The 2005 Chios Ancient Shipwreck Survey: New Methods for Underwater Archaeology

Abstract

In 2005 a Greek and American interdisciplinary team investigated two shipwrecks off the coast of Chios dating to the 4th-century b.c. and the 2nd/1st century. The project pioneered archaeological methods of precision acoustic, digital image, and chemical survey using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and in-situ sensors, increasing the speed of data acquisition while decreasing costs. The AUV recorded data revealing the physical dimensions, age, cargo, and preservation of the wrecks. The earlier wreck contained more than 350 amphoras, predominantly of Chian type, while the Hellenistic wreck contained about 40 Dressel 1C amphoras. Molecular biological analysis of two amphoras from the 4th-century wreck revealed ancient DNA of olive, oregano, and possibly mastic, part of a cargo outbound from Chios.

Author(s): Brendan P. Foley 1 | Katerina Dellaporta 2 | Dimitris Sakellariou 3 | Brian S. Bingham 4 | Richard Camilli 5 | Ryan M. Eustice 6 | Dionysis Evagelistis 7 | Vicki Lynn Ferrini 8 | Kostas Katsaros 9 | Dimitris Kourkoumelis 10 | Aggelos Mallios 11 | Paraskevi Micha 12 | David A. Mindell 13 | Christopher Roman 14 | Hanumant Singh 15 | David S. Switzer 16 | Theotokis Theodoulou 17