Cape Gelidonya

Cape Gelidonya (Turkish: Gelidonya Burnu or Taşlık Burnu, from Greek: Χελιδωνία, Chelidonia; Latin: Chelidonium promontorium[1]), formerly Kilidonia or Killidonia is a cape or headland on the Teke Peninsula in the chain of Taurus Mountains, located on the southern coast of Anatolia between the Gulf of Antalya and the Bay of Finike.

It was located in 1954, and the excavation began in 1960 by Peter Throckmorton, George F. Bass, Joan du Plat Taylor and Frédéric Dumas.

The eccentric photojournalist Peter Throckmorton, out of New York, arrived there in the mid-1950s after a controversial campaign where he was profiling the Algerian War from the point of view of the Algerian rebels fighting against French troops, which would later lead to an alleged altercation between himself and another team member, Claude Duthuit, who was fighting with the French.

At this time, the young archaeologist George Bass was working on his PhD at the university and was sent to co-direct the archaeological excavation of the site.

This was one of the first projects that led to the development of the field of nautical archaeology, along with the excavation of the Viking Skuldelev ships at Roskilde in 1962, and the discovery and raising of the Swedish warship the Vasa in 1961.