Posted on 01/26/2012 9:06:56 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Foley, a marine archaeologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, and his colleagues at Greece's Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in Athens have spent the day diving near the cliffs of the tiny island of Dia in the eastern Mediterranean. They have identified two clusters of pottery dating from the first century BC and fifth century AD. Together with other remains that the team has discovered on the island's submerged slopes, the pots reveal that for centuries Greek, Roman and Byzantine traders used Dia as a refuge during storms, when they couldn't safely reach Crete.
It is a nice archaeological discovery, but Foley was hoping for something much older. His four-week survey of the waters around Crete last October is part of a long-term effort to catalogue large numbers of ancient shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea. And the grand prize would be a wreck from one of the most influential and enigmatic cultures of the ancient world -- the Minoans, who ruled these seas more than 3,000 years ago...
Archaeologists have precious little information about the seagoing habits of the Minoan civilization, which erected the palace of Knossos on Crete -- linked to the Greek myth of the Minotaur. Minoans far exceeded their neighbours in weaponry, literacy and art, and formed "part of the roots of what went on to become European civilization", says Don Evely, an archaeologist at the British School at Athens, and curator of Knossos. Archaeologists are keen to understand what made the Minoans so successful and how they interacted with nearby cultures such as the Egyptians.
Although researchers have studied scores of Roman ships, finding a much older Minoan wreck "would add 100% new knowledge", says Shelley Wachsmann, an expert in ancient seafaring at Texas A&M University in College Station.
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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I do apologize for the low volume of GGG topics the past few weeks. My best laid plans were derailed by some real life stuff. Every day is a gift. Thank God for real life stuff. |
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I got a chance to spend some time at Woods Hole - You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. They’re liberal entitlement bureaucrats to a man/woman. I’d like to see that cut right out of the next budget. Let them find real jobs.
Although, this is a good article and topic.
Could be another topic, too bad I’m going to bed.
http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/004698.html
[snip] Seafaring before the Neolithic — circa 7th millennium BCE — is a controversial issue in the Mediterranean. However, evidence from different parts of the Aegean is gradually changing this, revealing the importance of early coastal and island environments. The site of Ouriakos on the island of Lemnos (Greece) tentatively dates to the end of the Pleistocene and possibly the beginning of the Holocene, circa 12,000 BP. [/snip]
Wasn’t that his first wife? Or one of his many mistresses?
Like a greasy well: Definitely mistress.
You are a wit, Sir, a wit.
Italian Cruise Ships
The current plight of the Costa Concordia reminds me of a comment made by Churchill.
After his retirement he was cruising the Mediterranean on an Italian cruise liner.
Some Italian journalists asked why an ex British Prime Minister should chose an Italian ship.
“There are three things I like about being on an Italian cruise ship” said Churchill.
“First their cuisine is unsurpassed." "Second their service is superb."
"And then, in time of emergency, there is none of this nonsense about women and children first”
Go to bed, but I think we’re going to be surprised at just how dynamic life was way before “history” began.
I know where he is. Saw him on FOX. Sitting in a lifeboat off Italy, writing a RHYME about himself and the sinking cruise ship.
AKROTIRI SHIP PROCESSION FULL PANO
You gotta love a civilization with bare breasted goddesses.
Thanks! Of course, sometimes I am of the nit variety. ;’)
Definitely! There was some joker about ten years back who tried to sell the idea that the snake priestess statue was faked by, hmm, Evans? Often those kinds of fakery claims grow out of the utterly unsurprising observation that a piece more than 2000 years old is “unique”. Imagine, no others? Must be faked. ;’D
Churchill had it goin’ on. :’) Of course, I immediately think of the mid-1970s phony version of some of his quotes in National Lampoon’s Encyclopedia of Humor. ;’) I’m a vulgarian, so sue me. :”)
They had “Chinese lanterns” even then. ;’) Those frescoes show one thing clearly — that the Theran caldera was already the harbor well before the eruption. :’)
some related topics (based on saved files, didn’t check the links, just assumin’):
Did Unemployed Minoan Artists Land Jobs in Ancient Egypt?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2422780/posts
Remains of Minoan-style painting discovered during excavations of Canaanite palace
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2383594/posts
http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/holybook/kup6.html
Akrotiri, Santorini: the Minoan Pompeii - part 1
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2376007/posts
The Prehistoric Archaeology of the AegeanDuring the reign of the heretical pharoah Akhenaten (= Amenhotep IV), the capital of Egypt was moved downstream from Thebes to the new city of Akhetaten (= modern Tell el-Amarna). This city was only occupied from ca. 1352-1338 B.C., and the large quantities of Mycenaean pottery found within it are therefore supplied with a fairly precise absolute date. The almost complete absence of Minoan pottery at Amarna is one indication of Mycenaean mercantile dominance within the Aegean at this time. More significant is the Mycenaean character of the settlements which have by this time replaced sites characterized until the end of the LM IB period (ca. 1500 B.C.) by Minoan cultural remains at Trianda on Rhodes, Ayia Irini on Keos, Phylakopi on Melos, and Miletus and Iasos in Asia Minor.
Lesson 18: The Nature and Extent of
Neopalatial Minoan Influence
in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean Worlds
Aegean Connections With Egypt
In The Amarna Period (ca. 1360-1340 B.C.)
Trustees of Dartmouth College
revised Friday, March 18, 2000
Addenda and Corrections to "The Exodus Chronicles"Recently, in relation to his ongoing excavation at Tell el Daba, which he believes to be the site of ancient Avaris, Manfred Bietak has rescinded his former assertion that the stratum in which Minoan artifacts, decorations and volcanic pumice were discovered belongs to the time of the pharaoh, Ahmose I. Bietak now concludes this stratum can be assigned to the reign of Thutmose III, instead. Bietak also dates the eruption of Thera to ca. 1500 BCE, in light of his new theory, and takes issue with those who place the cataclysmic event to about 130 years earlier. In brief, Bietak now wishes to eliminate any chronological problems connected with his newer theory. Even if he is correct and there was no volcanic blast in the Aegean at the time of King Ahmose, there still remains the unaccountably bad weather and flooding during his reign, as recorded by himself.
by Marianne Luban
And then there is the interesting premise of the Thera volcano devastation while a "Tethmosis" was pharaoh, two disasters having then occurred within a half century--or less.
"Female gods" are sometimes referred to as "goddesses". ;')Ancient treasure trove uncoveredArchaeologists have found a 2,700-year-old temple which contains objects from across the ancient world. Gold and silver figures, jewellery and shells from throughout the Mediterranean were gathered in one place on the small Greek island of Kithnos in the Aegean Sea. The finds suggest the temple was for a female god.
Wednesday 18th December 2002
Many of the objects were originally from Egypt, Italy and Phoenicia which is now Lebanon and Israel. The ancient city was founded during the 10th century BC and abandoned four centuries later, said Alexander Mazarakis-Ainian, overseeing the dig. He is an associate professor at the University of Thessalia in Larissa in central Greece. The temple was probably destroyed by an earthquake... Some of objects date back to the Minoan era, around 1,600 BC. They may have been offered at the temple as relics, Mr Mazarakis-Ainian said.Wow, a 10th century temple abandoned in the 6th century, but containing Minoan objects of the 16th century. I'm so surprised. Not. I'll not be surprised to see an artifact from the Kingdom of David turn up in this cache.
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