First archaeological excavation on scuba

First archaeological excavation on scuba

Last updated: December 9, 2019 at 21:05 pm

1948 — Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Frédéric Dumas, Philippe Tailliez, Jean Alinat and five other divers excavated a Roman galley off Mahdia, Tunisia, while operating from the research vessel Ingénieur Élie Monnier. They recovered approximately 40 columns from the wreck which was previously salvaged by hardhat divers from 1907 to 1913. Cousteau and Marcel Ichac produced the documentary film Carnet de plongées, the first-ever underwater movie filmed in colour, which was presented at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.

Musée National du Bardo

Marble bust of Aphrodite recovered from the wreck of the Mahdia. Image by Alaoui Museum (Public Domain)

Marble bust of Aphrodite recovered from the wreck of the Mahdia. Photo by Pascal Radigue (Creative Commons)

Reconstruction of the Mahdia shipwreck. Image by Habib M’henni (Creative Commons)

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Jeffrey Gallant

Jeffrey Gallant is the Editor-in-Chief and Records Keeper of the Diving Almanac. He is also a contributing editor of DIVER Magazine, and the scientific director of the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group (GEERG). Jeffrey started diving in 1982.

First archaeological excavation on scuba

First archaeological excavation on scuba

Last updated: December 9, 2019 at 21:05 pm

Musée National du Bardo

If you have claim to a diving or underwater record or first, if you know of a significant first or record not listed here, or if you can demonstrate that any of the information on this website is false or outdated, please complete the form on the record submission page.

First to dive the Five Deeps

Deepest submersible dive (Solo | Men)

Deepest fish (Observed)

Deepest diving submersible (In service)

Deepest dive by a head of state

Deepest watch (Prototype)

Deepest point in Earth’s oceans

Deepest submersible dive (Ocean)

Oldest diver (Men)

Fastest drift dive

Largest jellyfish

Deepest octopus

First documented case of hydrogen psychosis

Clearest water

First underwater colony

Most fin patents

Largest glacier calving ever filmed

First aquanaut (Men)

Longest migration (Shark)

Oldest active scuba club

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