Underwater Archaeology in the 20th Century

Abstract

The 20th-century beginnings of modern underwater archaeology were unheralded but auspicious. In 1900 a Greek sponge boat, heading toward its home port of Symi, was caught in a storm and sheltered in the lee of tiny Antikythera Island, midway between Greece and Crete. Taking advantage of the stop, a helmeted diver dove to look for more sponges and found instead a seafloor littered with bronze and marble statuary. As proof of what he had found, the diver hoisted a bronze arm to the surface to show his captain, Demetrios Kondos (Bass, 1966). Kondos sailed home to Symi and asked others what should be done about the find, and it was decided to inform the Greek government. Enlisting the Greek Navy, the government organized an expedition to raise the statues; Director of Antiquities George Byzantinos directed operations from the surface (Muckelroy, 1998).