Dan Davis
Dr Dan Davis is the Orlando P. Qualley Chair of Classics and an associate professor in the Department of History at Luther College. He earned his undergraduate degree in Classics at the University of Iowa, then an M.A. in nautical archaeology from Texas A&M University's Nautical Archaeology Program. He completed his Ph.D. in Classics & Classical Archaeology (with distinction) at the University of Texas at Austin. His doctoral dissertation (supervised by Prof. Joseph Carter) was entitiled "Commercial Navigation in the Greek and Roman World" (available on Academia.edu).
Dr Davis lectures on topics involving the classical Greek & Roman world and underwater archaeology, teaches Greek and Latin at all levels, and takes students on study abroad program in the Mediterranean region. He is currently directing Luther College's 'Malta & the Mediterranean' program in Malta (spring, 2024).
He has conducted archeological fieldwork both on land and underwater in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. On land he has field directed at Metaponto (Italy), Kenchreai (Greece), and Caesarea Maritima (Israel). His underwater fieldwork includes ancient/medieval shipwreck and harbor surveys in Turkey, Greece, Israel, Republic of Georgia, and Ukraine. From 2008 to 2013 he worked with Dr. Robert Ballard's Ocean Exploration Trust and E/V Nautilus deep-sea expeditions to the Mediterranean and Black Sea. This latter work culminated in the discovery and intensive investigation of nearly 50 ancient, medieval and pre-modern shipwrecks off the coast of Turkey (Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Sea coasts). Dr. Davis co-organized an academic conference on these expeditions in Bodrum, Turkey (2014) and has published and co-published with colleagues a series of papers on many of these shipwrecks (2009-present). More papers are forthcoming.
For the past few years Dr Davis has also served as the Lead Archaeologist for Project Recover/University of Delaware on numerous projects for the Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). These projects involve the underwater search, location, and archaeological, forensic recovery of human remains of lost aircrews from World War II. Project locations include the Aegean Sea, the waters around Denmark, off the coast of Maine (USA), and the western equatorial Pacific region (Micronesia and Marshall Islands).
For information on publications, conference papers, and archaeological projects, please visit his CV page here on Academia.edu.
Dr Davis lectures on topics involving the classical Greek & Roman world and underwater archaeology, teaches Greek and Latin at all levels, and takes students on study abroad program in the Mediterranean region. He is currently directing Luther College's 'Malta & the Mediterranean' program in Malta (spring, 2024).
He has conducted archeological fieldwork both on land and underwater in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. On land he has field directed at Metaponto (Italy), Kenchreai (Greece), and Caesarea Maritima (Israel). His underwater fieldwork includes ancient/medieval shipwreck and harbor surveys in Turkey, Greece, Israel, Republic of Georgia, and Ukraine. From 2008 to 2013 he worked with Dr. Robert Ballard's Ocean Exploration Trust and E/V Nautilus deep-sea expeditions to the Mediterranean and Black Sea. This latter work culminated in the discovery and intensive investigation of nearly 50 ancient, medieval and pre-modern shipwrecks off the coast of Turkey (Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Sea coasts). Dr. Davis co-organized an academic conference on these expeditions in Bodrum, Turkey (2014) and has published and co-published with colleagues a series of papers on many of these shipwrecks (2009-present). More papers are forthcoming.
For the past few years Dr Davis has also served as the Lead Archaeologist for Project Recover/University of Delaware on numerous projects for the Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). These projects involve the underwater search, location, and archaeological, forensic recovery of human remains of lost aircrews from World War II. Project locations include the Aegean Sea, the waters around Denmark, off the coast of Maine (USA), and the western equatorial Pacific region (Micronesia and Marshall Islands).
For information on publications, conference papers, and archaeological projects, please visit his CV page here on Academia.edu.
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wreck sites permits a preliminary analysis of their cargoes. Knidos K was carrying three variants of Rhodian amphorae, while Knidos J, with its hull remains partially exposed, was carrying medium and large variants of the
same amphora type. Kilns that manufactured these amphorae in the 1st and 2nd century AD are known in Rhodes, its Peraia, and in Caria. In spite of numerous discoveries of Roman Rhodian amphorae on land over the past four decades, however, shipwrecks with the same amphorae are rather rare. The type has been identified as singletons or in small groups on a few shipwrecks, and a few badly plundered sites appear to represent cargoes. Knidos J and K add important information regarding the local networks involved during the initial stages of distribution. The modest size of these ships would have allowed them to sail into and out of the many bays, harbors and makeshift ports that dot the coastlines of the Datça and Bozburun peninsulas. We speculate that they were loaded near their place of production and were destined for a large emporium such as Knidos or Rhodes to offload their consignment for transshipment elsewhere in the Empire but foundered in a heavily-trafficked maritime corridor known for occasional bad weather and navigational challenges.
wreck sites permits a preliminary analysis of their cargoes. Knidos K was carrying three variants of Rhodian amphorae, while Knidos J, with its hull remains partially exposed, was carrying medium and large variants of the
same amphora type. Kilns that manufactured these amphorae in the 1st and 2nd century AD are known in Rhodes, its Peraia, and in Caria. In spite of numerous discoveries of Roman Rhodian amphorae on land over the past four decades, however, shipwrecks with the same amphorae are rather rare. The type has been identified as singletons or in small groups on a few shipwrecks, and a few badly plundered sites appear to represent cargoes. Knidos J and K add important information regarding the local networks involved during the initial stages of distribution. The modest size of these ships would have allowed them to sail into and out of the many bays, harbors and makeshift ports that dot the coastlines of the Datça and Bozburun peninsulas. We speculate that they were loaded near their place of production and were destined for a large emporium such as Knidos or Rhodes to offload their consignment for transshipment elsewhere in the Empire but foundered in a heavily-trafficked maritime corridor known for occasional bad weather and navigational challenges.