The ancient Antikythera wreck in Greece was discovered by sponge divers in 1900 and later became famous by yielding remains of the world’s first-known computer mechanism – so a century and a quarter later, you might expect there to be little new for scuba-diving archaeologists to find.
But that is far from the case, according to the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece (ESAG), which has just reported on what it says has been a particularly fruitful excavation season on the shipwreck – including confirmation that a second ship lies at the site.
Dating from the 1st-century BC, the site lies in the Aegean Sea off Point Glyphadia on the island of Antikythera, and the archaeologists are now fully equipped to excavate two sections simultaneously.
The 2024 expedition conducted from 17 May to 20 June in “exceptionally favourable” weather conditions has led to a breakthrough in the 2021-2025 “Return to Antikythera” research programme, says ESAG, with discoveries including a significant portion of the ship’s hull.
What was described as the most remarkable discovery was a hull section with its original fasteners and external protective coating, found still to be in excellent condition.
This was made up of planks and frames in their original position and still attached, allowing the scientists to conclude that it had been constructed “shell first”. The builders made the hull with the boards before installing the ribs inside – the opposite of modern practice.
“This structure allows us to better understand the ship’s construction characteristics that had remained elusive until now, but also to determine the precise location and orientation of the wreck,” said Prof Lorenz Baumer from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), who co-directed the project with Dr Angeliki G Simosi.
While ESAG orchestrated the field activities, supervised by the culture ministry’s Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, UNIGE led the field research with an international team of diving archaeologists and the Hellenic Coast Guard’s underwater missions unit.
By applying a new methodology to the entire research area, which covers two sites 200m apart, it proved possible to identify and document the visible pottery remains and finally confirm the presence of a second timber vessel from the same period. Speculation in recent years had been that more than one ship might have been involved in the ancient sinking incident.
Meanwhile new continuous excavation trenches opened at the two sites were said to have yielded some 300 objects, including structural elements of the hull, more than 200 ceramic shards and 21 marble fragments that suggested the presence of several statues.
Analysis of amphoras revealed a variety of styles, including jars from Chios and Rhodes, and the use of mastic in some as waterproofing.
The use of closed-circuit rebreathers improved the efficiency and safety of dives, according to ESAG, which reported that underwater operations were monitored and co-ordinated in real time using ROVs, and 3D digital models of the selected areas completed.
Also on Divernet: DIVERS RETURN TO ANTIKYTHERA WRECK, UK TEAM CRACK ANTIKYTHERA CODE, TEC DIVERS MAKE NEW FINDS ON ANTIKYTHERA SHIPWRECK, BODY FOUND ON WRECK – HEAD FOUND 120 YEARS LATER?
