Research Paper on:
Overview of Shipwreck Archaeology

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
of underwater depth, the potential for significant gains in archaeological knowledge is both grand and far-reaching. Air diving has long been the most utilized means of exploration in waters that  are shallow enough to support such technology. When the shipwreck has come to rest at more than sixty meters down, however, other technology must be employed as a means  by which to bypass this severe limitation that force the exploration to be both brief in examination and dangerous by nature. Saturation diving, a method of using various gas  mixtures as a way to lengthen work times, helps to overcome this obstacle. In short, the diver "reaches an equilibrium of dissolved gasses" (Anonymous, no date) upon immersion that  serve to maintain a separation between his decompression profile and the dives duration. His descent, guided by the suspending action of a turret, is accomplished by way of a  high-pressure trunk that allows him to sustain but one decompression after the dive is complete. "At the moment, saturation diving and the logistics involved are too expensive for the  budgets of most excavations. Thus, this kind of operation is only feasible for shipwrecks that are of interest to the mass media and dispose of exceptional budgets (Anonymous, no  date). Excavating the downed vessel is another matter entirely, inasmuch as decades of debris and overgrowth necessitate preliminary chores before the real exploring can begin. Clearing the terrain consists  of ridding the immediate area of its thick undergrowth, readily achieved with either a water lance or Galeazzi lancet, the latter of which actually propels the sediment backwards and out  of the divers way. A data reference grid is then affixed so as to maintain accuracy and consistency in whatever is uncovered. Then the time comes when the