News - Weeks 6

Modern Mikrolimano – ancient Mounichia (copyrights Goggle Earth).

A golden dawn, the first rays of the sun embraces Mikrolimano.

Athens from the sea, without the fleet, the backbone of the Athenian Democracy, there would have been no Parthenon.

The underwater landscape of Mikrolimano, in the future archaeologists would have been excited...

Author: Bjoern Lovén and Mads Moeller Nielsen

Working in Mikrolimano is quite different from working in Zea. Logistically it is more challenging because, in contrast to Zea which is run by one organisation, Zea Marina, Mikrolimano is run by several authorities. Here we would like to take the opportunity to thank the Hellenic Navy Base at Mikrolimano, the Sailing Association of the Piraeus (I.O.P) and the Nautical Sport Club (N.A.S). All have been very helpful and friendly, and have given us access to electricity, water, toilets, storage areas etc.

Aesthetically it is a treat to work here, if you are on the land crew. Mikrolimano is Piraeus’ most quiet and most beautiful harbour; the scenery is magnificent with a direct line of sight to the Parthenon. However, under water Mikrolimano is not much different from Zea. The amount of modern waste is shocking, and the task of removing it is often very difficult and time consuming. But for our own safety it is necessary.

When we moved to Mikrolimano two weeks ago we started excavating two trenches in the area just below the hill of Koumoundouros and the Hellenic Sailing Club. This area, in front of the restaurant Istioploiko, is designated as M-G6 (Mikrolimano shipshed Group 6). So far, the most interesting discoveries we have made is that two column base foundation blocks, which we had located during survey dives in 2006, are standing on a foundation fill, and not in rock-cut foundation trenches as in Zea. This fill probably present a closed context. However, until we have a better understanding of the M-G6 area we are not going to excavate test trenches into layers that are structurally related to the shipsheds.

We have also surface cleaned a number of in situ blocks that are probably related to the lower end of a shipshed. Continued excavations are required to confirm this, but if this is indeed the lower end, it is the first time that a Pirean shipshed has been followed for its entire length!

The second area we are investigating is on the other side of the harbour, the topographical key point in the area where the shipsheds (M-G1) and the northern fortified quay meet up. Our primary objective here is to locate remains of the harbour fortifications, and so far our excavation has been very rewarding! Visit our homepage again next week to learn more about this!