Time Capsules

Fig. 1 Mads Møller Nielsen excavating the closed context found in test Trench 1.

Zea Harbour Project 2010 – Week 11: ‘Time Capsules’.

The 2010 season is coming to its end, and we have two weeks of field work left. The main objective this week was to wrap up the investigations of the newly discovered shipsheds located in the northern and northwestern parts of the ancient Mounichia Harbour (modern Mikrolimano, Fig. 2). See Figure 3 for an artistic reconstruction of the area under investigation.

In test Trench 1 excavations reached into the foundation fill of the above mentioned shipsheds (Fig. 1). A wide range of finds was recovered in a closed context, which included both organic material and ceramics. Further study and analysis of the ceramics could very well provide the date of the construction of the foundation fill that supported the superstructures of the shipsheds. This newly discovered area is very promising, and the planned extensive excavations in 2011 will certainly expand our knowledge of the history and archaeology of the Mounichia harbour.

A successful season of intense and demanding digital survey also came to a close in the northern and northwestern parts of Mounichia (Fig. 2).  The digital survey verified that the superstructure of the newly discovered shipsheds extends to a distance of at least 35 m from the modern shoreline. Large areas of the modern harbour in this area were also surveyed in detail, providing data which will be useful for understanding how its development has affected the ancient harbour.

Excavations continued on the inside of the northern fortified mole. Here the objective is to excavate the foundations, in order to date the fortified harbour mouth, and to obtain a better understanding of its architecture. During the excavations in 2009 it was established that the foundations of the fortified mole were intact under a modern jetty, which had acted as a protective shield during the latest and probably most destructive modern dredging works in this part of the harbour. It is now clear that the rubble foundations protruded from the water to a considerable height, clearly demonstrating that the inside of the fortified mole could not have had a secondary function as quay for mooring boats.

Authors: Bjørn Lovén, Yiannis Nakas & Mads Møller Nielsen