The Significance of Classical Period Shipwrecks in the Aegean

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The Significance of Classical Period Shipwrecks in the Aegean The Significance of Classical Period Shipwrecks in the Aegean The Delian League (477-404 BCE) was ultimately maintained with a strong Athenian navy Grain (mostly from the region of the Black Sea) and wine were the two most important commodities that were transhipped across the Aegean (to Athens) in the Delian League (based on chronicles of Thucydides and others) Grain from the Black Sea region Athenians drank much wine from this region Athenians drank much Attic Black Figure wine from this region bowl The Alonnesos shipwreck (ca. 430-400 BCE, in the Northern Sporades island group): date of the shipwreck established with stylistic study of the amphoras (over 1000 visible) Athenians drank much wine from this region X Alonnesos shipwreck Fisherman alerts the Greek Ministry of Culture: Greek Ministry of Culture begins excavation in 1991 with few resources Showing the 8m2 extent of the excavation Showing the origin of manufacture of the recovered amphoras and bowls amphoras X amphoras bowls What have archaeologists gained from the excavation of the Alonnesos shipwreck? **It was the first Classical Period shipwreck to be excavated **The merchantman was very large (ca. 22 x 8 m), much larger than any merchantman excavated from contemporary or earlier periods (though no hull remains were identified) Showing the 8m2 extent of the excavation (with no hull remains) What have archaeologists and historians gained from the excavation of the Alonnesos shipwreck? Mendean amphoras X amphoras Attic bowls Mende: a Greek colony and major wine producer and exporter that belonged to the Delian League (though sided Mende briefly with Sparta during the Peloponnesian War) What might this ship have looked like? Possibilities on Attic Black Figure pottery The larger merchant ships during the Classical Period moved under sail and were rowed (called kerkouroi) To the other side of the Aegean: the Classical Period Tektaş Burnu shipwreck excavation Ionia X X Tektaş Burnu The shipwreck was discovered during a systematic survey by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in 1996 (along with dozens of other shipwrecks): Tektaş Burnu was chosen for excavation because the amphoras date to the 5th century BCE (Classical Period) The Institute of Nautical Archaeology and Texas A&M began excavation in 1999 (with ample resources and expertise): Tektaş Burnu was fully excavated in three seasons (1999-2001) Size is one obvious difference between the Tektaş Burnu ship (sunk ca. 440-425 BCE) and the contemporary Alonnesos ship : Plan of the Tektaş Burnu site Tektaş Burnu: ca. 200 amphoras total, dimensions ca. 11x3m Alonnesos: 1000+ amphoras visible, dimensions ca. 22x8m The mix of transport amphoras from Tektaş Burnu Monogram stamp on one amphora from the Ionian city of Erythrae Mendean amphoras Ionia filled with pitch and Tektaş X beef cuts (not wine!) Burnu Origins of table and cooking wares (potentially galley wares) and lamps: all Ionian (local) with the exception of an Attic kantharos and askos X Tektaş Burnu Attic wares Additional objects of interest: 14 lead anchor stocks (wooden anchor did not preserve) The one potentially ‘elite’ object recovered from the Tektaş Burnu shipwreck An alabstron (perfume container) The Ionian context of the itinerary of the Tektaş Burnu ship Monogram stamp from the Ionian city of Erythrae Ionia In the 6th century BCE (prior to the Tektaş Burnu shipwreck) the Greek colony of Ionia was proudly monumental and the most sophisticated region in the Greek speaking world 6th century BCE Temple of Apollo at Didyma As ‘members’ of the Delian League in the 5th Century BCE (contemporary with Tektaş Burnu) Ionians stopped building temples or other grand monuments. Ionia Monogram stamp from the Ionian city of Erythrae **Was the Alonessos ship with its enormous cargo on an Athenian itinerary? **Compared to the humbler Tektaş Burnu ship that was on a local (Ionian) one? **Is this a meaningful point of contrast (between 2 shipwrecks) in the context of the Delian League? Plan of the Tektaş Burnu site Tektaş Burnu: ca. 200 amphoras total, dimensions ca. 11x3m Alonnesos: 1000+ amphoras visible, dimensions ca. 22x8m How the Tektaş Burnu ship may have looked the second it hit the seafloor, but based on what? The Tektaş Burnu ship did not preserve any wooden hull remains (though copper nails and tacks were preserved: probably used to secure hull planking to frames) What might this ship have looked like? Possibilities on Attic Black Figure pottery The larger merchant ships during the Classical Period moved under sail and were rowed (called kerkouroi) The only objects of interest related to the ship itself; and they are indeed interesting The eyes of the ship (ophthalmoi) Not painted on the hull, rather the eyes are painted marble discs .
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