Transylvania University anthropology professor Chris Begley will be on a team of maritime archaeologists exploring the Fourni archipelago in Greece.
There were 22 shipwrecks discovered there in 2015, with the ships ranging between the archaic period and the late medieval period (480 B.C. and the 1500s.) The sites will allow the team to study trade along the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea between Cyprus, Egypt and the Levant.
“I am honored to be asked to be part of this important project,” Begley said. “I have worked closely with RPM Nautical Foundation and project co-director Peter Campbell in Albania, Montenegro and Croatia, and I am excited to participate in this project, which relies not only on our archaeological methods but also on the extensive knowledge of the area that local residents possess.”
With this set of discoveries, there was a 12 percent increase in the total amount of known ancient shipwrecks near Greece. The university also notes that there maybe additional wrecks to be found in the area.
“We expected a successful season, but no one was prepared for this,” Greek archaeologist George Koutsouflakis said. “Shipwrecks were found literally everywhere.”
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