Underwater workCypriot universities

Mazotos shipwreck excavation

Name: Mazotos shipwreck excavation
Start: 2007
End: 2012

2007–2012 · Mazotos shipwreck

The University of Cyprus project at the Mazotos shipwreck from 2007: a cargo of at least 800 amphorae, mostly Chian, lying at 44 m and dated preliminarily to the third quarter of the fourth century BC.

Map of Cyprus

Where the work took place

Ground above 200, 500, 1,000 m

Site

1Mazotos shipwreck (approx.)

Modern coastline (OpenStreetMap) and relief (Copernicus DEM).

The project

The Mazotos wreck lies at 44 m depth on a sandy, nearly flat seabed, and its oblong cargo concentration contained at least 800 amphorae before excavation, predominantly Chian. Stella Demesticha preliminarily dated the wreck to the third quarter of the fourth century BC on the evidence of the amphorae^1,2. The wreck is off Mazotos village, about 1.5 nautical miles from shore and 14 nautical miles southwest of Larnaca³.

The University of Cyprus began work in November 2007, with Demesticha as director and D. Michaelides co-directing in the early phase, in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities^2,4. The first season, 17–24 November 2007, produced photographs for a photomosaic of 230 photos on seven strips^1,3. The next objective was a three-dimensional photogrammetric model, as a tool for interpreting the loading arrangement and the wreck formation process². In May 2008 the team counted about 500 visible amphorae in three or four layers and raised six as samples. A trial trench on the northeast side in October and November 2008 exposed a bottom cargo layer, bedrock at 1.20 m and small pieces of wood interpreted as hull remains⁴. A proton-magnetometer survey in 2009 suggested that material extended south of the visible amphora concentration³.

Excavation in small targeted sections began in the bow area in 2010, where two lead cores from an anchor stock were exposed; in 2011 two cone-shaped incrustations, interpreted as probable iron anchor-arm tips, were found 2.6 m southeast of them. In 2012 work turned to the stern¹. Later excavation exposed sections of the keel and starboard planking¹. The six amphorae raised in 2008 were delivered to the Larnaca Museum as NM1 to NM6, and a study published in 2021 reports more than 300 intact or partly preserved amphorae, stored at the Archaeological Museum in Larnaca^3,5.

Directors and team

Directed by

Stella Demesticha2007
Demetrios Michaelides2008–2009
D. Skarlatosphotogrammetry

Institutions

University of CyprusSponsor
Department of Antiquities of CyprusPartner
Cyprus University of TechnologyPartner
THETIS FoundationFunder
Nautical Archaeology SocietyPartner

Seasons

8 seasons

200819–31 May and 16 Oct-1 Nov 2008
Underwater survey of the Mazotos shipwreck in cooperation with the Department. Photogrammetry and mapping; about 500 visible amphorae in 3–4 layers, mostly Chian, c. third quarter of the 4th c. BC, plus Solokha I and Mendaian types; six lifted; trial trench found bottom layer and bedrock at 1.20 m, hull wood and a sealant-lined sherd.
Directed by S. Demesticha, D. Michaelides[3]
2009
University of Cyprus underwater survey of the shipwreck at Mazotos, in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities; no results given.
Directed by Stella Demesticha, Demetris Michaelides[4]
2010
Systematic excavation begins
2015
Field report listed
2016
138 amphorae left stored underwater
201820 September - 21 October
70 more Chian amphorae, 99 under the foredeck; hull joinery recorded; Bow completed; 70 Chian amphorae raised, 99 under the foredeck; Bow area finished, 70 more Chian amphorae, 99 under the foredeck
2019early October
NAS outreach, about 28 divers visited the wreck
202320 September-29 October
Ninth season, survey and surface finds only; 14 of 138 stored amphorae missing

What was found

Periods

Publications

2 items

Annual reports of the Department of Antiquities

References

1.S. Demesticha, D. Skarlatos, A. Neophytou, 2014, The 4th-century B.C. shipwreck at Mazotos, Cyprus: New techniques and methodologies in the 3D mapping of shipwreck excavations, Journal of Field Archaeology 39.
2.S. Demesticha, 2009, Questions on trade: the case of the Mazotos shipwreck, Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 39.
3.Stella Demesticha, 2011, The 4th-Century-BC Mazotos Shipwreck, Cyprus: a preliminary report, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 40 (1).
4.Pavlos Flourentzos, 2010, Annual Report of the Department of Antiquities for the year 2008, Department of Antiquities, Cyprus.
5.M. Secci, S. Demesticha, C. Jimenez, C. Papadopoulou, I. Katsouri, 2021, A living shipwreck: an integrated three-dimensional analysis for the understanding of site formation processes in archaeological shipwreck sites, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 35, article 102731.

Sources

1.Questions on trade: the case of the Mazotos shipwreck, p. 1; p. 387.
2.The 4th-century B.C. shipwreck at Mazotos, Cyprus: New techniques and methodologies in the 3D mapping of shipwreck excavations, p. 148.
3.Annual Report of the Department of Antiquities for the year 2008, p. 11; pp. 76–77.
4.Annual Report of the Department of Antiquities for the year 2009, p. 12; p. 13.
5.Les antiquités chypriotes et les Musées. Expositions 2012, p. 465.