[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
This volume is the first in a series presenting the final reports of the survey and subsequent excavations of the Kyrenia Shipwreck conducted in 1967, 1968 and 1969. Two more volumes are in preparation: Volume II will present all remaining items of the cargoes from the ship, including tools that do not feature in the current volume and an analysis of shipboard diet; Volume III will focus on the ship itself, including scientific analysis of the wooden frame.
The Kyrenia merchant ship was built during the late 4th century BCE and sunk along the north coast of Cyprus in the early 3rd. The remains of the vessel and its cargo are today displayed in the Shipwreck Museum at Kyrenia Castle, the vessel itself having undergone extensive conservation in 1970 and 1971. The project was directed by Michael Katzev who oversaw the application of pioneering and meticulous methods of study. His untimely death sadly prevented him from seeing the publication to completion. (Though sidestepped in the volume, the de facto division of the island from 1974 cannot but have contributed to the delay in bringing the results to print.) The book in hand is instead the product of determination to continue the work by his wife Susan W. Katzev and team member Helena W. Swiny. In total, almost 60 scholars and scientists contributed to the making of this splendid volume (see Table of Contents and p. 43).
It is almost impossible for this review to do justice to the wealth of information and insights that the general reader and scholars will find within this exemplary volume. The history of research as well as personal experience of contributors is woven into the fabric of the text. This is both unusual and enlightening because it allows the reader to understand the different stages of the project. Documented are the personal circumstances, the methods of fieldwork, preservation and analysis, right up to the point of publication. This makes the book a remarkably transparent presentation of the methodology used, observations made, and overall interpretations drawn, in which setbacks and errors are by no means concealed but are an integral part of the narrative.
In terms of structure and presentation: the book is divided into seven chapters of unequal length, with chapters 1 to 5 subdivided into multiple thematic sections. Sections 2.3, 3.1, 5.1 and 5.2 are complemented by appendices (not listed in the contents page) which provide lists of finds, concordances and catalogues. The chapters are very well illustrated but not always consistently cross-referenced. For example, the captions under photos of objects in chapter 2 do not contain appendix or catalogue numbers. Four large foldout plans in colour show the distribution and type of objects by level at a scale of 3:100. Separate bibliographies are provided at the end of chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. An extremely useful glossary at the end of the book explains the terminology used throughout the text, including the many nautical terms. The insides of the front and back cover contain maps, one showing the Mediterranean with all sites relevant to the volume including shipwreck sites, the other the topography of ancient Cyprus and its seashore.
The core of the volume is chapters 2 to 5. Chapter 2 gives a detailed account of the search for the wreck in 1967 and subsequent excavations. Section 2.1 (assembled by Susan W. Katzev and Mary C. Sturgeon) is based on Michael Katzev’s reports to the National Geographic Society. It contains more than one hundred photographs and offers details of planning and diving procedures, accounts of major developments during each field season, reflections on the significance of the shipwreck, and information on conservation procedures. It also details the replica built in 1987 and the preparation of the permanent exhibition. In section 2.2, Jeremy N. Green describes the magnetometer and metal detector surveys conducted in 1967, which were at the time the first of their kind. He was also able to reassess the quality of the data in 2018 based on the data from later excavation, which will be of particular interest for scholars dealing with similar types of legacy data. In section 2.3, Helena W. Swiny and Susan W. Katzev give a detailed and insightful description of object labelling and incentives behind the modelling and visualisation of the archaeological data; this is followed by three appendices, one with a list of all amphoras (2.3a.1, pp. 62–107), which contains information on stamps, findspots and types; one with a list of all the pottery that received a P-number and all other ceramics discussed in the volume (2.3a.2, pp. 108–124); and one that lists all non-amphora and non-P objects cited in the volume (2.3a.3, pp. 125–127; C = coin, Cu = object made from copper, Fe = object made from iron, S = silver, Sn = tin and W = wood). Both authors are also responsible for subsection 2.4, in which they discuss the evidence for Octopodia activity and provide a catalogue of displaced objects.
Chapter 3 is dedicated to the vast corpus of amphoras from the shipwreck. Scholars have been discussing amphora types, size and composition of the cargo since the late 1960s, but this is the first account that includes and analyses the entire corpus, roughly 381 pieces, and thus is extraordinarily valuable to scholars working across the Mediterranean. Section 3.1 by Mark Lawall provides a truly holistic approach of the matter, covering the typology, origin, and condition of the amphoras and the wider context, including early Hellenistic distribution patterns and the market value of the goods. In particular, the Rhodian amphoras and their stamps allow us to specify their production, which would have stretched over a period of at least three different years somewhere around the mid-290s. This gives a date for the ship’s sinking in the late 290s BCE (cf. pp. 142–143 and Fig. 3.1.17). How the ship was laden, how it landed, and how it fell apart on the seabed is investigated by Helena W. Swiny and Susan W. Katzev (section 3.2). This is followed by sections presenting sampling results (3.3: resin, 3.4: wreck ecology including biofouling and 3.5: the use of bryozoans, commonly known as moss animals), all of which add significant insights to object biographies and paleoenvironmental questions more generally. The results will no doubt contribute to any future attempts in the preservation of underwater sites.
The first part of chapter 4 by Andrea M. Berlin focuses on goods associated with the crew, including objects categorised by the author as ‘bilge’ (Lawall prefers the term ‘detritus’ in his contribution), namely debris that was already broken and apparently used by the time the ship sank. For example, the tiny fragments of so-called Achaemenid cups pre-date the ship’s final voyage by a generation or more (p. 266). The following sections include contribution on the graffiti (4.2), wood identifications (4.3) and contextual evidence from the wreck (4.4). The results of the various scientific analyses, such as neutron activation analysis (NAA) (5.1), petrography (5.2) and residue analysis undertaken in the past and more recently, are assembled in chapter 5. Here it is impressive how the editors and contributors have allowed space to present and discuss contradictory results, such as the disputed provenance of the black-glazed table ware. While Berlin locates the pottery workshop producing these vessels firmly on Rhodes (pp. 271-272), Michael D. Glascock and Leslie G. Cecil are adamant that they were made in the Athenian Kerameikos (NAA Group 2 and 3, pp. 351–353). Yuval Goren, who did the petrographic analysis (for items of NAA Group 2 and 3 cf. table pp. 370–371 e.g. P5 and P84), ascribes at least some of the examples to a Rhodian fabric class. As all authors note, the impact of seawater on the chemical and mineralogical properties of the clay is not (yet) well enough understood, which potentially casts more doubt on results deriving from NAA as compared to visual examination and petrography. Another strong point of this volume is that it consistently relates the archaeological assemblage back to the reconstruction of the human experience in the past, as well as anchoring observations within the wider social, economic and historical context (see, for example, Berlin’s sections about ‘Life on board’ and ‘Identity and character of the crew’ pp. 274–280).
The coins from the shipwreck are analysed by Paul W. Keen in chapter 6. He notes the absence of Rhodian coins and determines the date of deposition to be between 294 and 290 on the basis of object C7, a bronze coin of Ptolemaic type supposedly minted under Ptolemy I. (Unfortunately, the photographs of the coins are very small; an enlarged photograph of Pb11/C8 can also be found in chapter 2, Fig. 2.1.44, but is not cross-referenced.)
It is clear that the documentation of context and objects was absolutely exemplary at the time of the project. The cornucopia of information presented in this volume is thus at times overwhelming. If one were to be super-critical, scholars using the book may find navigating between chapters and appendices challenging, especially since two numbering conventions are used (some authors prefer catalogue numbers, others the original tag numbers). A single identifier for each object, a concordance, and a final index providing a list of references for each object that features in more than one chapter would have resolved this minor issue.
The Kyrenia shipwreck is one of the most complete and best-documented Early Hellenistic contexts and cargoes in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the assemblage published will be of great value for anyone working in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond. This volume is a major achievement and will become a major source for scholars, from the ceramic specialist comparing individual vessels to writers of grand narratives. I would argue that it also has great value as a teaching resource: its transparency with regards to methodology and the interpretations derived therefrom, and the ample illustrations, represent an extraordinary example for students and, indeed, set a benchmark for other research projects.
Authors and Titles
1. Introduction
1.1. Introduction, Susan Womer Katzev
1.2. Dedication to Michael and Susan W. Katzev from excavation members, Helena (Laina) Wylde Swiny with contributions from David I. Owen, Robert K. “Chip” Vincent, Stephen J. Scheifele, Owen Gander, and Robin C. M. Piercy
1.3. Thanks to Laina, Susan Womer Katzev
1.4. In thanks to all who helped, Susan Womer Katzev with Helena (Laina) Wylde Swiny and Robin C. M. Piercy
2. The excavation
2.1. How it began, Michael L. Katzev† [assembled by Susan Womer Katzev and Mary C. Sturgeon]
2.2. Kyrenia shipwreck remote sensing analysis, Jeremy N. Green
2.3a. Kyrenia Ship data: labeling excavation objects, Helena (Laina) Wylde Swiny and Susan Womer Katzev
2.3b. Kyrenia Ship data: data explanation: creating the amphora plans, Helena (Laina) Wylde Swiny and Susan Womer Katzev
2.3c. Kyrenia Ship data: the Kyrenia Ship Application, Thomas Myette
2.4. Evidence for Octopodia activity on the wreck site, Helena (Laina) Wylde Swiny and Susan Womer Katzev
3. Amphoras
3.1. The transport amphoras, Mark Lawall
3.2. Observations on amphora distribution, Helena (Laina) Wylde Swiny and Susan Womer Katzev
3.3. Analysis of resins from the Kyrenia Ship, Curt Beck† and Dorreen J. Ossenkop
3.4. Tales from taphonomic amphoras: marine biofouling as interpretive ecological tool on wreck-site formation, Carlos Jimenez, Katerina Achilleos, Antonis Petrou, and Louis Hadjioannou
3.5. Wreck site formation process: the use of bryozoans, Katerina Achilleos, Carlos Jimenez, and Antonis Petrou
4. Goods of the crew
4.1. The goods of the crew, Andrea M. Berlin
4.2. Graffiti on the ship’s ceramics, Helena (Laina) Wylde Swiny, Susan Womer Katzev, Alan Johnston, Christopher Rollston, and Jo Ann Hackett
4.3. Wood identifications of objects in Volume I, Nili Liphschitz†
4.4. Plotting shipboard life: observations from the find spots of objects related to life on board the Kyrenia Ship, Helena (Laina) Wylde Swiny and Susan Womer Katzev
5. Ceramic analyses
5.1. Neutron Activation Analysis of ceramic samples from the Kyrenia Ship, Michael D. Glascock and Leslie G. Cecil
5.2. Petrographic analysis of the ceramics from the Kyrenia Ship, Yuval Goren
5.3. Organic residue analysis of pottery recovered from the Kyrenia Ship, Joseph A. Palatinus with Ruth F. Beeston
5.4. GC-MS analysis of contaminated Kyrenia Ship ceramic samples, Vic Garner† and Holley Martlew
5.5. Organic residue analysis of ceramic vessels from the Kyrenia Ship: searching for past contents, Lisa Briggs and Léa Drieu
6. Coins
6.1. The coins, Paul W. Keen
7. Conclusions
7.1. Summary closing wrap-up: what’s to come in Volumes II and III, Susan Womer Katzev