Dr. George Koutsouflakis, of the University of Thessaly, discusses The Unharvested Sea: Ten Years of Underwater Archaeological Research in the Phournoi Archipelago, from 2015–2025.
Phournoi is an island cluster in the Eastern Aegean consisting of three main islands and more than twenty islets and rocky outcrops. Overshadowed by the larger and historically more prominent islands nearby like Samos and Ikaria, Phournoi is only marginally mentioned by ancient historians and geographers, and no historically significant events are known to have taken place there. Today, the islands are inhabited by a small insular community of approximately 1,100 people, whose livelihoods are primarily connected to maritime activities and tourism.
In 2015, an ambitious research program was launched as a collaboration between the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports and the RPM Nautical Foundation. The aim of the project was the systematic survey, documentation, and study of all ancient, medieval, and post-medieval shipwrecks in the Phournoi archipelago. By 2025, the research documented more than fifty shipwrecks in the waters of Phournoi. Since 2022, and with the participation of the University of Thessaly, the project has also undertaken the excavation of a Late Roman shipwreck carrying a mixed cargo of amphorae originating from the Black Sea and the Aegean.
Dr Koutsouflakis’s seminar presents the history of underwater archaeological research at Phournoi, highlight the working conditions and challenges of conducting fieldwork in remote areas, focus on the most significant cargos and finds, and conclude with the preliminary results of the excavation of the Late Roman shipwreck.
