Elpida Hadjidaki or Chatzidaki ( el, Ελπίδα Χατζηδάκη) is a Greek marine archaeologist specializing in ancient shipwrecks and harbor towns. She grew up in coastal

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

and was interested in maritime history from an early age. Hadjidaki learned to dive shortly after finishing high school. She has investigated multiple archaeological sites, including the Peristera shipwreck, a Minoan shipwreck near

Pseira Pseira ( el, Ψείρα) is an islet in the Gulf of Mirabello in northeastern Crete with the archaeological remains of Minoan and Mycenean civilisation. History The island was explored in 1906–1907 by Richard Seager and partially document ...

, and the ancient harbor town of

Phalasarna Phalasarna or Falasarna ( grc, Φαλάσαρνα) is a Greek harbour town at the west end of Crete that flourished during the Hellenistic period. The currently visible remains of the city include several imposing sandstone towers and bastions, ...

. She was friends with

Honor Frost Honor Frost (28 October 1917 – 12 September 2010) was a pioneer in the field of underwater archaeology, who led many Mediterranean archaeological investigations, especially in Lebanon, and was noted for her typology of stone anchors and skills ...

, a now deceased diver and underwater archaeologist.

Archaeological work

Beginning in 1986, Elpida Hadjidaki and her crew began exploring

, an ancient harbor town. Phalasarna may have participated in piracy in the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

. Hadjidaki excavated multiple towers, fortification walls, commercial buildings, quays, a slipway and a

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

in the town, finding shards of amphorae, weapons, and pottery. Phalasarna was a heavily fortified, independent town which minted its own coins. In 1992, Hadjidaki led a team of archaeologists to explore the Peristera shipwreck, found off an islet near

Alonnisos Alonnisos ( el, Αλόννησος ), also transliterated as Alonissos, is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. After Skiathos and Skopelos it is the third member of the Northern Sporades. It is (2 nm) east of the island of Skopelos. Alonnisos i ...

. While she didn't discover the wreck—a local fisherman did—her team was the first to fully examine it. Alonnisos Excavation

Hadjidaki and her coworkers found over a thousand

amphorae 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 ...

lying unburied on the seafloor at the site of the wreck, with many fine ceramics beneath them. The ship had been carrying wine to sell. The wreck has been dated to between 420 and 400 BCE during Greece's Classical period. The Peristera shipwreck is now an underwater museum. Hadjidaki is happy that the archaeological site is open to the public, and claims to have suggested this very idea shortly after the shipwreck was discovered. Hadjidaki searched for and explored a

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

wreck off

starting in 2003. A trading ship sank near the shore between 1725 and 1700 BCE. While the wooden ship itself hasn't been preserved, Hadjidaki and her team found a number of other artifacts: amphorae for transport of liquids, jugs, cooking equipment, cups, and fishing weights.

Writing

Elpida Hadjidaki has written two books: *''The Classical and Hellenistic Harbor at Phalasarna: A Pirate's Port?'' (1988) *''The Minoan Shipwreck at Pseira, Crete'' (2021) She has contributed chapters or sections to further books: *''Crete beyond the Palaces'' (2004) - Chapter 4: "A Possible Minoan Harbor on South Crete" *''Digital Cultural Heritage'' (2019) - "Quasi–Mixed Reality in Digital Cultural Heritage. Combining 3D Reconstructions with Real Structures on Location—The Case of Ancient Phalasarna" with Gunnar Liestøl *''In the Footsteps of Honor Frost. The life and legacy of a pioneer in maritime archaeology'' (2019) - "Three Decades of Adventures with Honor Frost in Crete" She's also contributed to multiple journals, including: *The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration (1985) *American Journal of Archaeology (1988) *Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (1990) *Bulletin de correspondance hellénique (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadjidaki, Elpida Greek women archaeologists Classical archaeologists 20th-century archaeologists 21st-century archaeologists Underwater archaeologists 20th-century antiquarians 21st-century antiquarians People from Chania (regional unit) 1948 births Living people