Ancient wreck full of amphorae found off the coast of Kithira Island

On the seabed off the island of Kithira, researchers have discovered the remains of an ancient sunken shipwreck full of well-preserved amphorae.

An ancient wreck has been discovered during research that scientists conducted on the seabed between Crete and the Peloponnese. The site with a large cargo of intact amphorae was located by researchers at a depth of 222 metres, near the Greek island of Kithira.

-- Advertisement --

The wreck was first spotted in 2019 by specialists inspecting an electricity cable that runs along the seabed. Now, with technical support Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), which supplied the oceanographic vessel “Aegean” equipped with remote controlled underwater vehicle MAX ROVER with integrated side scan sonar, the wreck has revealed some of its treasures.

Experts believe that when the ship sank, it settled evenly on its keel. This is evidenced by the cargo that was found, namely the way the amphorae are arranged. By their arrangement, the vessels reflect the outline of the vessel that carried them.

Undoubtedly, our country is a great archaeological site, an archaeological palimpsest. Land and seas hide unexplored cultural treasures. In any major project, public or private, the chances of discovering antiquities are extremely high – – declared the Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Lena Mendoni.

For the moment archaeologists They have not yet established the exact origin of the objects found. However, specialists will certainly be able to say more about this soon. Because using a remote-controlled ROV robotThe researchers have brought to the surface several amphorae, which they will now examine in detail.

The discovered object was initially assessed by specialists from the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). The cursory examination they carried out allowed them to establish that these are amphorae from Corfu, Skopelos i Chios. In turn, the age of the wreck itself was determined by archaeologists to be late 5th to mid 4th century BC.

Photogrammetric 3D model

The archaeological site that the researchers located is further evidence of developed trading activities in the Aegean and Ionian Seas. At the moment, specialists are working on creating a photogrammetric 3D model of the find. This type of scientific aid will greatly facilitate research work. Detailed 3D models allow scientists to study a variety of objects without having to go underwater. In this case, the desire to explore the site would require each time sending the robot to a depth of 222 m.