To provide more insight into what it’s actually like during an expedition, the following is an example of what happens on a typical day of fieldwork during the Return to Antikythera project…

6.30am – Wake up

7am – Breakfast

Diving is physically demanding, so food is important for energy

Pre-dive paperwork…

7.30am – Load equipment into the vehicles & trailer, then move to the dock

Load the vehicles & trailer

8am – Load the boats

8.15am – Dive briefing

8.45am – Arrive at the wreck site and gear up

9am  – 10am – Dive teams descend, with the sequence and timing of descents depending on the days plan

Bottom time is generally around 40 – 60 minutes on rebreathers and 20-30 minutes using open circuit SCUBA

10am -11.30am – Decompression

Decompression time is generally 45-70 minutes, depending on bottom time

 
Noon – 1pm – Ascend, then return to the harbour

1.15pm – 2.15pm – Unload the boats, take equipment up to the dive ops centre and wash

2.15pm – Lunch

3pm – 5pm showers and unwind

5pm-6.30pm prepare equipment for the next day’s diving

Post dive paperwork

8pm – Dinner

10pm – Bed time

Then repeat the next day…

Modern science is helping us better understand the past, with new technologies and techniques complimenting standard archaeological methods in piecing together what actually happened 2000+ years ago. Much like how modern forensics help police with investigations.

DNA testing, 3D reconstruction and isotopic analysis are three different techniques used by the Return to Antikythera Project, which we’ll talk about in more detail shortly.

Artefacts are often fragile, so where possible a 3D model is constructed both in situ underwater and after an object has been recovered from the shipwreck.

Here’s a 3D model of a hand from a marble statue found during the spring fieldwork season.

This is an example of an artefact that is badly eroded, making it difficult to say what the rest of the statue looked like, hence the development of an initiative called 3D Antiquity.

The idea is to 3D-model thousands of ancient sculptures accurately and precisely, then compare them against the eroded and unrecognizable Antikythera marble statues, in the hope of identifying them.

We’d like to thank software vendor Autodesk for assisting the project with their ReMake software for 3D reconstructions.

The latest in diving technology also allows the team to work safer and for longer periods of time, which is important in such a difficult location.

Here’s a number of images from over the last week.

The team is arriving in Antikythera from around the world at the moment, for the 2016 summer expedition on the shipwreck, which commences this week.

The MV Poseidon dive vessel stopped off briefly at Diakofti, Kythera en route this morning, to pick up Michel and Christine from Hublot who are spending time with the team in Antikythera.

Michel is one of the people responsible for bringing the Bubblot, underwater drone to life.

Alexander and Dimitris, having a 10 minute break in Kythera, before continuing the final leg of their maritime journey to Antikythera.

Michel, checking out another shipwreck on the way, the MV Nordland.

Next stop, Antikythera…

Here’s a brief video of MV Poseidon arriving at the dock.

We’re working at maximum capacity today, the first four teams are in the water, with the fifth team dropping in now.

The ROV is keeping an eye on things, providing a live view from the surface which helps better synchronise the process.

Stay tuned!

The ROV provides a live view of operations.

Special guests! Yanis Bitsakis with Mathias Buttet and Michel Blumenthal from Hublot R&D.

Brendan Foley and Gemma Smith are the fifth team to drop in today.

Mathias Buttet, Director of R&D at Hublot, and designer of the Antikythera Mechanism watch arrived in Antikythera today, perfect timing to observe the excavation in top gear over the next few days.

Another interesting arrival was a caïque with Kalymnian sponge divers on board, who will be diving for sponges in the area this week. It was quite nostalgic talking to the guys, who have a similar vessel and use similar techniques to the sponge divers who originally found the Antikythera shipwreck in 1900.

Luxury watch maker HUBLOT is a major sponsor of the Return to Antikythera project and their support is greatly appreciated.

Mathias Buttet being briefed on progress so far.

The sponge diving boat from Kalymnos.

Gemma Smith, Phil Short & Jo Marchant had a great time talking to the sponge divers.

The whole dive team was excited about sponge diving techniques of the past. Here’s Evan Kovacs with a locally harvested sponge to take back to the USA as a present.

We’d like to thank Dr. Fotini Lata for her help this week, when team photographer Brett Seymour sustained a hand injury. She helped diagnose the injury and immobilized Brett’s hand, which assisted him in getting back in the water sooner.

It’s a shame that Fotini finishes her post in Antikythera today and we wish her the best, perhaps returning next year as team doctor for Return to Antikythera 2016.

Dr. Fotini Lata, with journalist and author of Decoding the Heavens, Jo Marchant, Brett Seymour & Brendan Foley.

The team has found a good rhythm and is being very productive. It takes a week to set up and then the first few days to iron out any bugs, and now we’re past those phases, the team is hitting its stride. Below is a selection of photos from today, showing the team in action.

And beneath the surface, the following video by Evan Kovacs provides insight regarding how working in water is like being in a different world.

Photos by John Fardoulis ©ARGO 2015

Mooring the boats.

Dr. Carl Kaiser preparing the ROV, which provides a live video feed to the surface.

Archaeologists Dr. Brendan Foley & Dr. Dave Conlin waiting for their dive slot.

Alexander Sotiriou getting ready for the first dive of the day, to move the underwater dredge.

Here’s Gemma Smith, ready for business.

Captain Mihalis Kelaidis helping Evan Kovacs & Brett Seymour back into the boat after their dive.

The underwater excavation is currently in full swing, with multiple 2-3 diver teams making the most of their bottom time each day.

A very detailed map has been created for the site by an underwater robot at the beginning of summer and last year, meaning that everything retrieved from the shipwreck can be plotted on this blueprint, which helps us better understand the shipwreck by studying the spatial relationship between objects.

If you go back a few posts, an explanation was provided about how the underwater dredge works. It’s currently a major tool in helping uncover thousands of years of sand/silt/gravel. Today’s photos are by Brett Seymour.

Dives are staged to maximise efficiency, with decompression time often overlapping so that multiple buddy pairs complete their hang time together.

Here’s the underwater dredge in action.

We’ve got two new videos to view on our YouTube channel, one showing what the expedition was like yesterday, and another showcasing the M/Y Glaros, which arrived in Antikythera last night, generously provided for use during the project by the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation.

Lots of very high quality photos have been taken so far, and hours of inspiring video has been filmed, we’ll endeavour to share more over the coming days.

This is a live update from over the Antikythera shipwreck.

The archaeologists in our team dived the wreck for the first time today, a major milestone. Stay tuned for more information!

Dr. Brendan Foley is still in the water decompressing after diving the shipwreck, more information soon.

Dr. Theotokis Theodoulou has just surfaced after diving the shipwreck.

Alex Tourtas has just surfaced after diving the Antikythera shipwreck.