Well, of course, what is extremely significant is the retrieval of the Byzantine weights. This allows significant insight into much of the market system of the time.
Anyone ever notice just how much wine was being transported in ancient times. I know that amphorae were among the most likely goods to last to the present day—but look at how many ships that divers find today were filled to the scuppers with wine.
Contrast that to the Spaniard many centuries later where you find large shipments of gold and jewels.
You seldom hear of the discovery of a ancient ship with lots of treasure—although you always hear about the Romans looting the countries they conquered and maintaining a sometimes ruinous tax burden against their provinces. Some Roman governors were notorious for using their tax policies and authority to enrich themselves.
So what happened to all the sunken gelt, the moolah, the shekels, the gold and the statues? I know Sophia Loren found a statue that let her win the National Greek Wet T-Shirt contest once, but seriously, why so little treasure???
Just sayin’
