Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

First Minoan Shipwreck: An unprecedented find off the coast of Crete
Archaeology Magazine ^ | January/February 2010 | Eti Bonn-Muller

Posted on 02/23/2010 5:38:02 PM PST by SunkenCiv

Depictions of ships abound on Minoan seals and frescoes. They are detailed enough to show that the vessels were impressive: generally, they had 15 oars on each side and square sails, and were probably about 50 feet long. But little more was known about actual Minoan seafaring--until Greek archaeologist Elpida Hadjidaki became the first to discover a Minoan shipwreck...

For nearly a month, she and a team of three sponge and coral divers aboard a 20-foot-long wooden fishing boat trolled up and down the island's shores. Together with George Athanasakis of Athens Polytechnic University, they used side-scanning sonar and detected some 20 "targets," or anomalies, that Hadjidaki sent her divers to investigate, often reaching depths of 400 feet. One by one, they turned out to be a depressing array of natural geological formations and portions of the seafloor ripped up by the nets of deep-sea trawlers, as well as a World War II airplane, a 19th-century shipwreck, and several pairs of shoes.

On the second-to-last day of the survey, Hadjidaki decided to ditch the technology and go on gut instinct. She knew that in 1976, Jacques Cousteau had brought a team to the small island of Pseira, a Bronze Age port about one and a half miles from the northeastern coast of Crete in the Gulf of Mirabello... had found Minoan pottery underwater near the shore, and suggested it came from ships sunk in the harbor by the volcanic eruption that destroyed Thera in 1650 or 1520 B.C. (The finds are now believed to be from houses on Pseira that fell into the sea during an earthquake.)

(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: ancientnavigation; crete; elpidahadjidaki; godsgravesglyphs; gulfofmirabello; minoans; mycenaeans; navigation; pseira; shipwreck; shipwrecks
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last
First Minoan Shipwreck: An unprecedented find off the coast of Crete First Minoan Shipwreck: An unprecedented find off the coast of Crete
Jugs awaiting museum display (Elpida Hadjidaki) Pseira seal (Courtesy Philip Betancourt)

1 posted on 02/23/2010 5:38:05 PM PST by SunkenCiv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 240B; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Yeah! Now let's get some thermoluminescence dating on these.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

·Dogpile · Archaeologica · LiveScience · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google ·
· The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


2 posted on 02/23/2010 5:39:26 PM PST by SunkenCiv (February 23, 1945 -- Freedom is Priceless.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

3 posted on 02/23/2010 5:41:23 PM PST by mylife (Opinions: $1.00 Halfbaked: 50c)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mylife

Well I will admit I would love to see Mary Ann in one of those Minoan bodices.


4 posted on 02/23/2010 5:45:13 PM PST by yarddog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: yarddog

You mean Thera Ann?


5 posted on 02/23/2010 5:50:14 PM PST by mylife (Opinions: $1.00 Halfbaked: 50c)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: mylife
Thanks for the post. Interesting read.

Just one maybe two questions ...

"... a World War II airplane, a 19th-century shipwreck, and several pairs of shoes."

What is up with people tossing shoes? Looks like it is an age old tradition. I mean, I can take a drive down the road and a shoe or a pair of shoes are in the road. Does not happen everyday but often enough for me to ask, why?

6 posted on 02/23/2010 6:05:22 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

That’s a nice find.


7 posted on 02/23/2010 6:09:28 PM PST by csvset
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

A 21 metre long ancient Greek vessel dating to c. 500 BC has been raised to the surface off Sicily. The wooden vessel was found by scuba divers in 1988, 800 metres from the ancient Greek colony and port of Gela. Parts of the vessel and the cargo have already been raised.

SOURCE

Over thirty-five years ago Michael Katzev excavated the 'oldest Greek ship,' a Hellenistic merchant vessel which sank off the north coast of Cyprus near Kyrenia sometime between 310 and 300 B.C. (This image is used with permission from and thanks to the National Geographic Society.) Dr. Katzev estimates that the ship was about 70-80 years old when she went down. Some planks are from the original ship; others are from patches, or from patches to the patches. Last summer, after three years of accumulating the appropriate permissions, we were able to bring back pieces of 32 planks from the Kyrenia wreck. They were all soaked in PEG (polyethylene glycol), so we had to dissolve at least the surface layer so that we can see the rings. Work on the Kyrenia wood is going on as I write. Two of the planks measured this week had 131 and 124 rings, and I thought I spotted another at the time of collection with 150 rings, so there is hope that a useful chronology will emerge.

source

8 posted on 02/23/2010 6:12:04 PM PST by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Red_Devil 232

And what is with the shoes dangling from phone lines?


9 posted on 02/23/2010 6:14:55 PM PST by mylife (Opinions: $1.00 Halfbaked: 50c)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
AKROTIRI FREIZE, MINIOAN SHIPS


10 posted on 02/23/2010 6:28:06 PM PST by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

WHOOPS!

Minoan...Frieze


11 posted on 02/23/2010 6:31:34 PM PST by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Now that is a right peculiar seal. Like a ship, yet not like. Reminds me of a Swiss army knife! Never seen one like it.


12 posted on 02/23/2010 6:31:42 PM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (STOP the Tyrananny State.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fred Nerks

Thanks!


13 posted on 02/23/2010 6:32:23 PM PST by SunkenCiv (February 23, 1945 -- Freedom is Priceless.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: mylife

You ain’t ever got rotten drunk and took off your shoes laced the together and thrown them on overhead lines..
No!
Me neither, but lots of retards out running around think it is funny..


14 posted on 02/23/2010 6:34:47 PM PST by GSP.FAN (These are the times that try men's souls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: GSP.FAN

Nope. I haven’t.


15 posted on 02/23/2010 6:40:49 PM PST by mylife (Opinions: $1.00 Halfbaked: 50c)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Fred Nerks

The ships look like later designed Athenian styled warships.


16 posted on 02/23/2010 6:40:57 PM PST by GSP.FAN (These are the times that try men's souls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Fred Nerks
Victor.D.Hanson has a book on the Peloponnese war and goes into detail on life on a trireme,Hope you are on top level not below..
17 posted on 02/23/2010 6:51:01 PM PST by GSP.FAN (These are the times that try men's souls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: mylife; yarddog
You mean Thera Ann?

Proven to clear chest congestion* 8X faster than Thera-Flu!

Recommended by 9 out of 10 Minoan healers.

The 10th was a blind eunuch.




*WARNING: May increase congestion in other body parts.

18 posted on 02/24/2010 12:40:06 AM PST by ApplegateRanch (Fake Indian; fake scholar; fake artist. Is he a fake human too?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Red_Devil 232

http://www.sbk-family.us/shoe_tree.htm


19 posted on 02/24/2010 12:55:25 AM PST by ApplegateRanch (I think not, therefore I don't exist!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Red_Devil 232
"I can take a drive down the road and a shoe or a pair of shoes are in the road. Does not happen everyday but often enough for me to ask, why?"

Oh, that's easy - those shoes are out looking for that one sock that always gets lost in the laundry...
20 posted on 02/24/2010 4:56:19 PM PST by Hegemony Cricket (The emperor has no pedigree.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson