Minoan Shipwreck at Pseira, Crete

"The first Minoan shipwreck found near Crete was discovered in 2003 off the islet of Pseira on the northeastern coast of Crete. It was excavated between 2004 and 2009 by the Greek Archaeological Service, directed by Elpida Hadjidaki-Marder. The Minoan ship sank around 1725/1700 BC. The recovered cargo constitutes the largest known corpus of complete and almost complete clay vessels from a single Middle Minoan IIB deposit in several categories. The 140 artifacts recovered from the area of the wreck include 46 oval-mouthed and other amphorae, 41 spouted jugs used for transport, and 11 hole-mouthed jars. The activity of each season is described, followed by a catalog with extensive discussion of the pottery, a petrographic analysis, and catalogs of weights and stone tools. The picture that emerges is of a local transport boat, loaded with products from towns on the northern coast of East Crete, and it provides a rich set of information on a society that revolved around seafaring"--