Marine archaeologists have uncovered the remains of ancient Athens’ first navy base. Actually, the local fishermen helped a lot to scientists. According to the experts, the base was established in 493 BCE and was the biggest building projects in the world.
The scientist team from Denmark have uncovered unique navy base near Athens, it played a central role in the development of the Greek empire. Danish archaeologists say the base was build up in 493 BCE. As noted Bjørn Lovén, associate professor of classical archaeology:
“We’ve discovered the navy bases that housed the first Greek fleet in Mounichia port in Piraeus–Athens’ port city. It’s likely that the ships that fought at Salamis in 480 BCE had been there.”
The local fishermen helped to archaeologists to uncover this ancient navy base. This fortification structure was very helpful in the naval battle of Salamis between the Greeks and Persians. This fight remains the central event in the history of early Greek democracy. In 2010, associate professor Lovén and its team have been working on the Zea Harbour Project. That time scientists unveiled other the Athens’ navy bases — in the ports of Zea and Mounichia, the excavation ran from 2001 to 2012. See the video from the University of Copenhagen.
Without a help of local fishermen Lovén and his team couldn’t be so lucky in their excavation. Local people know very well the harbour bottom, and they gave extremely useful tips to the Danish marine archaeologists, noted Lovén.
