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A shipwreck from the late archaic period in the South Euboean gulf

Αρχαιολογικά χρονικά

• Κουτσουφλάκης, Γεώργιος Β.
• Κουρκουμέλης, Δημήτριος

During April 2005 a large-scale underwater survey was undertaken by the Department of Underwater Antiquities off the isolated islet of Akio (Platourada) in the South Euboean Gulf. The main aim of this survey was to locate and record archaeological remains exposed on the surface. A new, unknown site was discovered in the south-east part of the islet, composed of a large number of ancient anchors and a concentration of fragmentary amphoras.On a second mission in late June 2005, a team from the Department returned to the islet, in order to raise characteristic samples and to provide a better evaluation of the site. The examination of the area showed that the site was used as an anchorage during ancient times and that at least one ship was wrecked there.The amphoras all belonged to the same type, dated according to material from the Athenian Agora somewhere between 520- 480 BC. They belong to an unidentified type, probably originating from the North Aegean region.The anchors, provide a full typology of the development of ancient stone and stock anchors: four examples belong to the primitiveone-hole stone anchor, three examples to the more developed composite stone anchor, four examples to the archaic two-armed anchor with fixed stone stock, one example to the classic wooden-stock anchor filled with lead, and one example to the two-armed wooden anchor with lead stock and lead connector. The variety of these anchors, proves that the site was used as an anchorage for many centuries, providing relatively safe shelter from the north winds and that the islet of Akio was an intermediate point for ships crossing the South Euboean Gulf.Based on evidence provided by the location and date of the stone-stock type anchors, it is possible to conclude that at least one of them may be associated connected with the concentration of the amphoras. It seems that a Late Archaic ship, with an amphora cargo from the North Aegean, was wrecked off the islet of Akio, during its voyage to Attica.The results of this preliminary investigation, show that the newly-discovered site of Akio islet, if excavated properly, could illuminate possible nautical trade routes in the South Euboean Gulf and may provide new evidence for the study of an unidentified type of amphora of the Late Archaic period.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

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