The research mission focused on mapping the site in detail and creating a complete 3D virtual model of the shipwreck in high resolution.

The preliminary and exploratory research works for the year 2021 in the Shipwreck of Antikythera were successfully completed, according to the Central Archaeological Council and the General Directorate of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

This is the first mission carried out in the framework of the second five-year underwater research program of the Antikythera shipwreck (2021-2025), which has been supported by the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation since 2015 and lasted from the 1st to the 10th of October 2021.

The new five-year research program is carried out by the Swiss School of Archeology, under the direction of Dr. Angeliki G. Simosi, Head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Evia, and Lorenz E. Baumer, Professor of Classical Archeology at the University of Geneva.

The research mission focused on mapping the site in detail and creating a complete 3D virtual model of the shipwreck in high resolution. This allows, on the one hand, for a much more accurate analysis of the submarine ground, which is essential for the accurate representation of the 1st century BC shipwreck, and, on the other hand, for the presentation of a new cutting-edge tool for accurate planning of further research.

The purpose of the investigation is to complete the collection of data necessary to draw conclusions regarding the existence of other remnants of the Antikythera Mechanism at the site of the shipwreck, the cargo of the shipwreck and the ship itself (which remain covered due to a landslide), the possible connection of the famous shipwreck (shipwreck A) with a second shipwreck that has been identified (shipwreck B), as well as with the number of people aboard the shipwreck A. An equally important goal is the discovery and collection of findings, including human skeletal remains, parts of the Antikythera ship and its cargo.

The most important find is a part of a marble statue, which is trapped under a boulder. During the research, smaller wooden and copper structural elements of the ship were retrieved, as well as fragments of ceramics, which provide valuable information on the dating and composition of the ship’s cargo.

The field teams were coordinated by Captain Alexandros Palatianos and the underwater research was led by Alexandros Sotiriou, a collaborating archeology researcher at the University of Geneva. The mission was attended by members of the Special Diving Team of the Submarine Missions Unit of the Coast Guard, the diving archaeologist Orestis Manousos and the Italian researcher Dr. Elisa Costa of Ca’ Foscari University in Venice.

The research is conducted by the Swiss School of Archeology in Greece under the supervision of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, with funding from the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation and the Swiss watchmaker Hublot. The Athanasios K. Laskaridis Public Benefit Foundation donated the ship ‘Typhoon’, which contributed greatly to the success of the mission, while Cosmote covers the telecommunication needs of the research. The research is actively supported by the Municipality of Kythira and the residents of Antikythera.

The research is under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

The official website of the research team is http://antikythera.org.gr