Authors: Mainberger, Knepel, Eisenmann, Maack

Shipwrecks are not only fascinating dive locations, but also expressive sources for archaeological research. They are part of the rich underwater cultural heritage, which has been preserved in our rivers, lakes and coastal waters. As habitats for plants and animals they represent unique hot spots of biodiversity. In order to open the door for divers to exciting journeys into our past and in order to insure that the sites remain preserved, it is essential to encourage responsible wreck diving.

In cooperation with the DEGUWA the Archaeological State Museum of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has published the IKUWA-1 proceedings: Schutz des Kulturerbes unter Wasser. Veränderungen europäischer Lebenskultur durch Fluß- und Seehandel. Beiträge zum Internationalen Kongreß für Unterwasserarchäologie (IKUWA '99).´
February 1999 in Sassnitz auf Rügen, Lübstorf 2000. ISSN: 0138-4279. Hardback, 623 pages, numerous illustrations, maps and graphs in colour and b/w, DIN A4, available for € 30,50 at the Archaeological State Museum Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The chronological framework for the papers presented in this volume ranges from 5th century BC, when the Greek Skyllias dived for sunken wrecks, to recent investigations in shallow and deep water. Not only the spectacular wrecks of the Mediterranean - like the Mahdia, Uluburun, Giglio and Halonissos wrecks - are featured in here, but also research on pile dwellings in inland waters.

Corsica - since millenia the breakers roll onto the shores of the fourth largest island of the Mediterranean. And since man went to sea many ships were overwhelmed by the forces of nature over and over again. The knowledge of archaeologists about the construction and use of ships in Antiquity is still limited.
The diving pioneer Wolfgang Schultheis in collaboration with the archaeologists Federico Foerster Laures († 1988) and Alfred Zeischka († 2005) and other experts of the DEGUWA made a sensational find: The "Heilige Anker von Lavezzi" (=Holy Anchor of Lavezzi). This documentary accompanies the archaeologists on their exiting work under and above the water.