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A cluster of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea is giving up some of its deep arcanum , as archeologist have now recover 45 shipwreck there in less than a year ’s time .
Back in September 2015 , a team of Greek and American diverslocated an astonishing 22 shipwrecksover the grade of a 13 - day survey around Fourni , which is compose of 13 lowly island , some too tiny to show up on mathematical function . The team went back to the eastern Aegean islands in June to expand the search . By the fourth dimension the three - and - a - half - calendar week survey was finished , the researcher bested their first attempt : They documented another 23 shipwreck , bring the total to 45 .
Fourni, which is a collection of small islands near Turkey, was a popular anchorage and navigational point for Aegean crossing routes. Usually it was safe for ships, but over thousands of years, storms inevitably claimed some vessels, like this wooden ship resting on the seaflood.
" Fourni is a changeless surprise , " said Peter Campbell , co - director of the project from the U.S.-based revolutions per minute Nautical Foundation . [ See Photos from the Fourni Shipwrecks ]
Fortuitous Fourni
The archipelago might be a hotspot forfinding shipwreckstoday because it was such a popular destination for gravy holder in the past , Campbell told Live Science .
" Fourni is in reality a really dependable berth , " Campbell said . " It ’s just the volume of dealings in every time period that causes the book of wrecks . "
Though Fourni did n’t have any major cities in ancientness , it was known as a good anchorage ground and navigational tip for Aegean crossing routes that go both east to Dame Rebecca West and N to S .
Ships would have anchored in spots that were protect from the common northwesterly breaking wind . But once in a while , these vessel could be catch up with off safety by a bragging southerly storm . If the position of the keystone was n’t changed fast enough , these ships would be in trouble , Campbell noted . Those are the unlucky ship that Campbell and his colleagues have been finding along the coastline of Fourni .
" The ships would just plow into the cliffs and then dissipate down , " Campbell said . " We find stacks of amphora [ ancient Greek vase ] . It looks like the conniption of a gargantuan motorcar crash , with these ceramics cascading down . "
More awaits discovery
The dates of theshipwrecksrange from the late Greek Archaic time period ( 525 - 480 B.C. ) to the Early Modern period ( A.D. 1750 - 1850 ) . In gain to the amphoras , which served as the delivery containers of the ancient earth , the loon find lamp , cook pot and anchors . In some caseful , a wreck ’s cargo had a decipherable origin , such as a Seth of amphoras from the Hellenic island of Kos dating back to the Hellenistical period ( 331 - 323 B.C. ) .
Campbell and his collaborators from the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities took representative samples of artifacts from each wreck , but for the most part , they left the underwater objects in place after documenting each web site .
Fourni may have one of the world ’s gravid concentrations of ancient shipwrecks . Many of the Mediterranean ’s big island contain only three or four wrecks , the researchers tell , and in all of Greece ’s territorial waters , only about 180 ancient shipwreck had been well documented ( not including the discoveries at Fourni ) .
There could be more to research at Fourni , too : The project leader say they have covered less than half of the archipelago ’s total coastline in their surveys so far .
The deepest dives of the survey went to 213 feet ( 65 metre ) , but Campbell enjoin he thinks there ’s more to discover below that level , " given how many ship are ascertain in shallow areas and given how steep the cliff are . "
In the next stage of the project , the squad hopes to go even deeply with technology such as remotely operate underwater vehicles .
Original article onLive scientific discipline .
