Underwater Excavations of a Late Fifth Century Merchant Ship at Alonnesos, Greece : the 1991-1993 Seasons

Abstract

The largest 5th century B.C. shipwreck yet known in the world was discovered recently off the island of Alonnesos in the Northern Sporades. The ship carried a cargo of wine, and sank some time in the last quarter of the 5th century B.C. in waters 30 m in depth. It was loaded with wine amphoras from the town of Mende on the Macedonian coast, as well as from the island of Skopelos, both places famous in antiquity for the quality of their wines, which were exported all over the Mediterranean and to the Black Sea. The ship also carried a large quantity of Athenian black glaze symposium tableware. Classical ships discovered previously in Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy, and Israël have not exceeded 17 m in length and 4 m in width. The Alonnesos shipwreck is at least 25 m in length and 10 m in width, and is significant because it provides the first archaeological evidence that cargo vessels over one hundred tons burden travelled the Mediterranean as early as the 5th century B.C.