Dokos shipwreck c. 2150 BC
Marker: recorded wreck position (Ancient & medieval).
Key facts
| Name | Dokos shipwreck | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | c. 2150 BC | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Ancient & medieval | derived from year |
| Ship type | shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Sea / ocean | Sea of Crete | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Greece | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 13 km from land |
| Position | 37.3499, 23.3445 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
The Dokos shipwreck is the second-oldest known shipwreck in the world, according to archeologists. The wreck has been dated to the second Proto-Helladic period, 2700–2200 BC.
The remains of the shipwreck are located about 15–30 metres (50–100 ft) underwater off the coast of southern Greece near the island of Dokos (ancient name Aperopia) in the Aegean Sea. Dokos is about 100 kilometres (60 mi) east of Sparta, Peloponnese.
The ship itself is long gone, as everything biodegradable has been dissolved by the sea. The only surviving evidence of the shipwreck is a cargo site of hundreds of clay vases and other ceramic items that were carried aboard the ship. These four-thousand-year-old remains were discovered by American archeologist Peter Throckmorton on August 23, 1975.
Location
- Recorded position: 37.3499, 23.3445 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Sea of Crete
- Nearest coast: Greece
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Dokos shipwreck (revision 1380354743), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- SS Slamat 40 km
- U-133 1942 · 57 km
- SS Oria 1944 · 65 km
- U-565 1944 · 69 km
- SS Reina del Mar 1981 · 69 km
- U-596 1944 · 73 km
Browse more: Europe wrecks · wrecks off Greece · Sea of Crete · Ancient & medieval