Post by UKarchaeology on Nov 11, 2015 14:51:59 GMT
A University of Southampton-led of team of archaeologists has discovered almost two dozen shipwrecks around the Fourni archipelago, Greece.
The Fourni archipelago is a group of small islands that lie in a triangle formed by the eastern Aegean islands of Ikaria, Samos and Patmos.
The islands never hosted big cities, instead their importance comes from their critical role as an anchorage and navigational point in the eastern Aegean.
The archipelago lies along a major east-west crossing route, as well as the primary north-south route that connected the Aegean to the Levant.
The wrecks discovered by the team date from the Archaic Period (700 – 480 BC) through the Late Medieval Period (16th century CE).
Several wrecks date to the Classical (480 – 323 BC) and Hellenistic (323 BC – 31 BC) periods, but over half date to the Late Roman Period (300 – 600 CE).
According to the archaeologists, the ships’ cargos point to the importance of long distance trade between the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, Cyprus, the Levant, and Egypt – in all these periods.
Full story: www.sci-news.com/archaeology/science-ancient-shipwrecks-fourni-archipelago-greece-03422.html