When I express my interest in ancient languages, history, and archaeology, I’ve been met with skepticism on more than one occasion. One of the most common perceptions people have is that those fields are tired and used-up–that all the great discoveries have been made. After all, Heinrich Schliemann discovered (and destroyed) “Troy” a century and a half ago. But just this week, that idea that we’ve already discovered all the important stuff was disproved yet again.
Off the coast of Bulgaria in the Black Sea, an Anglo-Bulgarian team made an incredible archaeological find–a Greek merchant ship from around 400 CE. At 2,400 years old, that makes it the oldest intact shipwreck ever found! The ship’s design mirrors images found on ancient Greek pottery, including a particularly famous vessel depicting Odysseus and the sirens. Though the contents of the ship’s hold are currently unknown, the incredible state of preservation of the ship itself has enormous importance for archaeologists, historians, and classicists just to name a few.
This ship can provide valuable information about the trade routes, relationships between ancient communities, building techniques, and more. Its existence also proves that there is much, much more to be discovered in our seas, deserts, and other archaeological sites. Though some people think that the Golden Age of Archaeology has been over for decades, I beg to differ.
As modern technology grows increasingly sophisticated, it allows us to explore previously inaccessible environments to search for material evidence of the past. The Black Sea ship was found with an ROV, or Remote Operated Vehicle, something that would have been totally unavailable for previous generations of archaeologists and scholars. Thanks to these technological developments and the continued work of dedicated professionals, new discoveries are being made all the time.
Just earlier this month, archaeologists working at Pompeii discovered a new piece of graffiti suggesting that Mount Vesuvius may have erupted more than a month later than previously thought. This could change everything we thought we knew about Pompeii, like how many people were in the town when it was destroyed and how the eruption might have affected nearby regions.
Discoveries like these remind us that archaeology is very much a living, active field. So much of antiquity has been lost to us, but we’re discovering more pieces of the puzzle all the time. There was a whole ship we didn’t know about just sitting in the water for 2,400 years! What else might be out there, waiting to be found?