a road that the the most valuable training, and one

24 Legacy, Vol. 9, Nos. 1/2, March 2005