July 15, 2016—A recent Greek-American expedition to the Fourni archipelago in Greece discovered 23 new shipwrecks dating from approximately 1,000 BC to the 19th century AD. The Fourni Underwater Survey previously found an additional 22 wrecks in late 2015, bringing the number of shipwrecks discovered by the team in the last nine months to an astonishing 45.
“For comparison, many larger islands around the Mediterranean have only three or four known shipwrecks,” explains Peter Campbell of the University of Southampton and the US-based RPM Nautical Foundation. “The United States recently created a national marine sanctuary in Lake Michigan to protect 39 known shipwrecks located in 875 square miles. Fourni has 45 known shipwrecks around its 17 square mile territory – which puts our discoveries into perspective.”
The first survey was conducted in September 2015. The second survey was conducted in June and early July 2016. The surveys were primarily conducted by scuba divers along the coastline of the 13 islands that compose the Fourni archipelago, to depths up to 65 meters.
The wrecks include ships from the late Archaic Period (c. 525-480 BC) to the Early Modern Period (c. 1750-1850). Among the most significant finds from the 2016 survey were a Late Archaic-early Classical wreck with amphorae from the eastern Aegean, a Hellenistic cargo of amphoras from Kos, three Roman cargos of Sinopean amphorae, a wreck of North African amphorae of the 3rd – 4th century AD, and a cargo of Late Roman tableware.
In addition to shipwrecks, the team also found and documented ancient anchors and jettisoned pottery. Researchers documented two massive stone-stocks of ancient anchors from the Archaic Period, which are the largest found in the Aegean to date.
Considering the surveys conducted have covered less than 50 percent of the Fourni archipelago’s coastline, there are likely many more discoveries to be made.
“The concentration of the shipwrecks and the large area remaining to be explored leaves every indication that there are many more sites to discover,” said Campbell. “We expect more seasons like these first two. The data we have recorded offers great insight into ancient navigation and trade.”
The concentration of shipwrecks in the area also highlights the importance of the trade routes passing by Fourni in every time period. While the islands and islets of Fourni, located between the larger islands of Samos and Icaria, were never populated with large settlements, they were used as anchorage and navigational points along a major east-west crossing route and the primary north-south route.
The Fourni Underwater Survey plans to continue exploration through 2018, and will consider excavating certain shipwrecks once a full survey of the area has been completed.
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