Download Alonnesos

The Significance of Classical Period Shipwrecks in the Aegean
The Delian League (477-404 BCE) was
ultimately maintained with a strong Athenian navy
Grain (mostly from the region of the Black Sea) and wine were the two most important
commodities that were transhipped across the Aegean (to Athens) in the Delian League
(based on chronicles of Thucydides and others)
Grain from the
Black Sea region
Athenians drank much
wine from this region
Attic Black Figure
bowl
Athenians drank much
wine from this region
The Alonnesos shipwreck (ca. 430-400 BCE, in the Northern Sporades island group):
date of the shipwreck established with stylistic study of the amphoras (over 1000 visible)
Athenians drank much
wine from this region
X Alonnesos
shipwreck
Fisherman alerts the Greek Ministry of Culture: Greek Ministry
of Culture begins excavation in 1991 with few resources
Showing the 8m2 extent of the excavation
Showing the origin of
manufacture of the
recovered amphoras
and bowls
amphoras
X amphoras
bowls
What have archaeologists gained from the excavation of the
Alonnesos shipwreck?
**It was the first Classical Period shipwreck to be excavated
**The merchantman was very large (ca. 22 x 8 m), much larger than any
merchantman excavated from contemporary or earlier periods
(though no hull remains were identified)
Showing the 8m2 extent of the excavation (with no hull remains)
What have archaeologists and historians
gained from the excavation
of the Alonnesos shipwreck?
Mendean amphoras
X amphoras
Attic bowls
Mende
Mende: a Greek colony and major wine
producer and exporter that belonged
to the Delian League (though sided
briefly with Sparta during the
Peloponnesian War)
What might this ship have looked like? Possibilities on Attic Black Figure pottery
The larger merchant ships during the Classical Period
moved under sail and were rowed
(called kerkouroi)
To the other side of the Aegean: the Classical Period Tektaş Burnu shipwreck excavation
Ionia
X
X
Tektaş Burnu
The shipwreck was discovered during a systematic survey by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology
in 1996 (along with dozens of other shipwrecks): Tektaş Burnu was chosen for excavation because
the amphoras date to the 5th century BCE (Classical Period)
The Institute of Nautical Archaeology and Texas A&M began excavation in 1999 (with ample
resources and expertise): Tektaş Burnu was fully excavated in three seasons (1999-2001)
Size is one obvious difference between the Tektaş Burnu ship
(sunk ca. 440-425 BCE) and the contemporary Alonnesos ship :
Plan of the Tektaş Burnu site
Tektaş Burnu: ca. 200 amphoras total, dimensions ca. 11x3m
Alonnesos: 1000+ amphoras visible, dimensions ca. 22x8m
The mix of transport amphoras from Tektaş Burnu
Monogram stamp
on one amphora
from the Ionian
city of Erythrae
Mendean amphoras
filled with pitch and
beef cuts (not wine!)
Ionia
Tektaş
Burnu
X
Origins of table and cooking wares (potentially galley wares) and lamps: all
Ionian (local) with the exception of an Attic kantharos and askos
X
Tektaş
Burnu
Attic wares
Additional objects of interest:
14 lead anchor stocks (wooden anchor did not preserve)
The one potentially ‘elite’ object recovered
from the Tektaş Burnu shipwreck
An alabstron
(perfume container)
The Ionian context of the itinerary of the Tektaş Burnu ship
Monogram stamp
from the Ionian
city of Erythrae
Ionia
In the 6th century BCE (prior to the Tektaş Burnu shipwreck) the Greek colony of Ionia was
proudly monumental and the most sophisticated region in the Greek speaking world
6th century BCE Temple of Apollo at Didyma
As ‘members’ of the Delian League in the 5th Century BCE (contemporary with Tektaş
Burnu) Ionians stopped building temples or other grand monuments.
Ionia
Monogram stamp
from the Ionian
city of Erythrae
**Was the Alonessos ship with its enormous cargo on an Athenian itinerary?
**Compared to the humbler Tektaş Burnu ship that was on a local (Ionian) one?
**Is this a meaningful point of contrast (between 2 shipwrecks)
in the context of the Delian League?
Plan of the Tektaş Burnu site
Tektaş Burnu: ca. 200 amphoras total, dimensions ca. 11x3m
Alonnesos: 1000+ amphoras visible, dimensions ca. 22x8m
How the Tektaş Burnu ship may have looked the second it hit the seafloor, but based on what?
The Tektaş Burnu ship did not preserve any wooden hull remains (though copper nails and tacks
were preserved: probably used to secure hull planking to frames)
What might this ship have looked like? Possibilities on Attic Black Figure pottery
The larger merchant ships during the Classical Period
moved under sail and were rowed
(called kerkouroi)
The only objects of interest related to the ship itself; and they are indeed interesting
The eyes of the ship (ophthalmoi)
Not painted on the hull, rather the eyes are
painted marble discs