Palaikastro - 2023

Chrysa Sofianou (Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi), Carl Knappett (Toronto), Andrew Shapland (Oxford) and Theotokis Theodoulou (Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities) report on the third campaign of underwater exploration at Palaikastro.

This year the synergasia between the British School at Athens and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi saw the continuation of underwater survey and mapping. Over the course of five diving days, 5.5 km were covered. The dives mostly took place around Cavo Plako, at depths of 15-25 m, and on the north side of the Grandes islets, up to a depth of 10m (Fig.  1). Documentation dives were also made at previously known or newly identified sites on each non-survey dive day. The distance of 5.5 km was covered in one dive per day (1100 m) which shows the huge increase in productivity that the use of diver propulsion vehicles (DPVs) brings, along with enhanced safety.

The Roman shipwreck located two years ago, the mapping of a second Roman shipwreck of the second century AD, and the discovery of a further wreck of the 18th-19th century were fully recorded. Two dives were made on the Roman wreck found in 2021 near the tip of Cavo Plako (Wreck 1) carrying Beltan II amphora. In 2021 imaging was completed without artificial lighting, so this year, with illumination, it was possible to locate two more types of amphorae, probably of the Gauloise and Agora M54 types (Fig. 6). Around Cavo Plako two Roman and four Byzantine anchors were found (Fig. 2,3). 

A program of geophysical survey was also conducted in both Chiona and Kouremenos bays, with both ground-penetrating radar and resistivity, by a team led by Nikos Papadopoulos of FORTH. The aim was to reveal indicationsors of buried structures adjacent to submerged and excavated structures identified in the project to date. In East Beach at Chiona ground-penetrating radar indicates that there are more walls adjacent to the remains excavated in 2022. Moreover, the underwater resistivity points to a possible structure under the sand in the shallows.