Ancient ships and other treasures have been found at the Portus Theodosiacus archaeological site, which forced a redesign of the main train station of the Marmaray Project. And that's holding up construction of the undersea tunnel. Photo: Simon Norfolk
The scope of artifacts is overwhelming. Some date back to the 6th millennium BC, the oldest settlements ever uncovered in Istanbul. Pottery fragments, shells, and pieces of bone litter the ground. Blue milk crates full of everything from amphorae to horse skulls are stacked head-high near trailers that serve as temporary offices. And somewhere in a storage facility are nine human heads, found in a bag.