Greece: New
Underwater Archaeological Site Designated Off Polyaigos Island
Balkan Travellers, 01/02/2010
1 February 2010 | A shipwreck located off the small uninhabited
Cycladic island of Polyaigos in the central Aegean will be designated as an
“underwater archaeological site” by Greece’s Culture
Ministry, the institution’s representatives announced recently.
The shipwreck, first spotted in 2004, was initially explored by underwater
archaeologists in the fall of 2009, the Athens News Agency reported today.
These excavations resulted in the discovery of valuable archaeological objects,
including amphorae, ceramic vases and fragments of the vessel’s anchor.
In addition, the shipwreck was photographed and filmed in detail, which allowed
the creation of a high-definition photo-mosaic, while procedures have been set
in motion to designate the area as an underwater archaeological site.
The analysis of the recovered amphorae dated the wreck to between the end of
the fifth century and the first half of the fourth century BC. At least three
types of amphorae were identified, one of which originated from ancient
Peparithos (the island of Skopelos), while the others were closely identified
with Classical Era amphorae workshops of the northern Aegean. The
Polyaigos shipwreck, according to the Ministry’s
announcement, cited by the media, sheds light in the study of sea-borne
commercial routes of the Classical period and the movement of goods in the
southwestern part of the Cyclades island chain.
The name of Polyaigos, which lies near the islands of Milos and Kimolos, means
‘many goats’, since flocks of goats, belonging to shepherds from
the two nearby islands, are its only inhabitants.
Although barren due to grazing by the livestock, the media noted that Polyaigos
has a sprinkling of breathtaking beaches, mainly on the southern coast of the
island, as well as a large number of sea-surface caves that house a population
of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus
monachus), one of the most endangered species of mammals in the
world.
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