For yet another year, the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation participated in the 2024 expedition to the Antikythera wreck. This year’s expedition took place between 17 May and 20 June, as part of the 2021-2025 research programme, which was reactivated on the initiative of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation and was carried out by the Swiss Archaeological School in Greece under the supervision of the Ephorate of Marine Antiquities of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation once again received strong support from the Greek Coast Guard with a team of eight technical divers from the Submarine Expeditionary Unit, which significantly enhanced the overall effectiveness of the diving operations. The extremely good weather conditions allowed the team to make significant progress in the field operations. The excavations resulted in numerous finds, most notably the discovery of a significant section of the ship’s hull.
For the first time since its discovery by spongers in 1900, the scientific approach taken by the international research team led by Dr. Angeliki G. Simossi (Honorary Director of Maritime Antiquities) and Professor of Archaeology Lorenz Baumer (University of Geneva), the research simultaneously opens up new questions: was there only one ship involved in this ancient maritime tragedy? How exactly did the shipwreck occur? Did the human remains belong to passengers or crew members?
To answer these and many other questions, many techniques have been designed and applied and a major scientific work is planned to be carried out in the coming months.
The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation in coordination with the Ministry of Culture will organize a major exhibition for the presentation of the findings of the entire project “Return to Antikythera” in the autumn of 2024, at the Historical Library of the Foundation.
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