Even without a cinematic romance, shipwrecks are fascinating to archaeologists, because they are archaeological sites that represent a single moment in time. Wrecks can illustrate international trade, piracy, exploration, and the sailing and boat construction technology available to sailors at a given moment in time.
14th Century BC Uluburun Shipwreck Reconstruction at the Bochum Museum Exhibition. Photo by Martin Bahmann
Wrecks also have uniquely ethical issues associated with them: who has the right to excavate a wreck depends primarily on the salvage and heritage laws of the country who owns the waters where it was found. In some cases, it is perfectly legal for treasure hunters to dive on a wreck and sell what they find; in others, it is absolutely not. A wreck site is a cemetery, in many, perhaps most cases, and that creates additional ethical concerns.
To an archaeologist, wrecks represent a place where information about trade and technology is available, information that can be taken from no other type of site. About.com's Shipwrecks looks at several recently studied shipwreck sites, wrecks which occurred between the 14th century BC and the 17th century AD.
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