Main content

George F. Bass Underwater Archaeology papers, 1960-1971 (bulk) 1952-1973 (inclusive)

Extent:

27.0 linear foot (the collection consists of twenty-seven archival boxes of data of which seventeen boxes contain correspondence. there are six boxes of expedition records and four boxes of photographs.)

Abstract:

George Fletcher Bass, a pioneer in the field of Underwater Archaeology, was born in South Carolina in 1932. Planning to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather who were Professors of English, he enrolled at Johns Hopkins University. A trip to Rome and the sight of the Roman antiquities altered Bass'life. After returning to Johns Hopkins, Bass spent two years at the School of Classical Studies in Athens followed by enrollment at Penn for his Ph.D. studies in classical archaeology. Bass was chosen in 1960 by Rodney Young, Professor and Chairman of Classical Archaeology at Penn and the Curator of the Mediterranean Section of the Penn Museum to direct the underwater excavation of a Bronze-Age shipwreck in Cape Gelidonya, Turkey. This event marked the beginnings of underwater archaeology as a discipline and as Bass'life's work. Bass conducted additional expeditions in Turkey at Yassi Ada, sponsored by the University Museum and the American Institute of Nautical Archaeology...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]