Archaeologists excavating the famous 2,050-year-old Roman shipwreck off the remote island of Antikythera, Greece, have uncovered more than fifty new artifacts including a bronze armrest (possibly part of a throne), remains of a bone flute, pawn from an ancient board game, luxury ceramics and glassware.
The 2015 expedition marked the first time archaeologists were able to join specialist divers in descending to the 180 feet (55 m) deep site. The ten-man dive team used advanced technical diving equipment including closed-circuit rebreathers and trimix breathing gases, performing 61 dives in 10 days of diving on the wreck. Image credit: Brett Seymour / EUA / ARGO.
The 2015 expedition is part of a multi-year underwater project at the site, which began in 2014.
During the project, named Return to Antikythera, an international team of archaeologists under the direction of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution of Massachusetts expects to recover artifacts and ancient artwork still buried in the seafloor. All works are conducted under the supervision of the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities.
During an expedition in 2014, the team created a three-dimensional map of the site using cameras mounted on an autonomous underwater vehicle. Hampered by bad weather, the expedition included just four dive days for professional divers who recovered a series of artifacts on the surface sediment and proved that much of the ship’s cargo is indeed still preserved beneath the sediment.
The 2015 expedition has left the archaeologists with the best understanding yet of this shipwreck and its cargo.
The expedition included 40 hours of bottom time, with four archaeologists diving the site and performing controlled excavation to the highest scientific standard with specially designed equipment.
Metal detectors revealed the presence of buried objects throughout the wreck site. Most artifacts were 3D modeled in situ, then 3D modeled again after being raised.
Fifteen lead artifacts were recovered for isotopic analysis: a huge salvage ring, two anchor components, several pieces of hull sheathing, etc. The analysis will determine where the lead was mined, to reveal the home port of the ship.
A Rhodian amphora neck with stamped handle and an intact Koan demi-amphora were also recovered.
The archaeologists recovered a series of fragmentary luxury goods, including mosaic glass, clear glass, part of a bone flute, a blue hemispherical bead (possibly glass), an ornate mould-formed lagynos (or table jug). A probable stone statuette base, rebated and filled with an as-yet unidentified substance, very similar to others recovered from this wreck, was also recovered.
The team also recovered a section of bronze furniture, perhaps from a throne, and wooden remains from the hull of the ship. The divers took DNA samples from the wood, and also collected DNA samples from all of the intact ceramic vessels. They also collected sediment samples for grain starch and phytolith analysis.
Many bits of bronze were also found: small and large nails, what may be the loop end of a ladle or skillet, and a very fragile bronze mass next to the blue bead.
“We were very lucky this year, as we excavated many finds within their context, which gave us the opportunity to take full advantage of all the archaeological information they could provide,” said Dr Theotokis Theodoulou, a maritime archaeologist in the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.
“Every single dive on it delivers fabulous finds, and reveals how the ‘1%’ lived in the time of Caesar,” added project co-director Dr Brendan Foley, a marine archaeologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
