ZEA HARBOUR PROJECT - 2011

Piraeus, Zea Harbour Project. B. Lovén, M. Møller Nielsen and I. Sapountzis (DIA/University of Southern Denmark) report on the 2011 season.

At Mounichia Harbour, investigations focused on the group of shipsheds (M-G1) on the north side of the harbour basin, and on the harbour fortifications (Fig. 1). Excavation and documentation of the ancient Northern Fortified Mole (M-FM1) was concluded. A number of collapsed large worked limestone blocks were removed from the rubble foundations of M-FM1, but no diagnostic ceramic material was found between the blocks or in the layer underneath them. Digital survey continued to be made of the remains of the two large towers at the entrance to the harbour at the ends of the fortified moles - Towers M-T1 (in M-FM1) and M-T2 in the Southern Fortified Mole (M-FM2). Among the most significant features identified in Tower M-T1 was a section that probably represents the original face of the southernmost extent of the tower foundations. Also in M-T1 a large area of built foundations on the eastern (outer) sea-side was discovered. Tower M-T2 is severely damaged by erosion and dredging, and it is partly covered by beach rock. Surface cleaning next to the preserved remains revealed that the tower stands on bedrock foundations. However, due to erosion and the presence of beach rock, it was not possible to establish where exactly the bedrock ends and the built foundations begin (or if the bedrock foundations were worked). A well-preserved section of the Southern Fortified Mole (M-FM2) was discovered to the north of Tower M-T3 underneath concrete elements of the modern breakwater. In Tower M-T3, documentation of the vast number of in situ and displaced blocks continued (Fig. 3). In the foundations of M-T3, the deepest submerged rock-cut feature in the Piraeus was recorded. This was carved above the waterline in antiquity and the current depth measurement (to be announced) is crucial for understanding sea-level change since antiquity.

Selected areas of the M-G1 shipsheds (Fig. 1) and other ancient features were cleaned and digitally surveyed. Two trenches (M-G1/2011/Trenches 1–2) were opened in the ramp and colonnade areas of the westernmost shipshed. Two building phases were identified and two substantial timber fragments found (one worked). In 2010, four column drums were discovered in the area of the M-G2 shipsheds (Fig. 1), reused as part of the ramp structure of a shipshed. In 2011 they were cleaned and documented in detail (Fig. 4).

Investigations in Zea Harbour focused on concluding the documentation of the submerged ancient remains of the coastal and harbour fortifications, focusing on Towers Z-T1 and Z-T3 in Area 3, and remains of shipsheds in Areas 3 and 5 (Figs. 5–6).

Underwater geophysical survey was conducted in the areas of Zea and Mounichia Harbours and along the coastline between the Mounichia and Kantharos Harbours, in collaboration with the Department of Marine Geology and Physical Oceanography of the University of Patras (G. Papatheodorou). The equipment used included a side-scan sonar, a sub-bottom profiler, and a single beam echosounder (Fig. 7).
The project is supervised by the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities (represented by Dr. D. Kourkoumelis).