Return to Antikythera
Lead diver Alexandros Sotiriou with ‘lagynos’ ceramic jug and
bronze rigging ring
1900-01. Given the equipment and decompression practice of the day, their salvage work stands as a remarkable achievement. All members of this year’s dive
exploration team were trained on closed circuit rebreathers, fi rst used during the 2012 operation. Off ering longer dive times and shorter decompression, rebreathers outperform open circuit SCUBA as used by Cousteau and his team decades before. Foley recalls: “Once we were trained on the rebreathers none of us wanted to go back to SCUBA.” The rebreathers have proven to be a game changer working the deep wreck site.
Titanic of Ancient World The Antikythera wreck is regarded as something of an archaeological Holy Grail. The site is at the crossroads of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas on a busy ancient world sea-lane. It’s a challenging site to investigate for many reasons, not least because it’s close by the island and exposed to all winds (except SW) that can make it diffi cult for a support ship to remain on station during diving operations. On site, vessels are just 260 feet (80m) from sheer cliff s
22 Magazine
where the ancient ship likely met its end. Underwater, the cliff s are not conducive to laterally moving AUVs conducting sonar and photographic surveys. Of the site, Foley says, “It’s inhospitable.” Though the 2014 expedition
experienced bad weather with only fi ve of 23 days suitable for diving operations, the team achieved every project goal ahead of schedule and with a more detailed understanding of what the site holds, scientists were able to allocate time preparing Ministry of Culture laboratories to handle all that’s retrieved from the site.
Among items recovered this year were pieces of the shipwreck itself. The team raised several lead anchors, each more than three feet (1m) in length and a bronze rigging ring. Together with hull planks 4.3 inches (11cm) thick, raised by the Cousteau divers, evidence suggests the Antikythera ship is
much larger than previously thought; as much as 165 feet (50m) in length. Ships from this period tend to be 65 to 100 feet (20-30m) in length. “The massive
Below: Sculpture from 1901 dives Opposite: WHOI Diving Safety Offi cer Ed
O’Brian piloting the Exosuit
construction evident in the hull planks tell us this was a huge vessel, twice the size of any ancient wreck I’ve investigated,” Foley said. “The evidence shows this is the largest ancient shipwreck ever discovered. It’s the Titanic of the ancient world.” Dating from 70 to 60 BC, it’s thought the ship carried its cargo of luxury goods, including bronze and marble statues, jewelry, coins, glassware, even furniture, on a journey from Asia Minor westwards to Rome. Antikythera is directly along this shipping route and, the reasoning goes, the vessel sank in a storm strong enough to smash it against the island’s cliff s. Human remains recovered in the past
include those of a woman and this has given rise to another theory for the richly- laden ship: that of a soon-to- be-married woman of means, en route to her betrothed and with dowry in hand, so to speak.
But origin of the wreck
is not known. Foley said he and his colleagues hope to analyze the lead hull sheathing to determine its source. If it’s Greek then the vessel could
Artifact: © National Archaeological Museum, Athens / Courtesy: Archaeological Receipts Fund of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports
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