Deep beneath the sea off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, a diver examines a pottery vessel from the oldest known shipwreck in the Indian Ocean. Photo: Susannah H. Snowden
One bright Decenber morning in 2003, fishermen B.G. Preminda and R.P. Sunil were diving for conchs and lobsters in about 100 feet of water some two miles off the southern coast of the island nation of Sri Lanka, near the small port town of Godavaya. Instead of shellfish, however, they spotted the rim of a giant ceramic jar pok-ing out of the sandy seabed. They headed for the surface and noted the location on their GPS device. A week later, the divers returned for another look and this time discovered a small, bench-shaped stone carved with the image of a fish.
