Maa to Lara: underwater survey of the west coast (Institute of Archaeology, London)

A British underwater mission from the Institute of Archaeology, University of London surveyed the west coast from Maa towards the Lara peninsula in the summer of 1983, for six weeks, under C. Giangrande¹. Ten underwater archaeologists and geomorphologists took part. They checked sheltered bays as possible ancient harbours and carried out geological research on land and underwater. The material recovered was Hellenistic and later, and the report allowed that some might be older¹.

The second season ran from 9 July to 7 August 1984, between Coral Bay and Lara, with six archaeologists and one geomorphologist². The team completed a seismic study of river valleys, mapped the coastal profile and mapped fish tanks in the hope of gathering information on changes in sea level. It explored and mapped the two bays of Lara, where pottery deposits were mapped; more than thirty stone anchors were located in the surroundings and drawn and photographed in their original positions on the seabed². At Maniki islet an anchorage was delimited and its anchors were drawn and photographed². At Xerolimni the team discovered a wreck site and made a plan and a photomosaic showing concentrations of pottery².