A shipwreck dating back to the Early Byzantine Period (5th-6th Century AD), with various amphora intact, has been confirmed lying off Fournoi Island which lies off the coasts of Samos Island and Guzelcamli, near Kusadasi.
The Archaeological Marine Archaeological Research Project, carried out by the University of Thessaly and the Greek Maritime Antiques Directorate around Fourni Island has been completed.
In the research, it was stated that a shipwreck from the Early Byzantine period (5th – 6th century AD), located on a steeply sloping sandy back at Aspros Kavos Cape, one of the hard-to-reach areas of Fournoi Island, was found at a depth of 43-49 meters.
During examination of the shipwreck, eight different amphora types from Crimea, Sinope and Heraklion in the Black Sea, the Aegean and Anatolia were recorded, as well as tableware, from the region of Phocaea in Asia Minor.
It was announced that the shipwreck dates back to between 480 and 520 AD, probably during the reign of Emperor Anastasios I (491 – 518 AD). It was stated that investigations are continuing in other shipwrecks located around Fourni Island.
The wreck has been systematically excavated since 2021 and has been selected for intensive investigation due to the extremely interesting heterogeneous cargo it carries.
According to the news website, https://www.samos24.gr/, a 2023 survey focused on the regional cleaning of the western, shallower side of the wreck from sand deposits, in order to address the phenomenon of landslides in the wreck site, due to the strong slope of the seabed.
During the search, which faced multiple difficulties due to adverse weather conditions, 170 group dives were carried out in the first fortnight of September and approximately 15 cubic meters of embankment were removed, revealing an extensive spread of cargo on the shallow side of the wreck, mainly from arrays of panels.
The scattering of the finds on the seabed seems to indicate a partial loss of cargo, before the ship sank and ended up in the final deposition location, in the 40-50 meter zone.
In parallel with the excavation of the wreck, findings from three more wrecks of the archipelago were recovered, which are intended for their museum exhibition at the Archaeological Museum of Fourni. Among these finds are a giant archaic anchor obelisk and amphorae from shipwrecks of the 6th century. e.g. and 7th and 8th c. A.D.
The general direction of the research was the assistant professor of marine archeology at the University of Thessaly, Giorgos Koutsouflakis, and the archaeologist of the Ephorate of Marine Antiquities, Dionysios Evangelistis. The research was undertaken by a staff of 30 divers from different specialties including archaeologists, architects, antiquities conservators, professional divers, photographers, students.