The Maritime Transport of Sculptures in the Ancient Mediterranean

Abstract

From the 16th century onwards various ancient sculptures have been
discovered in the Mediterranean Sea from the context of surveyed
shipwrecks, potential unrecorded shipwrecks or out of context as isolated
finds. Scholars so far have analysed several of those sculptural artefacts
from an art historical perspective, basing the interpretation of their
maritime transportation and underwater deposition on possible hypotheses
and not on actual archaeological data due to the problematic recording and
the remoteness of their underwater context. Therefore, it has been unclear
by whom, how and when these sculptures were transported and traded
during Classical Antiquity. The present thesis examines anew this subject
from the lenses of both maritime and classical archaeology. With a focus on
the underwater context of already retrieved sculptures, this research aims
at comprehending in detail the various circumstances under which ancient
sculptural artefacts were carried on board ancient merchant ships and were
consequently deposited under water. Through, first of all, the creation of an
extensive Mediterranean-wide database with more than 100 known
incidents of ancient sculptures found under water all around the
Mediterranean Sea and, secondly, the in-depth analysis of three shipwreck
case studies, the Porticello, the Mahdia and the Favaritx shipwrecks, a new
interpretation is presented for this maritime activity. Therefore, this
research reveals new details for the maritime transport and distribution of
sculptures during the period of Classical Antiquity, while also providing
clearer information regarding the naval and structural characteristics of the
ships carrying them. Finally, this research manifests the importance of the
thorough recording of underwater archaeological evidence, despite the
challenging natural environment. Hence, it is hoped to raise awareness
among archaeologists in order to eliminate the salvage of ancient sculptures
out of their underwater context, a fact that has been encouraging the illicit
trade of such antiquities.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Katerina Velentza: orcid.org/0000-0003-3447-9729

ORCID for Richard Whitewright: orcid.org/0000-0002-3548-0978

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