The 2,400 year old shipwreck off the Black Sea coast still has intact rigging

I was reading about the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project and found out they located a Greek merchant vessel from around 400 BC that still has its mast and rudders intact. The lack of oxygen at that depth kept everything from rotting. Seemed impossible until I saw the sonar scans from 2017. Has anyone else followed this project since then?

2 comments

2 Comments

mary_west1mo ago

My IKEA bookshelf gave up after 3 months, but that ship's been holding its mast since 400 BC, so maybe ancient Greeks used better screws than Swedish instructions. Guess I should've stuck with bronze age tech instead of allen wrenches.

jessica1301mo ago

The sonar scans blew my mind, mostly because my own rigging falls apart after a single trip to IKEA. That ship held together for 2,400 years while I can’t keep a shelf stable for a week. Guess the Greeks knew something about structural integrity that I’m still figuring out.