The 4th‐Century‐BC Mazotos Shipwreck, Cyprus: a preliminary report

Abstract

Since November 2007 an underwater project has been carried out by the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus, in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities, at a shipwreck on the south coast, 14 miles south‐west of Larnaca. Its cargo consists mainly of Chian amphoras and has been provisionally dated to the 3rd quarter of the 4th century BC. The good state of preservation of the site gives an opportunity for studying amphora stowage and the wreck‐formation process. Moreover, it can shed new light on sea‐routes and trade between Cyprus and the Aegean during the late Classical period.

© 2010 The Author

Key words:

• Cyprus
• shipwreck
• Chian amphora
• 4th century BC
• seaborne trade
• underwater survey

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks to Prof Demetrios Michaelides, co‐director, and Adonis Papadopoulos, president of THETIS Foundation, the main sponsor and co‐organizer of the project. The Cyprus Tourist Organization provided financial support, and the Scientific Committee of the Cypriot Federation of Underwater Activities offered valuable technical support. Many thanks also to Peter Elton and the members of the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology (HIMA): technical director Markos Garras, maritime archaeologists Xanthie Argyris, Myrto Michalis and Niovi Karapetsi, and conservator Aggeliki Zissi. The conservation of the finds is undertaken by the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus (under Eleni Loizidou). I am also indebted to Laina Swiny, Bernard Knapp and John Lund for helpful discussions, and an anonymous referee for insightful comments.

Notes

1 The declaration was made in 2006 to the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, by Andreas Troullides. According to an agreement with the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, signed in October 2007, the University of Cyprus undertook the archaeological work on site, under the co‐direction of the author and Prof D. Michaelides, Director of the Archaeological Research Unit.

2 The survey was conducted in collaboration with the Laboratory of Marine Geology and Physical Oceanography, Department of Geology, University of Patras, Greece (director: Prof. G. Papatheodorou). A report of the results is in preparation.

3 E.g. Strabo (Geographica, XIV I.35): ‘ειθη Aριουσίαχώρατραχείακαιαλίµενος, σταδίωνóσωντριάκοντα, οίνονάριστονϕέρουσατων Eλληνικών’ (Then one comes to Ariusia, a rugged and harbourless country, about 30 stadia in extent, which produces the best of the Greek wines). See also Pliny, Natural History XIV, viii, ix, and XIV, xvii. 97; Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, I.26,29,32.