Greek community of Maritime Alps

“Return to Antikythera”

The holds more secrets. Advanced technology will reveal them.

The Antikythera Shipwreck (circa 60 B.C.) is the richest ancient wreck ever discovered. Greek sponge divers located the wreck by chance close inshore of Antikythera Island in 1900. They spent a year salvaging its treasures, with the help of the Hellenic Navy. The divers recovered hundred of works of art including the fabulous bronze and marble statues that now fill  galleries at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The wreck also relinquished a mysterious clockwork device, the Antikythera Mechanism.

What does the wreck still hold? Locals on Antikythera tell tales of giant marble statues lying beyond the sponge divers’ reach. Records from the 1901 salvage indicate at least one large marble statue was dropped during recovery operations, and there are hints that others were dragged into deeper water under the mistaken belief they were just boulders.  Meanwhile, ancient technology geeks like us wonder whether the site might be hiding another Antikythera mechanism, more pieces of the original, or at least some clues as to whom this mysterious object belonged to.

Speculation abounds, because no scientific study has ever been conducted on the wreck. Only one officially sanctioned investigation has been allowed since the 1901 operation. Undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau and the Calypso crew worked at the site for several weeks in 1976, with the approval of the Ministry of Culture and under the supervision of Greek archaeologist Dr. Lazaros Kolonas. Cousteau knew where to dive, because he had previously visited the island in 1953, accompanied by MIT professor Harold “Doc” Edgerton. They dived for only three days in 1953, but saw enough to entice them back in 1976 to film a television show, Diving for Roman Plunder. The team dredged a section of the wreck to reveal more artifacts for the cameras.

Since that expedition, no one has dived the wreck.

Cue all-round excitement when in October 2012 our team of divers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities went back for a proper look. The divers used James Bond-style closed circuit rebreathers and diver propulsion vehicles equipped, with high-resolution video cameras. In eight operational days, we circumnavigated the island at about 40 metres depth. At the wreck site, we  found artifacts scattered over a wide area of the steep, rocky sea floor. These include intact pottery, the ship’s lead anchor and some puzzling bronze objects. The team believes that hundreds more items could be buried in the sediment nearby.

The Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports has directed our team to continue investigation of the wreck. Beginning in September 2014 and continuing for one month, we will map the site precisely with an autonomous robot carrying stereocameras and sonar. Our specially trained technical diving teams will begin excavation of the wreck. Our mixed gas closed circuit rebreathers will give each diver more than 30 minutes of bottom time per day, far in excess of the dive durations of any previous efforts on the wreck.

We will also deploy the Exosuit, a one-of-a-kind diving system made by Nuytco. Owned by JF White Contracting (a project sponsor), the Exosuit looks like something from science fiction: Ironman for underwater science. With Exosuit, our divers can safely descend to 1000 feet (300+ m) and stay for hours, without having to decompress on the way back to the surface.

Aided by underwater metal detectors and an accurate site plan, we will assess the layout of the wreck and distribution of debris and material from it. We expect to locate and recover an assortment of artifacts. The recovery operations in 1901 and 1976 offer tantalizing proof of what remains: ceramic jars and galleyware, oil lamps, gold jewellery, silver and bronze coins, bronze statuettes, fine glass objects, remnants of the ship’s hull, elements of marble sculpture, and even human skeletal remains. Since the ship was transporting the highest quality of luxury goods, there is a very real possibility of unimaginable finds, similar in importance to the Mechanism.

1900 – 1901: The Discovery

In the spring of 1900, two sponge fishing boats from the island of Symi came to anchor off the east coast of Antikythera. Waiting for calm seas before proceeding to their intended fishing grounds, the sponge divers decided to dive along the island’s coast. Diver Ilias Stadiatis happened upon the wreck at depths reported between 42  and 50 m, and he brought to the surface an arm from a bronze statue.

Representatives of the Hellenic government, the crew, and the sponge divers on the deck of the Hellenic Navy vessel “Mykali”, during the winter 1900-1901. © Ministry of Culture and Sports - National Archive of Monuments

Representatives of the Hellenic government, the crew, and the sponge divers on the deck of the Hellenic Navy vessel “Mykali”, during the winter 1900-1901.
© Ministry of Culture and Sports – National Archive of Monuments

In November that year, sponge boat captain Dimitrios Kontos alerted the authorities in Athens of the discovery. Reaction was swift: the Hellenic Royal Navy vessel Mykali was dispatched to the island to support recovery operations, followed soon by the civilian steam ship Syros and later the Navy torpedo boat Aigialeia.

Kontos-D-Efoplistis

The Kontos family in Symi. Image courtesy of Eleni Kladaki-Vratsanou

Over the course of the next several months, the divers braved winter storms and dives beyond 50 m. They shared a single diving suit and helmet, taking turns of ten minutes twice per day. Despite the divers’ great skill and personal bravery, two men were severely injured and another diver lost his life. By the end of the operation in September 1901, only five men were still it

 

to dive.

Symiako-Kaiki

A Symian sponge diving ‘kaiki’ at Antikythera during the 1901 recovery. © Ministry of Culture and Sports – National Archive of Monuments

1953: Cousteau re-locates the wreck with Doc Edgerton

In 1953 Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau sailed from France to the Aegean in the famous ship Calypso. On board with him was MIT engineering professor Harold “Doc” Edgerton.  Doc had a new underwater strobe to test, financed by the National Geographic Society. The MIT Archives hold Doc’s letters to National Geographic President Dr. Gilbert Grosvenor, relating the team’s experiences.

Bronze strap recovered from the Antikythera Shipwreck by Cousteau in 1953. Courtesy MIT Museum, Harold Edgerton Collection

Bronze strap recovered from the Antikythera Shipwreck by Cousteau in 1953. Courtesy MIT Museum, Harold Edgerton Collection

On 15 August, Calypso weighed anchored off Kythera and sailed to “Cerigotto”, the Venetian name for Antikythera.  On the morning of 16 August, Frederic Dumas and Cousteau dived on the wreck site. They noted the main artifact concentration at 55 m, and followed the debris trail to a depth of nearly 70 m. They and other Calypso divers ranged a quarter mile north and south from the wreck to see what else they could find. At a point about 500 feet  south, they located another ancient shipwreck. It was marked by amphoras sticking out of the sand at 42 m depth, with a lead anchor stock nearby.

One of the large Roman amphoras on the second wreck at Antikythera, recovered in 1953 by Cousteau's team. Courtesy MIT Museum, Harold Edgerton Archive.

Another Roman amphora recovered in 1953 from the second wreck at Antikythera. Courtesy MIT Museum, Harold Edgerton Archive.

After surfacing, Dumas began rubbing his shoulder and arm, complaining of “diver’s bends”.  The symptoms were severe enough that despite taking aspirin and a sedative, Dumas was unable to sleep all night. As dawn broke, he went for another dive on the second wreck even though he couldn’t use his arm. At depth the pain eased and he swam delighted over the wreck’s enormous Roman amphoras. Back on Calypso afterwards, the pain returned with a vengeance. Dumas wrote in his memoir 30 Centuries Under the Sea, “my shoulder felt as if someone stuck a knife into it”; but eventually the pain diminished and after a few days disappeared entirely.

More drama awaited the team. During the night of 16 August, Doc Edgerton and his son tested the experimental underwater strobe and camera in the island’s harbor, Potamos. The flashes were visible from shore, and a concerned local alerted the island’s lone policeman. The policeman came aboard Calypso to protest, stating that he would inform the authorities in Athens. Edgerton related to Grosvenor, “There was no objection to above-water photos – but underwater, that was different!” Cousteau had obtained permission from the Greek government for all of their activities, but nevertheless, the police ordered the ship to leave the island immediately.

One of the large Roman amphoras recovered in 1953 by the Cousteau team from the second wreck at Antikythera. Courtesy MIT Museum, Harold Edgerton Archive

One of the large Roman amphoras recovered in 1953 by the Cousteau team from the second wreck at Antikythera. Courtesy MIT Museum, Harold Edgerton Archive

Calypso sailed to Piraeus and then on to Delos, but returned to Antikythera a week later. Again, Edgerton’s letters to Grosvenor provide details of their activities. He wrote that in the few days between visits to Antikythera, Cousteau had designed and built a water dredge so the team could remove sediment at the wreck site. Anchoring Calypso over the wreck allowed the divers to descend directly to it. In succession through the day, they stayed at 55 m for 8 minutes. Cousteau and his companions recovered a roof tile and a curious bronze strap. Dumas unearthed hull remains during his dive: wooden planks fastened together with treenails and bronze nails. After a long day of diving, the entire crew was tired by dinnertime. Cousteau ordered the ship away, and they made for Delphi.

Edgerton noted the team’s interest in continuing work on the wreck site. He wrote, “It will take much effort to find the art treasures at the Cerigotto wreck. However, both Cousteau and Dumas feel strongly that the sands cover the best pieces that were down in the hold of the ship. These objects were covered by sand first and therefore are protected from the worms and actions of of the sea.”

References:

  • Frederic Dumas, 30 Centuries Under the Sea (New York: Crown Publishers, 1976).
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology Archives: Harold Eugene Edgerton, Papers 1889-1990, Box 31, MC 25.