The Uluburun Shipwreck Project: Intercon- Nections Through Trade In
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AIA Education Department Cargoes from Three Continents Lesson Plans The Uluburun Shipwreck Project: Intercon- nections through Trade in the Late Bronze Age MediterraneanWorld Ellen Dailey Bedell The Ellis School Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pulak, Cemal. “The Site at Uluburun.” Archaeology and Public Education 7.2” (1997). Washington, D.C.: Society for American Archaeology. Subject: History: Origins of World Civilizations Quirke, Stephen, and Jeffery Spencer, eds. The British Muse- um Book of Ancient Egypt. New York: Thames and Hud- Level: Grade 9 son, 1992. (Includes wall paintings form the tomb-chapel of Sobekhotep and the tomb of Menkheperraseneb.) Length of Unit: Three weeks Smith, Shelley J., Jeanne M. Moe, Kelly A. Letts, and Danielle M. Paterson. Intrigue of the Past. Utah: Bureau of Land Readings for the Teacher: Specific readings are included Management, 1993. with each lesson. Stager, Lawrence E. Ashkelon discovered: From Canaanites and Philistines to Romans and Moslems. Reprinted from Art of Ancient Cyprus. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1972. Biblical Archaeology Review. Washington, D.C.: Biblical Baines, John and Jaromir Malek. Cultural Atlas of Ancient Archaeology Society, 1991. Egypt. New York: Facts on File, 2000. (Includes reproduc- Tatton-Brown, Veronica. Ancient Cyprus. Cambridge: Har- tions of tomb paintings and depictions of the weighing of vard University Press, 1988. gold with zoomorphic weights.) Vermeule, Emily T. Toumba Tou Skourou: The Mound of Bass, George F. “Oldest Known Shipwreck”(see General Darkness. Boston: Harvard University-Museum of Fine Bibliography). Arts Cyprus Expedition, 1974. Bass, George F., Cemal Pulak, Dominique Collon, and James Slides: For a complete list of Uluburun slides and ordering Weinstein. “The Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun: instructions, contact Institute of Nautical Archaeology, 1986 Campaign.” American Journal of Archaeology 93 P.O. Drawer HG, College Station, TX 77841-5137. (1989): 1–29 Video: Discoveries Underwater, the Oldest Shipwreck in the Breasted, James Henry. Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical World. Films Incorporated Video, 5547 N. Ravenswood Documents. Vol. 2. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, Ave., Chicago IL 60640-1199 2001. (Contains documents pertaining to the Eighteenth Dynasty). Davies, Norman De G. and R. O. Faulkner. “A Syrian Trad- Part One: Introduction ing Venture to Egypt.” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 33 (1947). The Ellis School is an independent, all-girls college prepara- Douglass, Amay and K. C. Smith, eds. “Archaeology Under tory school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the Upper School, Water.” Archaeology and Public Education 7.2 (1997). ninth through twelfth grade, there are approximately 150 Washington, D.C.: Society for American Archaeology. students. The students are highly motivated and capable of Gitin, Seymour, ed. Recent Excavations in Israel: A View engaging in sophisticated educational projects. The class size to the West. Archaeological Institute of America Colloquia is small, usually under fifteen students, so it is possible to & Conference Papers, No. 1. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/ institute a wide variety of activities. The ninth grade Origins Hunt, 1995 of World Civilizations course begins with a simulated archae- Lucas, A., and J. F. Harris. Ancient Egyptian Materials and ology excavation in which the students learn to reconstruct a Industries. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1999. civilization using primary source material (artifacts, ecofacts, Moran, William L., ed. And trans. The Amarna Letters. Bal- and other features). At the end of the archaeology unit, the timore: John Hopkins University Press, 1992. students are able to analyze the excavated culture in terms of Muckelroy, Keith. Archaeology Under Water (see General social structure, ideology, and behavior patterns. They are Bibliography). then introduced to the analysis of written primary sources Archaeological Institute of America 1.1 AIA Education Department Cargoes from Three Continents Lesson Plans in their study of ancient Egypt. They analyze legal, medical, set sail for Mycenae, possibly on its way to Egypt with a royal literary, and political texts in order to better understand Egyp- cargo. A sudden storm may have caused the ship to sink off tian civilization. The students understand that texts must be the coast of Turkey. The loss of this ship and its extensive viewed critically and the archaeological evidence cannot be cargo must have been devastating in the Late Bronze Age, but ignored just because written sources are available. it has left us with a very valuable time capsule. The Uluburun project follows units on archaeology, The goal of the unit is to have students analyze a specific Mesopotamian civilizations, Egyptian civilizations, and archaeological excavation to discover the extensive trade con- the Minoan and Mycenaean world. This Late Bronze Age nections between civilizations in the Mediterranean region in shipwreck clearly shows students that all of these civilizations the Late Bronze Age. The unit has two sections: (1) Intro- were connected through trade and the material culture and duction; (2) A set of thirteen lessons, first in outline form, ideas were spread throughout the Mediterranean world. It and then with detailed descriptions. also reinforces their study of archaeology as a tool for recon- Through the study of this material, students should be structing ancient civilization. able to analyze the collection of artifacts from the shipwreck After analyzing the archaeological evidence from the Ulu- and answer questions about the types of commodities that burun shipwreck, marine archaeologists from the Institute were being traded, their possible origins, destinations, and of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University have uses, and the methods that were used in trading. determined that this ship sank off the coast of Kas, Turkey in This unit is planned with the following additional about 1316 b.c. The ship is important for studying trade in objectives in mind: the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean because it carried items from at least eight ancient civilizations: Mycenaean, Eastern To foster critical-thinking skills through the analysis European, Cypriot, Canaanite, Kassite, Assyrian, Egyptian, of archaeological data (including the use of cross- and Nubian. Its cargo, which may have been a royal one, was dating). mainly composed of raw materials, although manufactured goods were also present. The main cargo included ten tons of To encourage cooperative learning by having students Cypriot copper in the form of ingots and one ton of tin, also work in problem-solving groups. in the form of ingots. These raw materials are rarely found on traditional archaeological sites because they were made into To foster the view that archaeology is a serious scientific bronze as soon as they reached their destination. pursuit, not a treasure hunt. This cedar vessel was of typical Canaanite mortise-and- tenon design. Archaeologists speculate that it sailed from To help students distinguish between primary and sec- the Canaanite coast from either Byblos or Ugarit, both ondary contexts and understand the significance of major Late Bronze Age ports. In addition to its design, there context. are other indications that the Uluburun shipwreck was a Canaanite ship. The 149 amphoras aboard were Canaanite, To teach students the effective use of primary source mate- as were the tools used to repair the ship. There were four rial (archaeological data, texts, and wall-painting). Canaanite oil lamps that had been used to provide light dur- ing the voyage, and the ship’s stone anchors were of a type To teach the concept of cultural diffusion through trade used on the Canaanite coast. The stone weights uncovered (transmission of material culture and ideas). by archaeologist reflect the Syro-Palestinian weight system and were probably used to weigh commodities that were put To teach about the use of technology in the analysis of on board the ship. archaeological data. This Late Bronze Age ship was fifty feet long, and it car- ried a captain and three or four crew members. Canaanite and Mycenaean merchants also traveled on the ship. Sections Part Two: Set of Thirteen Lessons of two Mycenaean gold necklaces of a type worn only by (See detailed day-by-day descriptions in Part Three.) high ranking people, and two Mycenaean bronze swords and knives found in the shipwreck indicate that a pair of “Greek” Day One: (1) Students will study a map of the eastern Medi- merchants was on board. The personal items belonging to terranean to determine where the ship sank; and (2) students these merchants were found in the stern of the ship where will locate the artifacts found on the ship on a diagram of the the captain and important passengers slept. The sailors were shipwreck. housed in the bow of the ship. Archaeologists think that the ship sailed from the Canaan- Day Two: (1) Discuss context in archaeology; and 2) discuss ite coast to Cyprus for a load of copper ingots because all of classification of artifacts; and (3) each group will devise a way the copper on the ship came from two sites in Cyprus. It then to classify the artifacts from the shipwreck. Archaeological Institute of America 1.2 AIA Education Department Cargoes from Three Continents Lesson Plans Day Three: (1) Divide the class into four groups; (2) discuss Day-by-Day descriptions classification of artifacts; and (3) each group will devise a way to classify the artifacts from the shipwreck. Day One 1. The students will study a map of the eastern Mediter- Day Four: (1) The artifacts will be classified by type of ranean whish shows that location of the Uluburun shipwreck material and each group will get a list of the artifacts in their and all of the countries that contributed items to the ship’s category; and (2) discuss the principle of cross-dating in cargo. archaeology. 2. They will each be given a diagram of the shipwreck (from Bass, Pulak, et al,. in Bibliography). The picture shows Day Five: (1) Show slides of the artifacts on the ship but do the artifacts and their location on the ship.