According to the positive opinion of the Central Archaeological Council and the decision of the General Directorate of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the preliminary and exploratory works for the year 2021 at the Antikythera Shipwreck have been completed.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Culture, the most important find is a part of a marble statue trapped under a heavy boulder, while some smaller wooden and bronze structural elements of the ship were recovered, as well as some fragments of ceramics that give valuable information on the dating and composition of the cargo. Along with the other findings that the future excavation will yield, it will contribute to a fuller understanding of the valuable cargo the ship carried, the Ministry of Culture added. It is noted that the new five-year underwater research programme is being carried out by the Swiss School of Archaeology, under the direction of Dr Angeliki G. Simossi, head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Evia, and Lorenz E. Baumer, Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Geneva, while based on the results of this year's research, a detailed programme will be drawn up for the years to follow (2022-2025), in cooperation with the competent and involved bodies.
The objectives of this year's short expedition were achieved to the maximum extent despite the partly difficult weather conditions, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said. It also adds that the expedition of the first period of the second five-year programme took place between 1-10 October and focused on the detailed mapping of the Antikythera wreck site and the creation of a complete photogrammetric 3D model of the wreck in high resolution. The mapping allows, on the one hand, a much more accurate analysis of the distribution of the finds on the submarine soil, which is fundamental for an accurate reconstruction of the sinking of the ship in the 1st century BC, and on the other hand, the presentation of a new cutting-edge tool for the precise planning of further research. The sequential integration of new and older findings into the model will result in a complete documentation of the shipwreck. It also - always according to the announcement of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism - provides the possibility of virtual access to the site even via the internet. This year's expedition also recorded a larger part of the wreck's surroundings, providing new and important information that will be explored in future expeditions.
Despite the abundance of finds recovered from the wreck from 1900 to the present day, recent research from 2014-2019 demonstrates that the scientific community is on the verge of uncovering other important archaeological evidence that will contribute to a fuller understanding of the site, answering key questions that have remained unanswered for more than 100 years. The aim of the investigation - the Ministry of Culture and Tourism informs - is to complete the collection of the data necessary to draw conclusions regarding the existence of other remains of the Antikythera Mechanism in the wreck site, the wreck's cargo and the ship itself that remain covered as a result of a landslide, the possible connection between wrecks A and B, and the number of people who were on board the ship of wreck A. Equally important is the uncovering and recovery of finds, including human skeletal remains, parts of the Antikythera ship and its cargo, which remain exposed and vulnerable to possible anthropogenic interference and the adverse effects of the environment.
The coordination of the field teams was undertaken by Commodore Alexandros Palatianos and the direction of the underwater survey was undertaken by Alexandros Sotiriou, an associate researcher in archaeology at the University of Geneva, while members of the Special Diving Team of the Underwater Missions Unit of the Coast Guard who used mixed gas diving equipment, as well as the diving archaeologist Orestis Manousos and the Italian researcher Dr. Elisa Costa of the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice participated.
The research is being carried out by the Swiss School of Archaeology under the supervision of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and with funding from the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation and the Swiss watchmaker Hublot. The Athanasios K. Laskaridis Foundation provided the ship Typhoon, while Cosmote supports the telecommunications needs of the research.
The research is under the auspices of the A.E. of the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou and is actively supported by the Municipality of Kythera and the residents of Antikythera.
The official website of the research team is http://antikythera.org.gr
🤿Results of the 2021 underwater survey of the Antikythera Shipwreck.
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👇https://t.co/31q0zMkfYG#AntikyheraShipwreck #archaeologicalsite #MotherMouseAntikythera #antikythera #MinCultureGR pic.twitter.com/tbCIrmq4oK- Ministry of Culture (@cultureGR) November 4, 2021
