The Dokos shipwreck is the oldest underwater shipwreck discovery known to

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

s.Anzovin, item 5396, p. 385: "The oldest underwater shipwreck known to archeologists is the Dokos wreck, located in waters deep in the Aegean Sea off the island of Dokos, Greece." The wreck has been dated to the second Proto-Helladic period, 2700–2200 BC.HomeboyMediaNews - "Attempt to purchase protected island of Dokos", April 17, 2007
The remains of the shipwreck are located about underwater off the coast of southern

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

near the island of

Dokos Dokos ( el, Δοκός) is a small Greek island of the Argo-Saronic Gulf, adjacent to Hydra, and separated from the Peloponnese by a narrow strait called, on some maps, "the Hydra Gulf." It is part of the municipality of Ýdra (Hydra) in Island ...

(ancient name Aperopia) in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

.Hydra News: "Attempts to purchase protected island of Dokos", April 17, 2007
. Dokos is about east of

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

.Anastasi, pp. 1-2. The ship itself is long gone, as everything

biodegradable Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradati ...

has been dissolved by the sea. The only surviving evidence of the shipwreck is a cargo site of hundreds of clay vases and other ceramic items that were carried aboard the ship. These four-thousand-year-old remains were discovered by American archeologist

Peter Throckmorton Edgerton Alvord Throckmorton (July 30, 1928 – June 5, 1990), known as Peter Throckmorton, was an American photojournalist and a pioneer underwater archaeologist. Throckmorton was a founding member of the Sea Research Society and served on its Bo ...

on August 23, 1975.The Early Helladic Shipwreck (1992)
. The Dokos wreck site was extensively excavated between 1989 and 1992 by the Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology (HIMA). Archaeologist Dr. George Papathanasopoulos, President of HIMA, conducted the first ever full-scale excavation in Greece of an ancient shipwreck. Due to the irregularity of the seabed, a new system, the Sonic High Accuracy Ranging and Positioning System (SHARPS), was used to plot and map the underwater finds. Additional surveys were conducted and speculation that the remains dated to the Early Helladic period was confirmed.Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology

Evidence

According to HIMA, the

Cycladic The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name ...

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

evidence is dated to around 2200 BC, which makes the Dokos wreck the oldest known underwater shipwreck yet discovered.Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology (HIMA)
The

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

pots appear to be merchandise from an ancient

Argolida Argolis or Argolida ( el, Αργολίδα , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula and part of the tripo ...

manufacturing facility. It is presumed that these were intended for trade to small coastal villages around the Gulf of

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

and the

Myrtoan Sea The Myrtoan Sea (also Mirtoan Sea; el, Mυρτώο Πέλαγος, ''Myrtoo Pelagos'' ) is a subdivision of the Mediterranean Sea that lies between the Cyclades and Peloponnese. It is described as the part of the Aegean Sea south of Euboea, Att ...

. The cargo site consists of one of the largest collections of Early Helladic II pottery known. This Helladic pottery technology developed before the invention of the

pottery wheel In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, a ...

. The pottery consisted of hundreds of ceramic pieces including cups, kitchenware, and urns. Over 500 clay vases were uncovered, dating to the Early Helladic period. There were a variety of sauceboats in multiple shapes and sizes. The bowls and sauceboats of the Early Helladic period were the most common types found in southern and central Greece. After further inspection of the sauceboats, it has been suggested that these types resemble those from Askitario in

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

, and are also comparable to ones in

Lerna In classical Greece, Lerna ( el, Λέρνη) was a region of springs and a former lake near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Argos. Even though much of the area is marshy, Lerna is located on a geographically narrow point between moun ...

and from the

Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...

. This evidence shows that the shipwreck may lie on the maritime trade route from South Euboea to the Saronic and Argolid gulfs. There were many

amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

e found, as well as

basins Basin may refer to: Geography and geology * Depression (geology) ** Back-arc basin, a submarine feature associated with island arcs and subduction zones ** Debris basin, designed to prevent damage from debris flow ** Drainage basin (hydrology), a ...

, wide-mouthed jars,

brazier A brazier () is a container used to burn charcoal or other solid fuel for cooking, heating or cultural rituals. It often takes the form of a metal box or bowl with feet. Its elevation helps circulate air, feeding oxygen to the fire. Braziers h ...

s, baking trays, askoi, pithoi, and common household utensils.The Dokos Cargo site
/ref> Stone anchors were also found 40 meters from the wreck. The anchors consisted of two large boulders with holes bored in them, which likely would have been dropped before the ship sank. Lead ingots used for trade were also found. The merchant ship had a wide variety of tableware and it is speculated that it traded all over the region.
/ref> During the 1989 to 1992 HIMA excavation, the site produced more than 15,000 pottery

sherd In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well. Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...

s and artifacts. They also found many

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...

s at the site, which are speculated to have been part of the ship's cargo or possibly used as

ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...

. These artifacts and items were raised from the sea floor and transported to the Spetses Museum, where they will be studied and placed into conservation.

Notes

Sources

*Anastasi, P. "Aegean Sea Floor Yields Clues to Early Greek Traders." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 2, 1989. *Anzovin, Steven et al. ''Famous First Facts (International Edition)'',

H. W. Wilson Company The H. W. Wilson Company, Inc. is a publisher and indexing company that was founded in 1898 and is located in The Bronx, New York. It provides print and digital content aimed at patrons of public school, college, and professional libraries in bot ...

, 2000, *Enalia Annual 1990, Vol 2 (publ. 1992). HIMA, Athens *Wachsmann, Shelley. Seagoing Ships & Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant. College Station:

Texas A&M University Press Texas A&M University Press (also known informally as TAMU Press) is a scholarly publishing house associated with Texas A&M University. It was founded in 1974 and is located in College Station, Texas, in the United States. Overview The Texas A&M ...

, 1998. Web

Evidence

Notes

Sources

Further reading