In collaboration with the Greek Ministry of Culture, new research by the National Hellenic Research Foundation has identified shipwrecks and other important ancient finds during a survey of the marine area around the Greek island of Kasos.
According to the news from the Culture Ministry, the discoveries made as part of the “Kasos Maritime Archaeological Project,” which concluded recently. The archaeological project was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of experts from Greece and abroad, The National Hellenic Research Foundation led the underwater archaeological survey of Kasos’ marine environment, which began in 2019.
The Kasos Island investigations brought to the surface ancient shipwrecks dating a far back as pre-history (3000 BCE). There were also undersea finds dating from the classical period (460 BC), the Hellenistic period (100 BC to 100 AD), the Roman period (200 BC to 300 AD), the Byzantine period (800 to 900 AD), and finds from the medieval and Ottoman periods.
Divers worked at depths of up of to -47 meters beneath the surface to explore ten shipwrecks off Kasos Island that carried cargoes from Africa, Asia Minor, Italy, and Spain. Unique finds included a Spanish Dressel 20 amphora with a seal on its handle dated between 150-170 AD, various drinking vessels, and even a stone anchor of the Archaic period. The project included a first in mapping the Kasos-Karpathos reef using side-scan sonar. One of the finds was a shipwreck from World War II.
Kasos and its outlying islets have been a part of human history since before the Bronze Age. The Minoans made use of Helatros Bay, the island’s only sheltered harbor. According to Homer (Iliad, 2.676), Kasos contributed ships destined for the Trojan War. The site of Helatros Bay is one of Greece’s most secluded beaches these days. The bay at Kasos’ extreme southwestern end was the closest safe harbour to Crete’s far-eastern ports in ancient times.
