Two Late Roman Wrecks from Southern Cyprus

Abstract

Two scattered Late Roman shipwrecks were discovered in the course of underwater survey at Cape Zevgari and Avdimou Bay off the southern coast of Cyprus. Each was transporting a primary cargo contained in amphoras, in one case either local or from nearby Syria or Cilicia, and the other certainly from the southern Levantine coast. The two wrecks offer insight into regional maritime exchange networks within the socio‐economic context of late antique commerce around the island. Both sites also contribute to a greater understanding of the utility of systematic shallow‐water survey to shipwreck archaeology.

© 2007 The Author

Key words:

• Cyprus
• Late Roman
• amphora
• underwater survey
• maritime trade
• late antiquity

Acknowledgements

The present survey is undertaken by kind permission of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus and its current Director, Dr Pavlos Flourentzos, and is supported by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, RPM Nautical Foundation, and also on Cyprus by the Thetis Foundation, where particular thanks are owed to Adonis Papadopoulos and Sophocles Hadjisavvas. Thanks are extended to the crew, especially Troy Nowak, Toby Jones and Joshua Daniel for their skillful drawings included here. Elizabeth Greene, Sean Kingsley, Stella Demesticha, Filipe Castro and an anonymous referee offered insightful comments on the text and helpful discussions about the material.