Kythera - Mentor Shipwreck. Dimitris Kourkoumelis (Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities) reports on discoveries made during the excavation of the shipwreck Mentor, first investigated in 2019. Recent discoveries contribute important information on how the ship was built, while also offering a glimpse of the lives of the people on board. The first sector excavated was on the keel on the N side, aiming to clarify construction details. The connection point of two parts of the keel was located, and...

Shipwreck Mentor, Kythera. Dimitris Kourkoumelis (The Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities) reports on discoveries made during the excavation of the shipwreck Mentor, first investigated in 2019 (Fig. 1). 

Work continued on the western part of the surviving hull of the ship (Fig. 2, Fig. 3). Many fragmented pieces of wood were discovered, suggesting a very intense destruction of the ship. Parts of the hull were found trapped under rock, indicative of the intensity of the waves...

Avlemonas, Kythera. Dr Dimitis Kourkoumeli (Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities) reports on the 2019 excavations of the Mentor shipwreck, at Avlemonas on Kythera. The Mentor sank after colliding with rocks outside Alvemonas port in September 1802. Its principal cargo consisted of 17 crates of antiquities packed by Lord Elgin’s team, and these were recovered almost immediately after the vessel sank.

This year’s excavation was conducted between 27 August – 15 September, and...

Kythera - Ayios Georgios sto Vouno. Aimilia Banou (University of the Peloponnese) reports the following:

This paper presents the results of the final excavation campaign (2015) at the Minoan peak sanctuary at Ayios Yeoryios sto Vouno, Kythera. Four trenches (VII-X) were dug on the southern slope of the hill. As in the previous campaigns, no architectural remains that could securely be associated with the sanctuary were revealed. The location of a probable Primary Deposit in the SE...

Kythera – Mentor wreck. D. Kourkoumellis (Ephoreia of Maritime Antiquities) reports the discovery of two fragments of Egyptian sculpture (the first antiquities found in the remaining cargo). The first (0.4m long and 0.15m high) is part of the waist and pelvis (with drapery and dagger) of a statue probably of a pharaoh, which dates to the New Kingdom and likely to the reign of Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty (1386-1349 BC). The second (0.23 x 0.16m) consists of two joined pieces of a late...

Kythera. Wreck of the Mentor. D. Kourkoumelis (EMA) reports on the second excavation season which focused on the stern area where various items belonging to the crew and passengers were discovered in 2009 and 2011, and on the exposure and cleaning of part of the ship’s well-preserved frame. A 10m-long section of the frame was uncovered towards the prow, including the part broken on the rocks when the ship sank. Cleaning in the surrounding area revealed a number of personal items belonging...

Avlemona quarry. A. Tsaravopoulos (Β’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports the discovery of part of a votive relief stele depicting Herakles built into an animal pen in the vicinity of the large quarry at Avlemona. The stele likely indicated a shrine of Herakles within the quarry...