Nottingham professor dives into BBC deal
Research conducted by a professor at the University of Nottingham will become the subject of a new BBC documentary. The work of archaeologist Dr Jon Henderson, involving the excavation of an ancient underwater city, will be featured in the BBC Two programme.
The programme will use "innovative" computer graphics to show what pre-historic Pavlopetri — a submerged city lying off the coast of Greece — would have looked like and how its people lived. It is due for transmission next year.
Underwater archaeologist Dr Henderson said: “This documentary will follow us every step of the way as we carry out the first ever underwater excavations at this important site. And who knows what we will find? Given the good preservation of remains underwater we could recover organic items dating from the Greek Bronze Age which would be spectacular.”
Pavlopetri was discovered 40 years ago by oceanographer Dr Nic Flemming. In 1968, equipped with just snorkels and flippers, his team carried out the very first survey of the site.
It remained untouched until last year when Dr Henderson, working in collaboration with the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, was given permission to examine the site.
Dr Henderson said: “We have been very keen to use the latest survey technologies on this site to create an accurate three-dimensional record of the architectural remains on the seabed.
"Having the BBC onboard has allowed us to create amazing photo-realistic, computer-generated reconstructions of the site based on the actual survey data we have collected in the field.”
Dr Henderson and his team will start excavating the site next year to establish the date and function of the buildings on the site and discover how and when it was submerged.
